Mountain Birdwatch 2008

Saturday morning I headed up again to volunteer for the Mountain Birdwatch survey of high elevation songbirds sponsored by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (formerly by Vermont Institute of Natural Science).  I was once again successful and enjoyed it like a songbird in a forest of protected habitat.

I rose at 2:45 AM.  The alarm did the trick and I got right up to avoid falling back to sleep.  I had organized all I needed the night before.  I brushed my teeth, grabbed my headlamp and my backpack, dressed downstairs so I would not wake anyone, and hit the road.

I had to drive about 40 minutes to get up to Bolton Valley.  For the first seven years of the study I would simply walk out the door and start hiking.  Since we moved off the mountain, I need to drive first.  The drive was easy--no traffic at 3:00--and I started hiking in the dark.

I did not use a headlamp at first--the lights from the resort lit the ski trail I hiked up for a little while.  Even when the lights fell behind I hiked most of the way without a light, despite the moonless sky.  I had just enough light to see where I was going.  When I got to a weird dip in the trail, I turned on my light.  Only when I got to the less tracked trail near the end of my route did I leave the light on.

I heard birds singing beginning about 4:00.  The first I heard was a White Throated Sparrow, which is often the first bird I hear on these adventures.  By 4:30 the birds were singing like gangbusters.  Four of the target species (the ones I need to record) were singing by the second of five points.  These are White Throated Sparrow, Swainson's Thrush, Blackpol Warbler and Winter Wren. 

The key species is Bicknell's Thrush.  I heard this one at point three.  Just as I was pulling out my notebook and starting the ten minutes of observation, I heard one sing behind me.  Shortly after that I heard another one.  I have not often heard two singing at once and it was exciting. 

Hearing a little brown bird sing in the wee hours of the morning, with black flies beginning to buzz in one's ears in a soggy spot in the woods may not sound exciting to many, but for me it is one of the highlights of my year.  This bird is rare and only sings at certain hours in hard to reach places.  Hearing it sing gives me hope that we can keep the diversity of our world alive.  We haven't squashed it all yet.

I heard two more Bicknell's Thrush later on my route, so I heard four total.  Not bad for an early morning hike.  There were some additional protocols to observe this time around so I was up there for longer than I have been in the past.  That was OK by me.  I took my time hiking down, knowing I would stop for breakfast in Richmond before going home to say good morning to my family. 

By the time I did get home, about 9:00, I felt I had put in a full day.  And I still had most of it left.  That is the kind of day I like.  I even took a nap in the afternoon, so by the time evening came, I could call it good without being way too tired. 

That is, of course, pretty much what I'm talking about.  I already look forward to next year.