Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2021

N/A

N/A

Location: Vermont waters of Lake Champlain directly across from Bob & Betty Cummings Memorial Park in Putnam NY.

On the morning of December 13th, 2021 I conducted a lakewatch from Bob & Betty Cummings Memorial Park located on the western shore of Lake Champlain in Putnam, NY. Upon arrival I performed a quick, cursory scan of the lake for waterfowl finding the surface of the lake devoid of birds. I then setup to do a more thorough scan beginning to the north and sweeping south. As I was sweeping left to right I picked up a small black and white bird (black above and white below) in the air on the Vermont side of the lake flying west (from the Vermont side of the lake headed towards the New York side of the lake). The bird immediately struck me as an alcid due to its squatty appearance (short tail, short and thick neck, plump body, and furiously beating wings seemingly too small to keep the bird aloft). I had it in the air just momentarily before it sat down on the water (still clearly in Vermont waters). It immediately assumed that Razorbill posture (they seem alert when they first land, sitting high in the water with their head/bill held at an angle similar to that of Double-crested Cormorant or Red-throated Loon) which I had observed numerous times as exhibited by the birds seen at Crown Point SHS approximately 20 miles to the north during November. The bird was the size of a small duck with black upper parts including the head and the nape. The black on the head extended down the side of the face to cover the eye. The black on the mantle reached far forward on the bird making the white area formed by the neck and face almost appear as a white collar if not for the black that runs along the nape of the bird. The black bill was of moderate length, but thick. The bird did not linger on the water for more than 10 or 15 seconds before it was airborne again and continuing its westward trajectory. It soon crossed into NY airspace, turned right as it approached the western shore, and headed north and eventually out of sight.

In the narrative above I reference the bird assuming an alert posture when it landed on the water, something I noted several times back in November when the birds (at least two) were being routinely spotted at Crown Point State Historic Site. The picture below was taken November 8, 2021 at Crown Point State Historic Site and I attach it here simply to illustrate the “alert” posture referenced above. The bird seen on the December 13th assumed this exact posture immediately upon landing.

see narrative