Liam Huber and I went up highway 32 before dawn today to look for the Brambling that was found yesterday in Quincy. 32 was passable, but icy on the way up. We arrived at 7 50 and found the bird on the ground at the feeders of 227 bell lane within 5 minutes. It kept popping up and back down every couple minutes. It was easily recognizable by the bright colors, bicolored bill, and large size. It was pretty aggressive. The homeowners are okay with birders viewing from the road and the driveway, as long as they stay in front of the cement walkway. I doubt thats even needed, the bird was pretty easy to see.
As we were watching the Brambling, we heard that Collin Dillingham and Micah Silver had found a pair of Redpolls in Chester. We raced over there, but were not as successful. A lot of the siskins they were with flew off to the south when we arrived. We spent about an hour looking until Mark Stephenson spotted one in the tree where they were first seen. There is a house with a wonderful homeowner who let us into her yard to see the feeders in the back. We only saw the Redpoll for about 1/2 second before it flew north. I think others got on it again after we left.
I would advise anyone looking to chase these birds to go before the weather gets bad so the roads are still passable.
