“Feathered Frenzy” 2011

Another great “Feathered Frenzy” happened across Sullivan County on February 11 to 13th. Though there was more than a foot of snow on the ground, six teams of birders were checking the skies, feeders and roadsides to find and identify every bird. An important aspect of the effort of the top teams was getting up very early.

John Haas, Lance Verderame, and Arlene Borko teamed up to win the prize by finding 51 different species in 13 hours on Saturday. Their list included the only Great Blue Heron and Saw-whet Owl of the weekend. Scott and Paula Baldinger were also out for 13 hours and found a total of 50 species on Friday, including the only Ring-necked Pheasant, Eastern Screech-owl, Great Horned Owl, Horned Larks, and Fox Sparrow of the weekend. Both teams found Rough-legged Hawks, Red-breasted Nuthatches and Snow Buntings, species not found by other teams.

The team of Ruth Shursky and Ruth McKeon found 35 species including two hard-to-find kinds, Ruffed Grouse and Sharp-shinned Hawk. Davis-Gorton came up with 45 species and Freer-Collier found 38, none unique. The Haas-Borko team found 41 species in the valley on Sunday, including three Herring Gulls overhead and the only Turkey Vulture (first of the year).

Pine Siskins were seen by all in flocks of Goldfinches. Almost everyone found Redpolls at feeders, and 3 teams found Evening Grosbeaks. Four teams found Robins, including a flock of 27 at Phillipsport. Twenty-five common species were seen by all participants. The combined total of species found was 62, our 4th highest. It was topped by 65 in 2009 and 63 in both 2007 and 2008.

Valerie Freer
Warblings, Spring 2011