Birds On The Battenkill

Field notes from the feathered side of the Battenkill.

Scarlet Tanager | Photo by Andrew Walker

Updated Sunday July 26, 9:00am

By Andrew Walker

Summertime on the Battenkill

By Andrew Walker

Summer on the Battenkill has its own kind of magic, and one of the best shows right now is happening above the water.

When the Yellow Drakes start to come off in the evening, the birds seem to know before we do. They sit in the wings along the trees, banks, and open edges of the river, waiting for those big, beautiful mayflies to lift off the water. Then, all at once, the air comes alive.

Cedar Waxwings, Eastern Kingbirds, Eastern Phoebes, Yellow Warblers, Gray Catbirds, and other flycatchers and songbirds start working the hatch like skilled little fighter jets. They dive, twist, hover, and cut across the river, sometimes missing each other by inches, and sometimes missing you by about the same. It is one of those moments that reminds you the Battenkill is not just something you fish. It is something you get to witness.

The Cedar Waxwings have been especially fun to watch. They move with that sleek, polished confidence, picking bugs out of the air as if they have done it a thousand times before, which of course they have. The Eastern Kingbirds have been putting on a show too, darting out from their perches and returning like they own the place. Phoebes, with their familiar tail flick, are never far from the action.

I have also had some great sightings over the past week, including a Scarlet Tanager and an Indigo Bunting. The Scarlet Tanager is hard to mistake, even if you only catch a flash of it out of the corner of your eye. That red is something else. The Indigo Bunting is another one that can stop you in your tracks, especially when the light hits just right.

There are plenty of the usual suspects making the Battenkill home this summer too: Osprey, Belted Kingfishers, Common Mergansers, Bald Eagles, song sparrows, finches, nuthatches, cardinals, blue jays, American robins, and one of my favorite songs out there, the Eastern Towhee with its familiar drink-your-tea, cha-cha-cha rhythm.

The summer warblers are still part of the soundtrack as well. Along with Yellow Warblers, keep an eye and ear out for Chestnut-sided Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Black-throated Green Warblers, Redstarts, and other small flashes of movement working the edges, brush, and treetops.

It is birdy out there.

Being on the river and watching the birds work the hatches is one of the coolest ways to experience the Battenkill. The fishing is special, of course, but sometimes the real show is happening just above the water.

Cheers (think cardinal!)