This is a belated report of a VCE hike from the summit of Pico Peak to Rt. 4 in Sherburne Pass on Monday morning, from 5-7:30 am. This was the first leg of our Birdathon, the second leg of which covered 50 miles on mountain bikes, ending us in Windsor. You can see our full list at http://www.vtbirdathon.org/images/VCE%20Birdathon%202009.pdf. The discovery of 6 Bicknell's Thrushes (all of them also found at dusk on the previous evening) suggests that many birds may be returning to breeding sites earlier than believed. Our previous early date for the species in VT was May 15, but that was just a single bird. With Bridget Stutchbury's recent work showing that Purple Martins and Wood Thrushes migrate northward in spring much more rapidly than expected, it may be that Bicknell's Thrushes leaving Hispaniola ~ May 1 (we've had a few records even beyond that date) arrive here < two weeks later. We hope to have some insights on this and other aspects of the species' migration patterns a year from now, when we recover solar geolocators that we'll place on males this summer. Location: Pico Peak Observation date: 5/18/09 Number of species: 24 Ruffed Grouse 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Eastern Phoebe 1 Blue-headed Vireo 4 Red-eyed Vireo 3 Blue Jay 1 American Crow 1 Winter Wren 5 Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 Bicknell's Thrush 6 American Robin 12 Nashville Warbler 2 Magnolia Warbler 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler 11 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 14 Black-throated Green Warbler 17 Blackburnian Warbler 1 Blackpoll Warbler 1 Ovenbird 19 White-throated Sparrow 9 Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 11 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2 Purple Finch 1 Pine Siskin 1 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/vt) Also, yesterday on the dike separating Dewey's Pond and the Ottauquechee River were 3 singing Willow Flycatchers. Chris -- **************** Chris Rimmer Vermont Center for Ecostudies P.O. Box 420 Norwich, VT 05055 802-649-1431 ext. 1 www.vtecostudies.org **************************************************************** 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 ****************************************************************