Missiquoi National Wildlife Refuge
On Thursday May 21st I went out to Vermont and went birding on several of the trails located within the Missiquoi National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is located towards the northern end of Lake Champlain and is compose of several habitats though the dominant habitat type with the refuge are wetlands. The weather continued the trend for the week and was beautiful. Starting out just before 7:40 am the temperature was in the upper 50's and by the end of the morning was approaching 70 degrees F. There was definitely more wind today at least at the first two loops I explored. I would say the wind was a little over 10mph. I ended up driving between three distinct trails today. This allowed me to experience a larger array of habitats.
I started the day off at the refuge Visitor Center and walked down the Discovery trail. Just below the center there was a large number of American Robins, Tree Swallows and Red-winged Blackbirds who were all very active. As I entered the woods I almost immediately spotted an American Redstart. As I looped down the trail the wind made it a bit difficult to distinguish specific vocalizations. I looped back to the center and drove down to the Stephen Young Marsh trail. Along the route I spotted what appeared to be Bobolinks in the field to my left. Pulling over I was able to see several Bobolinks and even snap a picture. The Young Marsh Trail started off in wetlands before transitioning into a young mixed deciduous forest. While I didn't see any new species on this loop I did identify a female Red-winged Blackbird which was a first.
I ended up heading down to Black Creek trail network farther east in the refuge. This trail followed the Black creek as it worked its way through a young deciduous forest. The area immediately next to the creek was very boggy throughout. On the herpetology side I came across 7 garter snakes along the trail. I also encountered two beavers. The wind was reduced in this area which made it quite a bit easier to hear the vocalizations. I saw a decent number of species including an osprey overhead but the two distinct highlights were the Scarlet Tanager and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak both new species for me. The two Scarlet Tanagers stayed visible for quite a while and were quite vocal which was really nice. I also encountered quite a few Baltimore Orioles and was able to hear their song quite clearly which was a big plus.
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