This afternoon Ed Hack and I looked for birds in Windsor County, VT,  
along and near Route 5 south from Exit 9 of I-91 in Hartland. Some  
highlights follow.

At Lake Runnemede in Windsor, much of the western arm of the lake is  
now free of ice and held 6 Canada Geese and 5 Hooded Mergansers. The  
eastern arm is still ice covered. Two adult Bald Eagles and two  
Northern Flickers were seen.  Song Sparrows, of which we estimated 25,  
were widespread in the vicinity of the lake, particularly around the  
farm field where herbaceous vegetation has become increasingly exposed  
as the snow cover melts.

In Springfield Meadows (= Flats), numerous waterfowl were widely  
spread over an extensive area of flooded farm fields. At least 275  
Canada Geese were present, but our estimate is conservative. Other  
birds included 40 Wood Ducks, 10 American Black Ducks, 15 Mallards,  
and a Green-winged Teal. A Northern Mockingbird was again seen along  
the Connecticut River.

The main channel of the section of the Connecticut River along our  
route has within the past week lost nearly all of its ice cover,  
although today small chunks of ice were still floating downstream. The  
only location where we detected waterfowl in the river was near the  
confluence of the Connecticut and Black Rivers, where several Common  
Mergansers, a Hooded Merganser, and a Belted Kingfisher were seen.

George Clark
Norwich, VT

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