Kent McFarland, Ed Hack and I had a great outing in the white pine stand 
above Prosper Road parking lot in MBR National Historical Park this 
morning.  Red Crossbills were very vocal, with at least 12 birds 
present.  One male called and sang persistently over about an hour from 
a fairly small area, but we were unable to come up with any evidence of 
nesting.  Several birds, mostly females or first-year males, were 
feeding actively on pine cones, in flocks from 4-9 individuals.  We were 
unable get many clear views, so it was difficult to count or identify 
ages and sexes of most birds.

Given that a female was observed carrying a twig here on Jan. 22, it 
seems reasonable that active nesting may be underway.  With incubation 
periods averaging 14 days and fledging 15-25 days later (according to 
the Birds of NA account), the next couple of weeks could be a good time 
to confirm breeding at this site, as adults feed nestlings.

Ed Hack and I later ran into a dispersed flock of American Robins along 
Royalton Turnpike in Royalton that we conservatively counted as 475, 
with another of 150 or more on Gilman Road 15 minutes earlier.  It was 
reminiscent of early or mid-April!

Finally, in early afternoon we found a flock of 200 Bohemian Waxwings 
with 10 Cedars moving between fruiting trees and tall sugar maples on 
both sides of Rt. 12 about one mile north of Barnard village.

Chris

-- 
Chris Rimmer
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
P.O. Box 420
Norwich, VT 05055
802-649-1431 ext. 1
http://www.vtecostudies.org