Delta Park in Colchester, VT

The weather has been crappy for the past few weeks, but I figured today was as good as ever to venture down to Delta Park, right next to Champlain and the Winooski River branch-off. It was windy as ever on the waterfront at a temperature of 35 degrees (I'm sure the real-feel was much lower). The habitat is generally very flat wetlands with patches of residential streets nearby. The water flowing into the delta was moderately choppy due to the wind, so the only wading birds were only found more inland or near a land break.

To start I ventured into a pedestrian walk trail that led to waterfront. I did not stay long from the blustering winds, however I stayed to observe a flock of Ring-billed Gulls. They seemed to just be wading and hovering over each other, so I decided to move on. The bike path itself was fairly quiet from pedestrian visitors which gave me some great glimpses at wildlife. A mating pair of Wood Ducks slowly swam farther inland as I approached the trail. The male was absolutely stunning! Across the bridge I observed Robins chasing each other in a residential yard, and later some more individuals flying across the path. The biggest find of the day was an extremely quick glimpse of a Bald Eagle flying over-head! He was too fast for me to snap a photo.. Shortly after I began to hear a lot of strange "mimic-like" songs in the trees above me, and noticed a huge flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds. The computer dial-up noise was very extreme in this flock! On my frigid walk back home I didn't stop to observe much, however a male Red-winged Blackbird stopped me with his mating calls. He was highly perched in an habitat edge tree and calling repeatedly and loudly for a good period of time. Guess he was looking to find someone to take to formal!

Posted on April 17, 2018 11:26 PM by tzumbo