Bob Heitzman -- The 251 Town Birder
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50 Middlebury - Canada Lilies and Common Mergansers

7/26/2012

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Most people associate Middlebury with the massive marble buildings of the
college campus, or the bustling shire-town with its shops and narrow streets; or
perhaps they think of the miserable traffic trying to wind its way thru and
around the poorly-designed road network of Middlebury.  I am like all of those
people too, but I knew if I was going to have an interesting bird report for
this Town, I would have to look elsewhere.  Fortunately, there's a covered
bridge on the south side of the town, and that's where I decided to go. 


Three Mile Bridge Road is river-bottom farm country, south of the falls
and mills and stores and college.  The fields and meadows are expansive, the
river is hidden by a snake of cottonwood trees.  I managed to find a parking
area at a boat launch, and set out to bird.  My interest was first piqued by the
river and the calls of a pair of Belted Kingfisher.  But, as I approached the
river's edge, a commotion in the water downstream caught my attention.  There a
pair of female Common Mergansers perceived me as a threat, and hurriedly
shuttled their 9 juveniles to the downed tree branches on the opposite shore. 
Those chicks which were obedient, stayed right with their mothers; those who
were unruly (or overly alarmed) dove under the water and surfaced ahead of their
families.  So comical, but alas humans ARE a threat during hunting
season.

Continuing down the road, I came upon a section of road edge
which hosted a dozen or so plants of Canada Lily (Lilium canadense).  The
lighting was good and the sky was a clear blue, so I shot photos of the yellows
and the oranges.

A passing couple stopped and asked me about my
activity, and then indicated that osprey were nesting along the river a bit to
the south.  Sure enough, further down the road I saw an Osprey soaring over the
river, but it was far enough away that I could only observe it with
binocs.

Checklist for Middlebury's Three Mile Bridge Rd:
Common Merganser: 2 females, 9 juveniles
Kildeer
Wilson's Snipe
 Osprey
American Kestrel
Downy Woodpecker
American Crow
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Wood Pee-wee
Least Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Belted Kingfisher
White-breasted Nuthatch
Cedar Waxwing
Barn Swallow
Yellow Warbler
Mourning Dove
Red-winged Blackbird
Baltimore Oriole
American Robin
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Picture

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    I've been a life-long 'naturalist' -- interested in every aspect of the natural world.  I began birding in the early 1990s, and have been a serious birder for over two decades.

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