This morning Ed Hack and I looked for birds in Norwich. Highlights  
included 29 Mallards off Kendall Station Road, an adult Bald Eagle  
flying over Norwich and seen from Campbell Flats Road not far south of  
the Thetford line, a flying Cooper's Hawk seen from the intersection  
of Main Street and Koch Road, and 12 Cedar Waxwings along Campbell  
Flats Road. Some of the waxwings were flying out and back and were  
apparently hawking insects along the side of a house. We couldn't see  
insects at a distance through binoculars, but cluster flies might have  
been the prey on this sunny day with temperatures well above freezing.

Because House Sparrows are now quite local in their Norwich  
distribution, the presence this morning of 15 at a farm along Kerwin  
Hill Road was notable.

Prior to 2007 House Sparrows were regular along Main Street in the  
village section of Norwich, and nest material could be seen protruding  
from attic ventilation openings on a prominent building. A remodeling  
narrowed the openings and thus blocked entry of House Sparrows. Since  
then only an occasional individual of this species has been reported  
from the vicinity of Main Street. Farms with livestock now seem to  
present the locations most favorable for finding this species in the  
town, but a number of such farms apparently lack House Sparrows.

The Bald Eagle, Cedar Waxwings, and House Sparrows of today were my  
first sightings of these species in Norwich during 2010.

George


George Clark
Norwich, VT

> Location:     Norwich
> Observation date:     1/16/10
> Number of species:     21
>
> Mallard     29
> Wild Turkey     8
> Bald Eagle     1
> Cooper's Hawk     1
> Mourning Dove     1
> Downy Woodpecker     1
> Hairy Woodpecker     1
> Blue Jay     X
> American Crow     X
> Common Raven     X
> Black-capped Chickadee     X
> Tufted Titmouse     X
> Red-breasted Nuthatch     2
> Brown Creeper     1
> European Starling     2
> Cedar Waxwing     12
> White-throated Sparrow     5
> Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)     X
> Northern Cardinal     4
> American Goldfinch     1
> House Sparrow     15
>
> This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/vt 
> )
>

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