3/12/2019 - Clayhead Trail and Sachem Pond, Block Island, Rhode Island

The time when I started my observation walk was 4:30 PM on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. The weather was sunny with no clouds and very warm for the season at approximately 5 degrees Celsius / 41 degrees . I began my observation walk by heading up Clayhead Trail to a clearing with prominent snags and dead trees at the edge of a mowed field in order to complete the mini activity.

There were approximately five snags in total, located at the south-western edge of the clearing. I did not see any birds when I approached the trees, nor when I knocked on a few of them with my walking stick. However, I did see that several of the snags had cavities of varying sizes, including a hollow trunk with fresh feces around the bottom. Snags have varying uses for different species of birds, but each use is essential in its own way. A snag can provide cavities for nesting and shelter, insects to forage, a place to perch while hunting, and a place for food storage. Some of the birds which utilize snags and can be found on Block Island include various species of woodpeckers, who utilize them as a source of food, Blue Jays, who may use them to store food, and Black-capped Chickadees, who use cavities as winter shelter and nesting.

I didn’t see many birds on the Clayhead Trail, although I heard many calls including both the crow and alarm calls of the male ring-necked pheasant. I’m not sure why I didn’t see more birds directly, although I think it might be because of how warm it was and where the trail was located. Since it ran through a mowed field, the birds that I had heard were probably foraging off in the dense shad and underbrush where there was more winter food to be had. Going back up Corn Neck Road towards Sachem Pond, I had more luck. In the pond itself was a group of Whistling Swans, eight in total in four pairs. Some of them were sleeping with their heads under their wings while floating on the water, and some of them were dabbling for food. Since Sachem Pond is brackish, it rarely freezes over in the winter, and was probably attractive to them as a source of the water plants that they eat. The last notable bird that I saw was a male Red-winged Blackbird sitting on the top of a phragmite plant that was just strong enough to support his weight, and he had his feathers up on end as another adaptation to beat the winter temperature. This provides an added layer of thermal protection from the cold wind.

Publicado el 17 de marzo de 2019 a las 02:22 AM por ivdupont