The West Rutland cattail marsh, spanning 800 acres through private and municipal land, is enjoying a round of national fame after the October edition of the national bimonthly magazine "Birders World" named it one of the top 52 bird-watching "hot spots" in the country.
By Dawson Raspuzzi Herald StaffThe only Vermont location making the list is the home to many waterfowl, rails and other wetland birds, including the most elusive species — the least bittern — one of Vermont's rarest known species.
Since the Rutland County Audubon Society began monthly monitoring around the marsh six years ago in an attempt to track and record the birds that either nest or stop off at the marsh, the Audubon has documented 136 species within the cattails.
The marsh is one of three important bird areas in Rutland County designated by the National Audubon Society, which looks at the number of species and the uniqueness and rarity of the species in areas.
The other two important bird areas in the county are around Lake Bomoseen and the Poultney River and East Bay in West Haven, although the difference between the areas, according to Marvin Elliott, the co-president of the Rutland County Audubon Society, is the accessibility of the West Rutland Marsh.
With dirt roads surrounding much of the marsh and walking trails going through areas of it, the opportunity to get close to the birds is greater than at many areas with a wide array of bird species.
"(Bird watchers) could see these species at many spots, but not the way they can see them in the West Rutland Marsh," Elliott said.
With dozens of different species calling the marsh home, there's always a number of native species at the marsh to view, although there's often other unique species spotted as well, Elliott said.
Many species can be found in the cattails during migration seasons because it's an ideal resting point on bird paths south in the fall and north when the weather warms up.
"When they're migrating, they go over a spot like that and stop because they can get an easy meal in it," he said. "As a matter of fact, right now there are a lot of red wing blackbirds there getting ready to migrate."
Wednesday morning, while walking around the marsh with his wife, Susan, Elliott said he saw an osprey fly across his path, although ospreys aren't known to nest in the marsh.
Although 136 species have been seen in the marsh by Audubon members, Elliott said, a person should expect to see about 35 different species in the marsh on any given day with a few hours of bird watching.
"Those (136) are the species seen there, but not necessarily that nest there. Some have only been seen once in five years," he said.
Elliott said approximately 190 bird species are known to nest in Vermont, the majority of which have been spotted in the West Rutland Marsh, and more than 300 birds have been seen nesting, migrating through or accidentally visiting the state.
What you can do:The next monitoring walk around a 3.7-mile section of the marsh is scheduled for 8 a.m. Oct 9 and, like all of the monthly walks, is open to the public.
Birder's World is a magazine about wild birds and bird watching published by Kalmbach Publishing Co. in Waukesha, Wisc. To read what Birders World has to say about the West Rutland Marsh and see the other 51 spots that made the list, visit their
http://www.birdersworld.com and click on "hotspots."
Contact Dawson Raspuzzi at
dawson.raspuzzi@rutlandherald.com.
Posted by Sheryl Rapee-Adams, Best Friends Network
Story reprinted from here with permission from the Rutland Herald
Photo by Jerry Segraves courtesy of National Park Service