Ornithology Field Journal 2/7/2024
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!
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