kevtolan's Journal

On Wednesday, Thursday 9th at 12:30, three friends and I went to Burlington’s Urban Reserve to walk down toward North Beach. It was a warm 55°F day with mild wind. The path was relatively crowded with joggers, bikers, and dog walkers, and there was a loud, active construction site next to the skate park as well.

Being along the lakeshore, I was hoping to get a nice look at either some birds of prey or shorebirds. However, there was a noticeable lack of movement along the shore and jetties. The beach, which leads off from the path, was deserted; we sat and relaxed for a bit, enjoying the weather, while observing for a hopeful sighting but didn't have any sightings there. I attribute this to the high level of noise in the park that day. Even from the beach, the quietest location we found, we could still hear pedestrians on the path and, even worse when bird watching, dogs barking.

Apart from Common Grackles, Crows, and House Finches we had no other sightings. However, I did hear a Cardinal and Tufted Titmouse.

The Finches were foraging among high grasses on an abandoned lot in a group of 5-10. As it was such a warm day, they likely could focus their energy on feeding rather than preserving body heat. Also, the fact that they were foraging in a small flock indicates that there were probably abundant seeds. Without snow covering the ground, they don’t need to rely on artificial feeders and harder to find food sources and can simply forage on the ground.

Crows were also demonstrating springtime behavior. In large flocks they were flying overhead. In the winter they gather in large groups at food-heavy locations, so they were probably migrating back to their home ranges.

Over spring break, I knew I wanted to do some birding. Luckily, on Marche 13th, the day before Winter Storm Stella, I got an opportunity to. In Maine, I live within walking distance from a large nature preserve, called Sewell Woods, that extends from a woods to a nature preserve (Thorne Head) with an overlook over the Kennebec River. It was relatively warm and overcast, with little to no wind. Prior to Sewell Woods I went to the waterfront at 2 separate places in hopes of seeing some waterfowl, however the bays I stopped at were all filled with ice, so I wasn't too hopeful about seeing any birds on the water or hunting on the shore.

Upon parking at Sewell Woods, I quickly realized that it was absolutely deserted. This, of course, was welcome to me, being I was alone and wanted to be as unimposing as possible to see as many birds as possible. Surprisingly to me, I didn't see any birds in my first 15 minutes of walking, despite walking as quietly as possible, and keeping my eyes aimed skyward.

Eventually, I considered turning back. I stopped walking and stood still for around 5 minutes. I heard a faint "tap-tap-tap-tap" on a tree. I took my binoculars out, and looked around. Eventually I found the source of the noise: a downy woodpecker! I first noticed it on one tree and observed it from the base while it hammered away. Several minutes later, it flew to a nearby tree and continued to peck the trunk.

It's foraging behavior is in line with the impending storm. It's similar behavior to what I've observed in song birds around campus before storms: frantic foraging with seemingly no other objective except gorging. The Downy I observed has similar countershading to numerous other species, likely as an anti-predation measure. The Downy also has "messy" plumage on its head, which is different than other birds, such as the Grackle I saw last post, which look much slicker with few, if any, feathers not laid flat.

Using an Audubon bird call (https://www.amazon.com/Audubon-RE2473-Bird-Call/dp/B0002E1MWO), I tried to illicit a response. While I didn't get an auditory response, it did momentarily stop drilling for several seconds and looked around quickly. This didn't last long, however, and I was only able to generate this response once.