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GMAS is grateful to Vermont photographer and former GMAS Board member Irv Goldman for his contribution of bird photographs to our website.

Welcome to Green Mountain Audubon

The Green Mountain Audubon Society brings together residents of Chittenden, Franklin, and Grand Isle counties to learn about, enjoy, and support birds, wildlife, and their habitats. If you would like to join the GMAS or register for one of our events, please click the "Contact Us" link.

2009 CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

The 62nd annual Burlington area Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, December 20, 2009.  There are some interesting results to report.  We saw 70 species this year with a total of 13,275 birds.  Low snow accumulations made walking easier than some previous years, but because of cold temperatures and 15-20 MPH winds, land birds took cover in protected places and around bird feeders and ducks were difficult to see on the open water.

Icelantic GullThere were no irruptive species this year.  Duck and owl species were reported, but not in any great numbers.  We did, however, set records for Domestic Duck X Mallard Hybrid (5), Iceland Gull (9), Great Black-backed Gull (270), Wild Turkey (180), Carolina Wren (7), Northern Cardinal (259), and Field Sparrow (6).  Rare Bird Documentation was submitted for the Field Sparrows since they were more than a month past their usual departure time.  We tied previous records for Peregrine Falcon and Chipping Sparrow with one each.  One Peregrine Falcon has been reported often in the past, but it is only the third time we have reported the Chipping Sparrow.

Looking back at our old records, it is interesting to see that our Christmas Bird Count is a demonstration of the continuing northward push of three species:

  • We reported Carolina Wren for the first time in 1974 and then only 1 or 2 annually through the 1980’s and 1990’s, arriving at the 2009 count of 7.
  • We reported Northern Cardinal for the first time in 1958.  We have watched its numbers grow steadily from less than 10 annually in the 1960’s, to 82 in 1975, in the one hundred range by 2000, and this year, 259!
  • We reported 143 Tufted Titmouse this year, just short of the record 153 birds recorded in 2008. 
Read more...
 
 

March 24, 2010

Birding in the Sun

Date: Wednesday, March 24. 2010 at 7:00 P.M.

Location: Dorothy Ailling Library, Williston, VT

Speaker: Mark LaBarr, Conservation Biologist, Audubon Vermont

Mark LaBarr will tell us about his recent experiences birding in Mexico and Dominica.

 

 

March 20, 2010

Mud Season Birding

Date: Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 8:30 A.M.

Location: Burlington Intervale.

Leader: Bruce MacPherson

Join the members of the GMAS for a field trip to Burlington's Intervale. We will look for unusual gulls, raptors, ducks, and resident songbirds in the Intervale.

 

February 13, 2010

The Great Backyard Bird Count

Date: Saturday, February 13 at 8:00 A.M.

Location: Green Mountain Audubon Center and the Birds of Vermont Museum

Organizer: Larry Haugh

Join us for a special event to celebrate Audubon's annual Great Backyard Bird Count. We will meet at the office building at the Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington for our regular monthly bird monitoring, then proceed to the Birds of Vermont Museum one mile from the Center on Sherman Hollow Road for a morning of indoor birding. To register or for more information, click the Contact Us link on this page.