April 27th, Burlington Country Club

On Thursday, April 27th at around 10:30am a friend and I walked over to the wooded portion of Burlington Country Club (BCC). It was a very warm and slightly breezy day. There was lots of Chickadee chatter throughout the property. We saw the Cardinal and Woodpecker in a large central patch of woods that was surrounded by golfing greens. There were also large amount of various crows, gulls, and other birds.

In addition being more visible than in past months, the birds were much more vocal. A chorus of Chickadees sung throughout the grounds with an abundance on unidentified birds. The Cardinal, while silent, was making itself highly visible on high, bare branches. There were many cavities in trees, which could be used for nesting, and visible nests which seemed to emanate calls, leading us to believe there may be nestlings or an incubating parent in residence. The cavities were likely utilized by cavity nesters, such as Woodpeckers.

I image the quality of territory on the golf course to vary based on species. For instance, birds that live in an edge ecosystem or feed on worms, etc, such as Robins, may fair very well on a golf course. However, birds that live in continuous, mature forests wouldn't find good habitat on a golf course. There is plenty of nesting material available for nest builders. Apart from natural fibers, there are lots of artificial fibers from various golf equipment. For example, fabrics or threads from golfing bags and gloves. There was also a decent amount of dog hair, which is frequently used for nest building, as BCC allows dogs on its premises.

Posted on 28 April, 2017 16:48 by