This story by Emmie Foster was first published in the Valley News on July 7.
NORWICH — John Sheldon, 11, of Norwich, has been birding for nearly half his life. It’s a fun hobby that gets him outside, he said, often into the woods around his home.
His favorite bird is the northern cardinal because it’s beautiful and “symbolizes hope and joy.”
On a Saturday last month, he was among a group of children, ranging in age from 9 to 12, who braved the rain for the second meeting of the Upper Valley Youth Birding Club.
Fourteen had registered for the outing, but only a hardy quintet showed up on one of the many rainy Saturdays in recent weeks.
Outfitted in rain gear and carrying binoculars, the small group was prepared and determined.
While no northern cardinals made an appearance that day, the group spotted several species of songbirds, including flycatchers, swallows and sparrows.
The club is led by Chris Rimmer, director emeritus of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, which serves as the club’s institutional home.
Rimmer, who has long led birding walks in the Upper Valley, said via email that he “always enjoyed it when parents brought a kid along.”
Those experiences inspired him to consider “a focused effort to get youth involved with birding” — an idea he’s mulled over for more than two years.
Reflecting on the club’s purpose, Rimmer emphasized the importance of connecting youth to conservation: “As a career ornithologist and conservationist, I have always known that the key to a healthy ecological future lies with future generations.”
The club convened at 8 a.m. in a grassy clearing on Campbell Flat Road, two turns off Route 5 in Norwich. The road runs parallel to the Ompompanoosuc River and intersects with Academy Road in Thetford, just south of Union Village Dam.
After a round of introductions, Rimmer explained that the group was likely to encounter many songbirds — most notably the warbling vireo. The bird, he said, can sing up to 22,000 unique songs in a single day and is one of the region’s most abundant migratory songbirds.
Just as the group began walking, Rimmer raised his binoculars toward the treetops, where a male brown-headed cowbird flitted among the uppermost branches.
The species, once native to the midwestern plains, moved eastward as land was cleared for farming.
Once everyone had gotten a good look at its glossy black body and light-brown head, the group continued slowly along the gravel road. Rimmer mentioned the possibility of seeing an American bittern — a well-camouflaged bird that’s notoriously difficult to spot but breeds in New England during the warmer months. Bitterns have been living in Campbell Flats, the open fields and marshland on either side of the road, all spring.
To help the children identify its call, Rimmer used a small portable speaker to play its song.
Enthusiasm undamped
A light rain began to fall within minutes of setting out, but the group’s energy and excitement remained undeterred.
As the group crossed a nearly overflowing brook, a low, throaty chorus surrounded them. What was almost mistaken for bird songs was the call of gray treefrogs, likely nestled in the foliage along the brook.
Upon hearing the frogs, Jim Goetz, of Ithaca, New York — who works remotely for VCE on projects in the Caribbean and joined the group Saturday while passing through the area — remarked that, as a birder, it’s important to recognize all the sounds in the environment, not just the birdsongs.
The rain grew heavier, and the trees gave way to the fields of the Campbell Flats. A red-winged blackbird swooped low over the tall grasses.
The roughly quarter-mile area is a well-known birding site, privately owned by the Sargent family, who maintain public trails. During the warmer months, migratory birds nest in the fields and in bird boxes along the roadside. To avoid disturbing nests in the grasses, the Sargents delay mowing until late summer.
As the rain intensified, Ruby Wible, 9, of Norwich, crouched by the roadside picking small white flowers. Nearby, tiny bubbles — spittlebug homes — clung to the tall grasses dotting the wet landscape.
Norwich resident, Asher Beck, 9, said his interest in birds began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he spent time with his grandfather reading a birding book. Eventually, they ventured out into Campbell Flats, near his home, to see the birds for themselves. The area is one of his favorite places to go birding.
Jack Batchman, 12, traveled 42 miles from Brookfield for the outing — his second time making the trip to the Upper Valley to join the club. The first meeting was at Killowatt South Park in Wilder. He became interested in birding when he moved from Arvada, Colorado, to Vermont three years ago.
Birding “gets me out in nature,” he said, adding that he is particularly drawn to the “mindfulness of it.”
Like Rimmer, he hoped to spot an American bittern during the walk, calling them “funny looking” — with long necks that taper into short, stout bodies perched on lanky legs. Despite the absence of American bitterns, his spirits were high as he forged ahead through the rain, keeping near to the front of the group. He said he planned to continue attending the outings.
The group spotted several birds during the outing, including a male yellow-bellied sapsucker, black-capped chickadees, bobolinks, a red-eyed vireo and a warbling vireo. Jim Goetz published the list of sightings on eBird, a website and app operated by Cornell University’s Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Birders around the world can contribute to a global database by logging their species sightings — data that helps inform conservation decisions and ecological research, according to eBird’s website.
The next meeting of the club is at Windsor Grassland Wildlife Management Area on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. Those who wish to participate can do so by registering via the events page on VCE’s website: https://vtecostudies.org/events/.
