aschwarz57's Journal

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: 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,