Greetings from the Frozen North

We complain about winter in Vermont, but one of the delights of winter is the appearance of winter birds-owls, ducks, raptors, and songbirds that are far to our north in the warmer months. I've described my sightings of Snowy Owls and the Northern Hawk Owl in Eden in previous posts. Today I'll cover a few songbirds that I've seen recently.

One of the most highly anticipated northern birds that visits Vermont regularly is the Bohemian Waxwing. These handsome birds with a cardinal-like crest, gray-brown body feathers, and striking yellow and red wing and tail markings are a sight to behold. Bohemian Waxwings are slightly larger than their Cedar Waxwing cousins and, unlike Cedars, have reddish-brown undertail coverts. I spotted a mixed flock of Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings feeding on frozen cherries at UVM this past week.

Even more exciting was a report of Common Redpolls and White-winged Crossbills at Deerfield Drive in South Burlington. I went there yesterday and quickly found the redpolls and a flock of Cedar Waxwings. But no crossbills, my main quarry. Luckily for me, my friend Henry Trombley was there to take me by the hand and show me a half dozen crossbills tearing apart cones from a spruce tree near the corner of Overlook Drive and Deerfield Drive. Thomas Ford-Hutchinson has posted some great pictures of these crossbills on his flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/77523243@N00. These birds have a crossed beak adapted specifically for ripping the seeds out of spruce cones. Last year I traveled 90 miles to Moose Bog in Ferdinand to try to find White-winged Crossbills with no success. How satisfying to see them just a few miles from my home. Cold comfort!