Many thanks to Cynthia, Mike, and David for your observations on towhees. Today (October 13) there was no indication of the Eastern Towhee female here in Norwich village where present yesterday. The Eastern Towhee as a whole has declined sharply in numbers in the northeastern U.S.A. in recent decades as reported by John Hagen in a 1993 article (in Auk, volume 110, pages 863-874; article obtainable for free on line through Google searching under "towhee decline"). As discussed by John Hagen, natural changes in vegetation have tended to replace early successional stages with more mature woodland, and those changes have been unfavorable for Eastern Towhees. In recent years in the Upper Valley there have been a relatively small number of known sites for finding Eastern Towhees in the nesting season, and a few such sites where towhees have been regularly found are listed in the recent second edition of the Connecticut River Birding Trail map for the Upper Valley. Examples from the map are the powerline area of Boston Lot in Lebanon, NH, and in the vicinity of the overgrown orchard on the prison property along Marton Road in Windsor, VT. In the Upper Valley in general, the species appears to be spottily distributed as a breeder but seemingly might occur almost anywhere during migration. Murin and Pfeiffer in their 2002 book "Birdwatching in Vermont" indicate that the species has been found in the state throughout the year but is of regular occurrence only from the latter part of April into October. They also point out that towhees are more frequently found in the southern Vermont than in the north. I've not found towhees during the breeding season along Tigertown Road in Norwich, but my time in that large area has been limited to a few hours at most. George 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 ****************************************************************