VT - Brown Booby in Bennington County!

 

Brown Booby - Emerald Lake State Park, East Dorset, Bennington Co., VT. September 2nd, 2021.

A couple of days ago I learned of a Brown Booby being seen at Lake Paran near Bennington in Vermont. Being deep in the interior and a mere 80 minutes from our house in Northfield I was quite intrigued but, judging by reports, the bird seemed quite mobile and soon disappeared only to be relocated about 25 miles north at Emerald Lake State Park a day or so later. After quickly checking the Caldwell Road fields in Northfield for shorebirds (2 Semipalmated Plovers, 2 Least Sandpipers and a Wilson's Snipe were new arrivals) I buckled up for the 90 minute drive to East Dorset hot on the heels of Hurricane Ida which had just passed south of us overnight. 

Just me, the booby and a mountain lake....

On arrival I found Emerald Lake to be relatively small surrounded by mature woodland, neatly positioned between the Green Mountains to the east and the Taconic Mountains to the west. Moreover, the lake appeared to be relatively shallow and not quite what I was expecting. The booby soon appeared and put on the most fabulous display working circuits around the lake and plunge diving frequently. To some degree the experience recalled the Brown Booby at Onota Lake in the Berkshires back in August 2018, but this bird was brighter, more mature in terms of plumage and an awful lot closer!

All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience on a beautiful autumnal day and within comfortable driving distance of home. Surprisingly, I only encountered a couple of other birders during my time there and had the lake to myself most of the time. I also noted my first migrating Broad-winged Hawk of the season heading south. 

Brown Booby has been documented in Vermont before with multiple records of at least two individuals from the Lake Champlain area. 

MA - Broad-wing' migration comes to Gill - 04/24

Broad-winged Hawks - small flock forming over farm fields, River Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. 

April 24th, 2017. Eventually, I tallied 225 over a period of minutes.

April 24th was a gorgeous, warm spring day in Western Mass with winds in the southern quarter throughout the day. After dropping Matan school I opted for a quick drive along River Road in Gill and stopped for what should have been a five minute stroll along the fields.  A quick scan above the treeline produced a couple of soaring Broad-winged Hawks. Rather too quickly I assumed they were recently arrived local breeders. Minutes later, a small kettle of 8, then 12 Broad-wings formed in the same spot where the previous two birds had been. From that moment on, the following 90 minutes saw an excellent northward migration of Broad-winged Hawks along the Connecticut River in Gill. Several other species enjoyed the warm air and favorable conditions and by the end of the 90 minutes I'd logged; 5 Common Loons (all in breeding plumage), 4 Double-crested Cormorants, 12 Turkey Vultures, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Merlins, 2 Ospreys and 225 Broad-winged Hawks. The latter included several large kettles of up to 42 birds and was easily the most intense migration of raptors that I've seen in Gill.

Sharp-shinned Hawk - northbound over farm fields, River Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 24th, 2017.  

Broad-winged Hawk - over farm fields, River Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 24th, 2017.

A fantastic morning for this species in Gill with some kettles containing up to 42 birds. 

The closer birds, like this one, moved through incredibly quickly. 

Common Loon - northbound over farm fields, River Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 24th, 2017.  

I rarely see Common Loons away from Barton Cove, so to have a five in a morning (all breeding plumage birds migrating north) was certainly notable for the Gill area. 

MA - Broad-winged Hawk - 04/30

Yellow-rumped Warbler - male, Amherst, Hampshire Co., MA. April 30th, 2010.

Lots of activity in the neighborhood this morning, presumably a result of the warm airflow and light southern winds. Yellow-rumped Warblers were the most obvious with about 40 along North Whitney Street and Redgate Lane, Amherst. With them a single singing Nashville Warbler, my first local Black-and-White Warblers of the year, and a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

In mid-morning, a migrant Broad-winged Hawk cruised north over Redgate Lane.

Broad-winged Hawk - Amherst, Hampshire Co., MA. April 30th, 2010.