Diario de jpleonar

For my first bird walk, I went to Centennial Woods Natural Area on Friday, January 29. I entered the woods around 2:00pm from the entrance just past UVM Police Services. The strategy that I adopted for this walk was to select spots in the woods with different tree species, percent canopy cover, and elevation in order to see how these factors might affect what species of birds are present. My first location for silent observation was in an area with a moderate amount of understory and mature white pines spaced far apart. I immediately spotted two Black-capped Chickadees which flitted from tree top to tree top. I watched them for approximately ten minutes, also hearing several other deep guttural calls off in the distance which sounded like Common Raven.

My next observation point was located at a slightly higher elevation than the first and had denser vegetation dominated by eastern hemlock and a much less developed understory. Once I started my observation, two small birds immediately caught my eye. They were small and gray with a crest and a chickadee-like body shape. This lead me to be able to identify them as Tufted Titmice. The birds exhibited very curious behavior and hopped from tree to tree, chirping in my direction. Soon they were joined by three more Titmice and also a few Black-capped Chickadees. After a fair amount of observation, I moved on to another observation point located at yet a higher elevation on top of a plateau. The tree cover was more open and mainly composed of hardwoods. I heard the distinct call of a Pileated Woodpecker, but never saw it. I then was able to make out the deep croaking of a Common Raven which soon flew overhead. The diamond-shaped tail provided further confirmation that it was in fact a Common Raven and not an American Crow.

My final observation point was located on the down-slope on the other side of the plateau that served as my previous observation site. It was at this location that I was able to spot five American Crows from a far distance. The tail shape, and harsh cawing is what enabled me to identify them to species. In addition, I think it is important to note that they were headed west toward Lake Champlain. I hypothesize that they may have been flying toward one of the common roosts which crows are known to congregate at during the nighttime.

My second bird watch took place at Clover Hill Wildlife Management Area in Strafford, Vermont. The 506 acre WMA is heavily forested with eastern hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis), red maple (Acer rubrum), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), and eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). My observation took place over on a transect, however, not a traditional one. There was no organized method or procedure that I followed while doing observation. I was also observing fisher (Martes pennant), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), and porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) tracks in the snow which is what ultimately dictated the areas and distances I traveled inside the WMA. This transect began at approximately 2:30pm and extended to 4:25pm.

Upon arrival to the site, before entering the WMA itself, I first spotted a White-breasted Nuthatch at a bird feeder next to the parking area. Initially I heard the birds nasally call which I instantly recognized as a nuthatch. I then turned around to see the bird hopping up the tree trunk, a behavior that characterizes this particular avian species. I was able to identify it as the White-Breasted Nuthatch for the obvious reason that the breast was white and not red. Accompanying the White-breasted Nuthatch at the feeder were three Black-capped Chickadees which were emitting the chickadee-dee-dee alarm calls. After observing these birds for a couple of minutes, I headed out across a field and into the forest of the WMA. It was here that I saw a couple of American Crows which were approximately 100 yards away from me above the tree line. They had a linear flight pattern and I was able to distinguish them from Common Raven by the shape of their tail.

The next bird that I saw was a sole Pileated Woodpecker. I looked up through some eastern hemlock trees to see the bird flying directly overhead, just above the tree canopy. I recognized it as a Pileated Woodpecker due to the ballistic flight pattern in which the bird beats its wings and then drops slightly to then beat them again. The woodpecker had black and white plumage as well as a red crest on top of its head. In addition, I noticed that this Pileated Woodpecker was particularly small in comparison to others I have seen in the past.