The challenge: Identify 175 different bird species within the town of Norwich during the 2019 calendar year.
The result: 177 species, tallied by 17 birders.
“I wasn’t surprised that we met our goal,” said Chris Rimmer, executive director of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies in Norwich and the organizer of the 2019 Norwich Bird Quest. “We have some good birders in and around Norwich, and some very good hotspots for birding.”
The 175 figure was arbitrary, according to Rimmer, and the Norwich Bird Quest was intended largely for fun. The main point was to encourage birders to meet each other, explore and learn about their town.
“There was no compelling conservation or science reason for it,” Rimmer said. “But it was useful, because it got people out there collecting data. … I call it ‘birding with a purpose.’ ”
Participants were asked to enter their sightings into eBird, an online checklist program that can be accessed via desktop computer or phone app. Information contributed to eBird is valuable to researchers, affording them a view of the evolution of bird populations over time.
Birders in Norwich contributed a total of 1,303 Norwich-specific eBird checklists during the yearlong quest, according to Rimmer.
The effort kicked off on Jan. 1, 2019, with the Christmas Bird Count, part of an annual citizen science effort that takes place worldwide during the three-week period around Christmas day. In Norwich, the Christmas count yielded a total of 24 species.
After that, the birders were off and running.
“It’s just a matter of getting out there and spending time, and of course it helps to have more pairs of eyes,” Rimmer said.
Over the course of the year, Rimmer led a number of walks around town in spots known for bird sightings.
Among those spots were the Ledyard Bridge; the mouth of the Ompompanoosuc River; and, just upstream from that, an area below Interstate 91 that crosses the Ompompanoosuc (sometimes called the Pompy Flats).
“You can get some really interesting birds there that like mud flats, like sandpipers and plovers,” Rimmer said.
Another area frequented by birds was Campbell Flats at the northern end of town — ideal for warblers, flycatchers and thrushes, Rimmer said.
Unexpected sightings recorded during the quest included a least bittern — a small and secretive heron that Rimmer believes has never before been documented in Norwich — and a rare black vulture, glimpsed by one of Rimmer’s colleagues at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies office.
“We’re technically in Hartford, but the bird was in Norwich airspace,” he said. “It’s a common bird in the south, but it’s beginning to expand northward, as many birds are.”
Other unusual species spotted by Norwich birders included a northern shrike, red-breasted merganser, Bonaparte’s gull, Caspian tern, vesper sparrow, red-necked grebe, horned grebe, short-billed dowitcher, yellow-bellied flycatcher and olive-sided flycatcher.
The 2020 Norwich Bird Quest is now underway. This year, Rimmer hopes to record 180 different species and enlist 20 local birders to help, including at least three participants under the age of 21.
Participants don’t need to be Norwich residents — the bird just has to be seen within town borders. Birdwatchers of all levels of experience are welcome to join.
Editor’s note: To find out how to get involved, visit vtecostudies.org/blog. Instructions for using eBird can be found at ebird.org/vt.