Today (January 10) Ed Hack and I looked for birds in northwestern  
Windsor County, VT, including small portions of the towns of Bethel,  
Rochester, Royalton, and Stockbridge.

One highlight was in a field near the Royalton-Stockbridge boundary  
where large mammal carcass material had been placed on the snow far  
from any buildings. More than 20 Common Ravens, at least 50 European  
Starlings, and a coyote were foraging together on the carcass  
material. The ravens and the coyote were tearing off reddish/pink  
chunks of carcass. The ravens kept their distance from the coyote. An  
adult Bald Eagle which had been perched in a nearby tree got into the  
action and flew after one of the ravens which was flying by with a  
large chunk of carcass in its bill. The eagle was unsuccessful in  
harassing the raven which flew down into a tree where the eagle could  
not follow. The eagle then landed in a nearby tree, and we saw no  
additional pursuit.

We watched all this through binoculars from inside a vehicle parked  
many yards away so as to avoid disturbing the participants. The, some  
might say gruesome, scene was reminiscent of those in African savannas  
where Old World vultures and mammalian scavengers gather around  
carcasses. Because of our necessary distance from the scene and  
partial blockage of our view by snow piles, we could not obtain an  
exact count of ravens, some of which were flying in and out from the  
foraging area.

Other highlights from northwestern Windsor County today were along  
River Road near the White River where about 30 Bohemian Waxwings were  
by the Long Meadow Farm in Bethel. On the Stockbridge section of that  
same River Road, 4 American Tree Sparrows, a Song Sparrow, and 10  
Common Redpolls were among other species around a "busy" feeding setup.

Additional species found along our route today included a Red-tailed  
Hawk, Mourning Doves, Rock Pigeons, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Blue  
Jays, American Crows, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, Dark- 
eyed Juncos, a Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinches, and House  
Sparrows. Despite extensive areas of open water in some relatively  
fast flowing parts of the White River, no waterbirds were found.

George Clark
Norwich, VT