Field Journal #5
Bailey Smith
April 5th, 2021
This bird watch took place in both Shelburne VT and Ferrisburgh VT. The temperature was 49 degrees, sunny skies, and 3 mph wind from the south. I saw a total of 3 bird species. These included the Eastern Turkey, Black-capped Chickadee and Canada Goose. All three of these bird species stay around for the winter. The Eastern Turkey and the Black-capped Chickadee are the only species that I observed that do not migrate simply because they do not fly long distance. Eastern Turkeys get around on foot and Black-capped Chickadees simply just don't migrate. Canada Geese do migrate though. They migrate when they are molting and during breeding season. You tend to see these big migrations in the spring and fall months. When geese start migrating north in the spring, they are molting and getting ready to fly back to Canada. Their molting stage of loosing feathers allows them stand warmer climates, instead of cold climates such as Canada where they are from. The Canada Goose’s down feathers are what help them to stay warm in cold climates. When geese aren’t in Canada, you tend to see them a lot on large bodies of water, such as lakes and large ponds. Their webbed feet help them to better support themselves on land and also help them to swim. A facultative migrant that may be leaving Burlington these next few days might be the Canada Goose, which also happens to be a species that I encountered. The Canadian Geese are coming from down south and are headed back up to Canada. They are doing this because the weather is getting too warm for them and they are going back to their local breeding grounds. You will only see a few geese stick around during this time of year and throughout the summer, because they are the local geese. What sticks out to me for what has changed in the environment to facilitate their arrival in Burlington is the temperature. With the rising temperatures, Canadian Geese are coming here earlier because it is so warm.
Mini Activity- Frequent Flyer: As you assemble your species list, use a trusted ornithology resource (a.k.a. All About Birds or Birds of The World species accounts) to determine the general wintering range for each species you encounter. With the aid of Google Maps or Google Earth, determine a rough straight-line distance between your site and the species’ wintering location. On a napkin or the back of an envelope, add up the rough total miles traveled by all the facultative and obligate migrants that have recently arrived at your natural area for your personal observation!
According to All About Birds, The Canadian Goose winters in the southern region of the United States. It was kind of hard to figure out which point in southern United States to make the straight line from, but I made it from one of the closest points to Burlington. I made a straight line from Tennessee to Burlington and it was about 1200 miles.
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