Following on a report by Kent McFarland from the south end of Kilowatt  
Park in Wilder this damp morning, Ed Hack and I arrived there in mid  
morning, and Chris Rimmer joined us. We were pleased to see many of  
the birds reported by Kent including the dozens of Ring-necked Ducks,  
Greater Scaups, a male Red-breasted Merganser, the flock of Double- 
crested Cormorants. and a Tree Swallow. We also saw a Pied-billed  
Grebe. All of these birds were on or over the river so potentially  
might be included as New Hampshire records even though our sightings  
were all made from Vermont. After Chris had to leave, Ed and I found  
10 Bohemian Waxwings in Vermont along the brush row separating the  
Kilowatt playing field from the river.

Ed and I then checked a few spots in Norwich along the river. Two  
Eastern Phoebes were in Vermont near Route 5 to the south of the mouth  
of the Ompompanoosuc River.

The most unexpected find was a remarkably early Spotted Sandpiper  
walking along the margin of the ice along the river in the area of a  
small flock of Herring Gulls with at least one Ring-billed Gull  
included; these birds were all on the New Hampshire side of the river  
but seen from Kendall Station Road in Norwich. The Spotted Sandpiper  
showed the characteristic "teetering" movement and the prominent  
"shoulder marking". Seeing a Spotted Sandpiper with so much ice around  
was a new experience.

George Clark
Norwich, VT

****************************************************************
To post messages, send e-mail to:  [log in to unmask]
Set your e-mail application to PLAIN TEXT ONLY to post messages.
To contact the list owner:  [log in to unmask]
----------------------------------------------------------------
Web based archives and subscription management are available at:
http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/Archives/uv-birders.html
****************************************************************