Thank you to Joel Banner Baird of the Burlington Free Press for spending a chilly November afternoon at Oakledge Park talking about birding.

Audubon Vermont Teacher/Naturalist Gwendolyn Causer recommends staying warm and keeping things simple. Returning regularly to a local, familiar place opens up opportunities to anticipate the familiar, connect with bird behavior, and find the unexpected. 

Joel’s in-depth article also features advice from Bridget Butler of Bird Diva Consulting about counting and marveling in the wonder of American Crows roosting in winter (as well as an Audubon video of the Burlington crows). Joel also talks with Jason Hill from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies about birding surprises and winter irruptive species, such as the Snowy Owls and Red Crossbills.

Read the Burlington Free Press article and enjoy the photos and videos. Click here.

Thanks, too, for sharing these resources with Free Press readers:

• Audubon Vermont, based in Huntington, posts an online calendar of indoor and outdoor events for birders of all stripes.
• Cornell Project FeederWatch (Nov. 9 - April 3) —  a citizen-science count of backyard bird species organized by Cornell. Costs $18 to cover administrative fees.
• Audubon's 120th Christmas Bird Count (Dec. 14 - Jan. 5) — The region's longest-running citizen science safari; check online for regional contacts.
• Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey (January 2- 16), coordinated nationally by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, locally by Audubon Vermont. Contact Margaret Fowle at mfowle@audubon.org for more information.
• Great Backyard Bird Count (Feb. 14 - Feb 17) — Local outing organized by Audubon.
• Careen with crows (all winter) — As with the other events, "Bird Diva" Bridget Butler's online survey of winter crow behavior, depends on crowd-sourcing.