aschwarz57's Journal

Date: 5/2/2024
Start Time: 14:45
End Time: 16:00
Location: Centennial Woods Natural Area
Weather: about 63 degrees, cloudy and windy, felt like it was going to rain
Habitat: mix of hardwood & coniferous stands, although most of the walk was done in a marshy area of Centennial with lots of reeds and short underbrush as well as along a stream.

Date: 4/22/2024
Start Time: 15:40
End Time: 17:00
Location: Centennial Woods Natural Area
Weather: bout 50 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, not very windy
Habitat: mix of hardwood and coniferous trees, some parts of the walk had a fair amount of underbrush but the majority of the area lacked sufficient underbrush

The Black-capped Chickadee that I was able to take photos of during this bird walk was actually transporting materials into/out of a hollow in a piece of standing deadwood. It looked like most of what the bird was doing was clearing out what was likely old nesting materials to then replace it with new linign. This is likely done to lower the risk of disease or parasites being passed to the chicks. Given the timing, it is likely that most chickadees in Centennial have already begun to lay their eggs, or will in the next couple of weeks. Black-capped Chickadees line their nests with bark, moss, feathers, and other soft, pliable materials. This individual likely wouldn't have too hard of a time finding these materials. The most difficult item to find would likely be the feathers/down used to line the nest.
While this Black-capped Chickadee was the only bird I saw actively building a nest, it definitely wasn't the only individual to be hard at work during my birding walk. However, I did hear (and very briefly see) a Red-bellied Woodpecker that was drumming at a potential nesting cavity. This individual was likely trying to attract a mate. However, it is fairly late for an individual to still be searching for a mate, so they could have been doing something else, as well. Either way, the area where this bird was drumming was an area of prime territory in Centennial Woods. There was plenty of standing dead wood, providing lots of opportunities to search for food, build nests, and cache found food, and there was lots of undergrowth and surrounding trees that would likely provide a steady supply of various tree nuts, seeds, and insects. Additionally, the area also included a small vernal pool and was alongside a river, so the individual could likely find amphibian larvae and frogs to eat, as well.
However, bird habitats vary greatly with the species. While this area was prime real estate for the Red-bellied Woodpecker I was observing (and likely would be for other species such as a Tufted Titmouse or Barred Owl, as well), another individual such as a Canada Goose, Red-tailed Hawk, or Chimney Swift would not be very interested in protecting this territory.

Date: 3/31/2024
Start Time: 12:05
End Time: 13:32
Location: Round Pond Natural Area, South Hero
Weather: about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny with only a few clouds
Habitat: deciduous lowlands, very near to Lake Champlain, lots of underbrush

Date: 3/25/2024
Start Time: 11:00
End Time: 12:00
Location: Bike trail off Queen City Park Road by the Humane Society of Chittenden County
Weather: about 48 degrees Fahrenheit, partially cloudy, not windy
Habitat:
For the majority of this walk I was on a paved bike path, and for the rest I was beside a road. Because of this, there wasn't that much nature, but was I did notice there was mostly deciduous trees. There was very little undergrowth. I also noted that there was a signficiant amount of staghorn sumac.

I unfortunately had to do this birding walk a little spontaneously, as I didn't have much time to do so, and because of that I didn't have my camera with me. Additionally, I was walking a dog, which isn't very conducive to going unnoticed (or at least being ignored) by the birds, and also made taking sound recordings very challenging. So, I unfortunately don't have many iNaturalist observations to link to this field journal.

While on my walk, I heard saw a Mourning Dove, 2 House Sparrows, 2 Red-winged Blackbirds (I believe), 1 Northern Cardinal, 1 American Crow, 4 Canada Geese, and lots of American Robins. I also believe I heard a European Starling. This list includes lots of year-round resident species (such as House Sparrows and Northern Cardinals) as well as facultative migrants like Red-winged Blackbirds and Canada Geese.

As a year-round resident of Vermont, Northern Cardinals have several behavioral and physiological adaptations that allow them to forego migration. One of the most obvious reasons for why Northern Cardinals don't migrate lies in food availability; while other species have to "follow the food", so to speak, Northern Cardinals are still able to find food in the winter. As ground foragers, their diet doesn't change much throughout the season as, while food may be a little more challenging to find, their normal diet of seeds, fruits, and insects is (mostly) still available. And, whenever they are struggling to find food, they can just head on over to a bird feeder. Northern Cardinals also puff up their feathers, flock together, and shiver to keep warm and save energy. Also, on especially cold nights they can drop their core body temperature to conserve energy.

On the other hand, Red-winged Blackbirds are facultative migrants that come to Vermont during the breeding season. Their year-round range actually includes the vast majority of the United States, and Vermont is one of few states that Red-winged Blackbirds aren't found in during the winter. Like most migrants, one of the main reasons these birds migrate is food availability. Unlike Northern Cardinals, this species has a harder time finding food in the winter in Vermont, and opts not to stay and try. Once food becomes more readily available, the birds head back up to Vermont, where there's plenty of food (and suitable nesting habitat) to raise their young come spring. One cool thing about Red-winged Blackbird migration is that they travel in gender-specific flocks, with females leaving about a month earlier than males in the fall, and vice versa in the spring. It's important to note that not all Red-winged Blackbirds migrate - there are plenty that live in warmer areas year round.

After doing a little bit of research (and math), I found several sources determining that, on average, Red-winged Blackbirds migrating from New England travel, on average, 500 miles. However, the females regularly travel farther than the males, so they probably travel closer to 650-700 miles. Popular winter destinations for this species include Mexico, Florida, South Carolina, and other Southeastern U.S. states. Canada Geese generally travel much farther during migration. Interestingly enough, those with the northern-most range also tend to travel the farthest south. During migration, they average around 1,000-1,500 miles per day,

Date: 3/3/2024
Start Time: 14:12
End Time: 16:35
Location: Centennial Woods Natural Area
Weather: About 48 degrees Fahrenheit, partially sunny, not overly windy.
Habitat(s):
The habitats I walked through during this birding walk were very similar to the ones that I walked through on my first ornithology field journal on 2/7/2024, which also took place in Centennial Woods. However, I chose not to walk through the more hardwood stands and instead spent the majority of my time in several coniferous stands that I had not walked through the last time. This was partially due to the mud, but I also just wanted to walk on a different path.

While the large majority of my sightings and photographs were taken in primarily coniferous stands, the first group of birds I stumbled upon (that I successfully photographed) were in a mixed stand fairly close to the marshy area near the stream that runs through Centennial. This is one of my favorite spots to sit and observe wildlife, as it seems to be a popular spot and there is a very convenient downed tree that I can sit on. In the past, I've even sighted a Barred Owl here a couple times, once even two at a time! In this spot, I observed a Hairy Woodpecker, 5 Black-capped Chickadees, and a Brown Creeper.

Later on in my birding walk, I found myself in a coniferous stand near the edge of the marsh where the Beaver Bridge is. Here, I observed and heard lots of birds, so I spent quite a lot of time here. In this spot, I observed 1 Tufted Titmouse, 1 Northern Cardinal, and 6 Black-capped Chickadees. I also believe that I was consistently hearing the call of a Carolina Wren. However, I was unable to catch a sighting of it as the environment I was in had pretty low visibility due to all of the reeds. Here, I took some time to focus specifically on how the birds were communicating. It seemed that the Carolina Wren was acting as a bit of a lookout. Whenever I got too near a bird, they had something to say about it, and all of the birds would immediately flock to the trees or somewhere they deemed to be more safe. Later on, I also spent some time watching how several groups of Black-capped Chickadees interacted. I think it's really cool to watch them, as they tend to just flit around each other. I observed this same behavior in the groups of Black-capped Chickadees as I did earlier with the Carolina Wren. Whenever I got too close, one of the chickadees would make their stereotypical 'chickadee-dee-dee' call. I've included the calls of two different Black-capped Chickadees, the Carolina Wren, and a Northern Cardinal in this journal post.

Some of the birds that I heard throughout my walk also included a Blue Jay, 4 American Crows, 2 more Black-capped Chickadees, 2 more Northern Cardinals, and what I believe to be a Fish Crow. Other noticeable bird sightings were many, many Black-capped Chickadees (as shown by the amount of photos I took of them). In this time, I saw about 12 more Black-capped Chickadees, bringing my counted total to 26. I also saw a flock of Canada Geese flying above me as I was exiting the woods, 5 American Crows (all around the same time), 2 additional Tufted Titmice (around what I believe to be a nest), and a Pileated Woodpecker. I was really excited to see the Pileated Woodpecker, and something that was really fascinating about this sighting was that it was in almost the exact same spot as a prior sighting of a Pileated Woodpecker on 2/11/2024. While I obviously do not know if these two sightings are the same bird, I think it's really intriguing that they were in such similar spots. I leaned against a tree and watched this bird for quite a while, and something I've noticed both times is that they don't seem to get startled easily. I could snap twigs and talk all I want, they just didn't move. While I didn't video the Pileated Woodpecker this time, I did the last time, so if you scroll down just a bit in my observations, it should be there.

Two different bird species that I observed on my walk with differing plumages are that of the Black-capped Chickadee and the Pileated Woodpecker. Their plumages and general body vary greatly; Black-capped Chickadees are significantly smaller with short bills and their plumage coloring includes shades of gray, black, white, and buff. On the other hand, Pileated Woodpeckers are significantly larger with large bills, and their plumage is mostly black, with some white stripes (especially on underwings) and a distinctive red crest. With this plumage and body shape, it is probable that a Black-capped Chickadee blends in significantly better, which makes sense considering this species is prey for more animals than a Pileated Woodpecker is. Additionally, I find that I observe Black-capped Chickadees pretty much exclusively in flocks, while I have never seen two Pileated Woodpeckers at the same time. The chickadees were foraging, while the Pileated Woodpecker was pecking at a piece of standing deadwood. I would expect to find a flock of Black-capped Chickadees foraging, as that's what they seem to do most of the time.

Whenever I stumbled upon a small foraging flock of chickadees, I did try the sphishing activity. They seemed a little attracted at first, but after they came closer and noticed me they quickly found the nearest tree. While my spishing definitely wasn't the greatest (after all, I can't even whistle or make duck calls) it seemed to work a little. The action of spishing works because it is mimicking the scolding call of other birds. Whenever you successfully make this sound, songbirds pop up out of seemingly nowhere (and everywhere) looking for the predator that supposedly exists.

Date: 2/17/2024
Start Time: 13:54
End time: 15:57
Location: Rock Point
Weather: Partially sunny, slightly windy, about 27 degrees Fahrenheit
Habitat(s):
During my time at Rock Point, I found myself walking through a variety of different habitats. The most noticeable of these (and the one where I found myself capturing photos of and hearing the most birds) was that of the Northern White Cedars found at the top of Rock Point. These trees are significantly shorter than other trees in the area due to the harsh winds, and this makes it a lot easier to see and take photos of the birds. However, it is pretty noisy due to the wind, so it was harder to hear the birds than it would be in other circumstances. While on top of the main Rock Point lookout area, I saw 5 Black-capped Chickadees, a Downy Woodpecker, and a White-breasted Nuthatch. In a similarly forested area, I saw a group of 5 American Robins (that I could successfully count), although they were unfortunately moving around too much and in too challenging of a spot for me to be able to get a photo of them without going off trail. Additionally, I also saw 3 other Black-capped Chickadees, 2 American Crows, and a Blue Jay in other, more varied areas as I was walking around. Right as I was about to get in the car, I also saw a bird flying overhead that I believe to be some species of hawk. However, I am not overly confident in this identification, as I do not know much about identifying hawks and also do not have sufficient experience doing so.

Unfortunately, the area that I did this survey in did not have as many snags as an area like Centennial Woods would, likely due to how short the trees are on top of Rock Point and also that the strong winds are likely to displace any snags rather quickly. However, I did notice that the areas that did have more/larger cavities also tended to be where I observed or heard the most birds.

Snags serve lots of uses to a variety of species. Obviously, the first species that comes to mind is woodpeckers, whether it be a Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker (that I saw on this walk), Hairy Woodpecker, or a Northern Flicker, to name just a few, because these are the species that are actually creating the cavities. Other creatures such as the Eastern Bluebird, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, European Starling, House Sparrow, Brown Creeper, and various squirrels and owls are secondary cavity nesters.

A lot of bird species change their lifestyles during the winter. For example, American Robins change their diet from primarily protein-rich invertebrates such as earthworms and insects to fruits and berries such as junipers and hollies that are rich in vitamins. Additionally, American Robins (which are fiercely territorial in the warmer seasons) become much more nomadic. Many species have similar adaptations, as well.

Overall, my birding walk at Rock Point was a great experience, although I didn’t observe quite as many birds as I did during my Centennial Walk. However, the geology was significantly cooler, there were lots of icicles in very strange places, and there were some absolutely beautiful views!

Date: 2/7/2024
Start Time: 14:02
End Time: 15:21
Location: Centennial Woods Natural Area
Weather: about 35 degrees Fahrenheit, fairly sunny, not overly windy
Habitat(s):
The area that I surveyed was primarily coniferous (with lots of Eastern White pines), although I did walk through a few hardwood and mixed stands, as well. I observed the majority of 2 Tufted Titmice, 2 Black-capped Chickadees, and a White-breasted Nuthatch in the same general area (the area was approximately the size of a circle with a diameter of 25 meters). In the more mixed stand, I observed three different Hairy Woodpeckers, 3 more Black-capped Chickadees, and another Tufted Titmouse. This is also where I observed the bird that I was unable to ID. I also heard what I believe was the call of a Downy Woodpecker and a Red-breasted Nuthatch (although I could have just confused it with that of a White-breasted one), and possibly a Pine Siskin as well, although I am not very familiar with that call so I am not very confident on that observation. Additionally, I did see what I believe to be a Brown Creeper, but I was unfortunately unable to get a sound recording or photo of it. I did notice (after looking through my photos) that while this area was most definitely a mixed stand, a lot of my photos were taken of birds on Eastern White pines or standing deadwood (assuming my tree ID is correct), which I thought was interesting. While walking through Centennial Woods, I also spotted two American Crows (and heard many more) but I did not get a good enough photo of them to log it as an observation.

Overall, I really enjoyed my hour and change that I spent in Centennial Woods this past week. Besides the few times where I almost slipped on the extremely icy paths (and the paranoia of breaking my camera if I were to slip), I had a really great time observing the wildlife of the area. I did notice that it seemed a lot easier for me to hear, catch sight of, and identify the birds than previous adventures I have had in Centennial Woods, although this could just be because I was more focused on birds and actively searching them out.

While on my walk, I also climbed a little ways up into a tree and sat there for a while, attempting to take better photos of some Black-capped Chickadees. While I was not able to do this successfully, I did have a really fun time watching a group of three of these fascinating birds interacting with each other. These birds seemed to flap their wings quite frequently as they left their perch on a branch, twirled around for a moment, and then found their way back to their perch), and were making lots of noise, although this could be because they were in a group. This contrasted significantly with my observations of the Hairy Woodpeckers I saw. Whenever these birds choose to switch to another piece of standing deadwood (likely because I got too close to them) they flapped their wings far fewer times, and were definitely less chatty. But, once again, these were singular Hairy Woodpeckers and a group of Black-capped Chickadees.

Another moment that stuck out during my birding adventure was that the Hairy Woodpeckers let me get surprisingly close to them. During this time, I also snagged some photos of an Eastern Gray Squirrel (that refused to turn around and let me get a photo of its face no matter how hard I tried) and an American Red Squirrel, which I do not believe I had ever actually seen in person before!