Every winter we see birds whose breeding habitat is more northern than Vermont. Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, Snowy Owls and Redpolls are some of these birds. Reports of Snow Buntings are already showing up on VTBIRD.

On the tundra, in breeding plumage, Snow Buntings have white heads and underparts with black on the back. However, in winter, when we see them in Vermont, these birds have a brownish head and face pattern, brownish upperparts and mottled white bellies. In all plumages white wing patches in flight are distinctive. Look for small to medium flocks feeding on the ground especially in plowed or dormant farm fields. Their twittering flight calls are sometimes better clues to their presence than trying to spot them hidden among the grass and bumps in the fields. A swarming winter flock of birds flashing white in flight are in all probability Snow Buntings.

During November we see the tail end of migration in Vermont. Hawks, geese and ducks are most noticeable with sparrows - White-throated, White-crowned and Song catching a last meal under the feeders. Most of the warblers, flycatchers and vireos are gone, but the small kinglets, still can be seen feeding in the trees and shrubs for a last insect morsel.

The Ruby-Crowned (right) and Golden-Crowned Kinglets (left) are distinguished by their fast, wing flipping, flitty foraging behavior, often hanging upside down on a leaf or branch. Both are greenish yellow above and have white bellies and white wing bars, but look at the face pattern for a quick differentiation. Ruby-crowns sport a simple eye-ring. The ruby crown is seldom seen except during mating season. Golden-crowns have a bold black and white face pattern with a golden topnot. White above and below the eye highlight a black eyeline. Their thin high pitched song is not much help in locating birds in the fall; it's their foraging behavior that will draw attention to this fall migrant. Because these birds are little energy balls, they can survive our colder fall days.

Thousands of Snow Geese recognize Vermont as a refueling station on their fall migration route to the mid-Atlantic and western Gulf Coasts. Fields around the Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area in Addison, VT are covered in white from mid to late October providing a spectacle that any nature lover will enjoy. This area, boasting wide open views of the Adirondacks to the west and the Green Mountains to the east, is an easy day trip from Dorset. More about Dead Creek

These medium sized white geese are easily recognized in flight as they flash their black tip wings. On the ground Snow Geese make an area look as though it's covered in snow. Unfortunately, there are such large numbers on the arctic breeding grounds that they are destroying the very plant resources that sustain them.

The Northern Flicker is a woodpecker preferring to forage for grubs and ants in open fields and lawns. As the most migratory of the woodpeckers, groups of flickers are frequently noticed during the fall as they take flight displaying their conspicuous white rump patch. The yellow-shafted form (yellow under the wings) is found in the East with the red-shafted common in western states. A loud, single klee-yer call is diagnostic year round. Listen

Vermont plays host to 9 species of woodpeckers. The lookalike Downy and Hairy along with the Pileated, Three-toed and Black-blacked Woodpeckers are here year round. The latter two species are northern VT specialities. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a common breeding migrant with both Red-bellied and Red-headed Woodpeckers now making inroads as breeding species as well.

To see this scarlet bird with black wings and tail is a memorable sighting! While common in the north and eastern North America, it is a bird of the forest more often heard than seen. Hear their song which is often described as a robin with a sore throat.

Unlike the male, the female Scarlet Tanager is olive green with dark wings - a plumage the male wears for its winter attire. Tanagers winter in northeastern South America as far south as Bolivia.

In the birder's world the Bicknell Thrush is synonymous with Vermont. It has one of the most restricted breeding and wintering ranges of any North American bird - high mountain ranges from Quebec through the New York Catskills to islands in the Caribbean. Its drab, brownish gray coloring belies the distinctive, burry, flute-like song that is the only sure way to identify this species. A nearby VINS study site on Stratton Mountain is only a short drive from Dorset.

Although rarely seen, the presence of the American Bittern is easily detected by its hollow croaking or pumping sound, oonck-a-tsoonck, from wetland habitats. It tries to elude detection by freezing in position with its head and neck pointed skyward. The Dorset Marsh on RT 30 between Manchester and Dorest is one of the reliable nesting spots for finding (and hearing!) this elusive, interesting bird.

June means that the birds are busy courting, nest building, incubating and feeding young. Tuning in the ear and eye during an outdoor walk can result in rewarding wildlife observations.

The migrants are returning to Dorset! We look for the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Baltimore Orioles, Gray Catbirds and most of all "the warblers" (a large family of small, active, colorful, insect eating, songsters) during the first two weeks. Hopefully, by mid-May, there will be binocular views of the breeding American Redstarts, Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers along with those flying further north - Cape Mays and Bay Breasted Warblers. May is a time of anticipation, expectation and joy as the songs of the first migrants announce their arrival.

The nest of the Baltimore Oriole (at right) is an intricately woven pouch of hair and plant fibers suspended at the rim between branches or a fork high in a tree. While well hidden during nesting, it is quite visible after the leaves have fallen.