251 Birds

Bolton (Chittenden County)
Preston-Lafreniere Farm
Town #42

Any lower 48 birder who is paying attention knows that this has been an extraordinary year for “winter finches”- pine siskins, evening and pine grosbeaks, red and white-winged crossbills, common and hoary redpolls, and bohemian waxwings have been showing up in all sorts of southerly locations.

Last week I was out documenting barns at the Preston-Lafreniere Farmstead in Bolton when I saw some waxwings arrive in a fruit-laden tree across the road.  I ran back to my car to get my tele lens (I was using a wide-angle for the barns), but when I returned the birds were gone.

It’s a nice collection of barns in reasonably good condition, though some modifications to the east barn (at right, below, probably the oldest of the three) to accommodate a tractor have caused some fairly serious structural problems, and a stable addition to the west barn is dragging it down from behind.

The farmhouse across the street, which is roughly contemporary with the two older barns, is also a mostly intact and representative example of early 19th century rural architecture in Vermont.  I always associate Vermont “classic cottages” like this one with the Greek Revival period, but in this case there aren’t many clues to give it away beyond the entry surround.

After I finished photographing the barns and assessing some of the issues with the timber frames, I came back out to the road to find that the waxwings were back in the same tree and that they were bohemians!  They took off again, but this time I thought I’d set up the tripod in a likely spot to see if they returned.  After about five minutes they came back to raid the fruit for a few minutes and then again disappeared in the direction of the Winooski River.  This time I got a few images.

I thought I’d stick around for a few more minutes to see if they returned one more time, and while I was waiting a large flock of common redpolls briefly passed through headed west.  They stopped in the same tree long enough for me to get a few nice shots and they were off again.

Sure enough, the waxwings came back one more time before I left.  It was certainly a serendipitous day: the first sunshine in a month, scheduled field work, fantastic birds, and a few spare minutes to spend with them.

Here’s the full list from my 10-15 minutes at the roadside:

• Canada Goose (47)
• Red-Tailed Hawk (1)
• Pileated Woodpecker (1)
• Black-capped Chickadee (3)
• Bohemian Waxwing (6)
• Common Redpoll (15)

 

Tags: 251 birds, barn, bohemian waxwing, bolton, chittenden county, common redpoll