On a relatively mild and sunny day, 18 participants took part in this morning's Windsor County Quest Trip.  The first half of this trip was spent at Lake Runnemede in the town of Windsor.  A total of 29 different species were recorded, with highlights including:  a juvenile Northern Shrike seen at the south end of the lake near the spillway, a very large count of American Tree Sparrows, and seven Eastern Bluebirds perching upon nest boxes, giving great views for all.  Waterfowl seen on the lake were few, but included:  American Black Ducks, Common Mergansers, one Hooded Merganser, and several Canada Geese.

Fifteen participants departed from Lake Runnemede and continued on to Mill Pond (located off of RT 44 West - roughly 1.5 miles from Runnemede).  Even fewer waterfowl were spotted at the north end of Mill Pond (only Canada Geese), but a Double-crested Cormorant still remains at this location.  After a brief stop at this location, we then ventured to the south end of Mill Pond, which is accessible via hiking trails that begin at the Windsor Recreational Fields.  The hiking trails allow access to the wetland located at the southern end of Mill Pond.  We were hoping to find more waterfowl, but some of the wetland areas were frozen, and the open areas were not productive, although a Winter Wren began scolding us as we ventured further onto the trail.

It was great Quest Trip overall, and we certainly couldn't complain about the weather!
And a big thank you to fellow co-leaders George Clark, Ed Hack, Chris Rimmer, and Kyle Kittelberger for making this trip possible.

Sara - Norwich, VT


**Below are the E-bird links to each birding location/check list:
Lake Runnemede http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15681935

Mill Pond (north end) http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15681986

Mill Pond (south end) http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15682076