Diario de ajchagnon

On February 18, 2020 at 3:30 pm I went out into the field for bird observations. The weather was very windy at about 18 mph. The temperature was at 35 degrees fahrenheit and it was a very cloudy and gloomy afternoon. My location of choice was in Fairfield, Vermont on a secluded camp road. The road is heavily lined with hemlock and pine trees. In one section it opens up to a field with short brush and sumac trees with a few large deciduous trees as well. During the duration of the time I was in the field observing birds I first saw a total of four Black-capped Chickadees. They were all located in the same general area along a stream leading to a pond. Three of the four birds stayed stationary along the stems of the brush around the stream, but one was caught in flight going towards the others. Their flight speed is very fast with quick beating wings. Another flock of birds that were small white with dark grey pattern along their wings that I was unable to identify, flew by quickly in a group of about a dozen towards a barn that was off in the distance. Their flight was fast as well but with slower wing beats changing elevations. A Red-tailed Hawk was stationary on a branch of a large oak tree. When it spotted me, it took off into flight with its flight pattern being a about two flaps and then gliding over and over until it found its next tree to perch on. The Black-capped Chickadee and the Red-tailed Hawk have very different flight patterns. The Black-capped Chickadee being very fast moving and quick beating wings, while the Red-tailed Hawk had slow flapping wings and glided through the air. The flight pattern of the Red-tailed Hawk could be somewhat compared to the unidentified flock of bird’s flight pattern because of their two flaps and their gliding motion but the flock of small birds was in a significantly faster motion. The flight pattern of the Red-tailed Hawk being a larger gliding bird along with the group of unidentified birds that glided briefly were both in open areas. They were both located in a clearing with low brush and a few large trees around. The Black-capped Chickadee quick flight motion could benefit it because it was in an area that was tight with a lot of brush. Because of the weather and it being very windy in the time I was outside, could reflect on the birds that were out at the time. Only seeing a few different groups of birds in an area that I am very familiar with that is normally highly populated with a diversity bird species, shows me that next time I go into the field for observations to choose a day that has better weather and less windy. The mini activities of creating a sketch of a songbird in the field helped me pay attention to detail in the bird. When I first drew an outline It looked very plain and like any other bird but when I got into the field I was fortunate enough to have a Black-capped Chickadee stay in place for me to sketch its details. It made it clear the different colors that are present in the bird from the striking black head, to the white belly with brown tints, and grey tints in their wings.