Diario de miakosel

I went to Oakledge Park in Burlington on April 19th, 2019. I got there around noon and stayed till 2. It was a very nice day – temperatures in the high 60s but a storm was coming in so there were some clouds. I walked the trails an also sat on a high ledge overlooking the water to do the mini activity and also try to observe some water birds.
The first bird I observed was a Northern Cardinal hopping around in some trees in the open area of the park. The Northern Cardinal was singing very loudly and proudly. I would believe that he was trying to find a mate. I heard a few other Northern Cardinals in the distance singing. He was easy to locate with his bright red feathers. I then saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch a bit into the trail. I noticed a few more Nuthatches moving around through the trees. One of the Red-breasted Nuthatches was singing very rapidly and loudly – seemly a mating call. I then heard a Brown Creeper song. I looked around to try to locate it and saw a few Brown Creepers up on a tree trunk. There was one that was singing loudly – he was likely trying to attract a mate. I then saw a fluster of the Brown Creepers moving about in the tree. It is possible I was witnessing some competition between the male Brown Creepers for a mate.
When thinking about questions in the prompt in regard to these three species, there are differences and similarity between all their reproduction behavior. Male birds singing loudly is often an attempt to find a mate. Over the past few weeks, I have noticed more and more bird calls around me. This is due to breeding seasons starting for birds and thus there is a lot more vocalization. Bird species have unique courting displays and behaviors. Male birds that have high fitness will be more likely to find a mate and successfully reproduce. Along with competitions for mates, there is also competition for the best nesting spot and the best territory. Some areas are better for nesting and the birds will fight for the best spot. I did observe a lot of commotion in the forested area around the woods on my walk. I did not see any birds physically nesting, but the first three birds I witnessed I do know have different nesting preferences. I have learned that nest habitats vary greatly between birds. Brown Creepers built their nests on tree trunks, usually snags or other dying trees. Northern Cardinals built cup-like nests in dense shrubs and similar vegetation. Red-breasted Nuthatches make nests in tree stumps of snags creating a cavity for the eggs. All these three species have very different nesting behavior. This allows for different niches within the forest.
After walking through the trails, I sat on a high ledge overlooking Lake Champlain. I saw two Herring Gulls fly around the sky – often swooping down towards the water. I also saw two Wood Ducks flying through the sky and then eventually land by the shore. I also did the mini-activity at this spot while watching the water. I heard the Herring Gulls making some noise while flying and I could also see them, so I placed them on the circle I had drawn. The area behind where I was sitting was pretty forested and I could hear many bird vocalizations. It was a bit tricky to figure out exactly where the songs were coming from because I could not see the birds and the songs were getting jumbled together making it hard to identify. I could clearly hear at least two European Starlings. I also heard a Tufted Titmouse. This was an interesting activity to do as I found it challenging to figure out where to put the song on my paper. I also had a hard time trying to figure out how many birds I could hear due to the volume of songs.

I went to Ethan Allen Homestead Park area on April 7th, 2019 around 5pm for this birding trip. The weather was slightly overcast and about 50 degrees. This field observation prompt was all about migration so I kept that in mind when I was out looking for birds. This is an exciting time of the year because the migratory birds are starting to return to northern Vermont. I was hoping to see some bird species that recently migrated back.
I first spotted an American Robin by the homestead area before I headed into the more forested area. The American Robin was picking around at the dirt, most likely looking for food. American Robins are year-round residents here so this bird likely has been around this area all winter. I would think that the ground not being frozen would benefit the American Robin as it can search for insects and such in the dirt. Throughout the winter, it was probably more difficult for the American Robins to find food and would have to rely on a lot of berries to keep their caloric intake up. I also noticed when comparing the American Robin to ones I saw months ago, this one was more active and not puffed up. I know that birds have several strategies for keeping warm and surviving in the winter months. One strategy is fluffing up to minimize heat loss. Birds have other behavior adaptations to staying warm in the winter such as huddling together and nesting in trees or bushes that block out some of the elements. Birds can also go into facultative hypothermia or torpor by dropping their body temperature extremely. I continued my walk away from the Homestead Museum and down by a more wooded area that was also close to the Winooski River. As a walked closer to the river edge I spotted a Pileated Woodpecker on a tree trunk. Another species I have been observing all winter long. As I got closer to it, I must have spooked it, and it flew away before I could get a picture. I then heard a Northern Cardinal vocalizing somewhere nearby. I tried to locate the bird but was unable to, but recorded some audio of it. When I got to the river bank I saw two Mallards swimming around in the river. Mallards are another year-round species here that are able to survive the cold winters through adaptations. The Mallard has enough body fat to not freeze.
I continued on my walk away from the river and got to an area with some more trees. I heard a Red-winged Blackbird call and then looked around and saw the bird perched in a tree. The Red-winged Blackbird is a bird that migrates from Vermont. I did some research and read that the male Red-winged Blackbird arrives back up north before the females do. They also migrate around 500 miles south in the fall. 500 miles south of here would be a warmer environment than Vermont in early March. Even though it is springtime here the weather is still very variable and we have had some cold days. I would imagine that it is an adjustment for the birds to arrive back here in early spring. Although the weather is still slightly cold the ground is thawing and the trees are beginning to bud, and wildlife is becoming more active. All of these components allow for the birds to do okay in the northern climates. Different species of birds migrate in different ways. Facultative migratory birds may or may not migrate depending on conditions and often migrate different places while obligate migratory birds migrate at the same time each year and return to the same places on either side of the migration. Both migration strategies can be seen in long-distance migrants and short-distance migrants but often long-distance migrants are obligate migrants.
I kept on walking and saw three Common Grackles but was unable to get a good picture of them. Common Grackles are another migrant bird. They migrate from Vermont to more southern states. I went to Florida a few weeks ago and saw hundreds and hundreds of Common Grackles and after further research discovered that they are year-round residents of Florida. When I looked at migratory maps for Common Grackles I noticed that in southern Vermont, they can be permanent residents while in northern Vermont they just spend the breeding season. Migration depends on the daylight along with resource availability. As the days become longer birds start preparing for the mating season and migrate back north. The photoperiod is critical in the bird’s migratory behavior. For some of the obligate bird species they do not return north for a bit longer, but some have already returned. There are both advantages and disadvantages for birds to return in early spring. When arriving early there is less food and resources available due to the variable weather and growing season. One of the advantages of early migration is having more territory and nesting options. If birds arrive too late in the migratory period, it may be challenging for them to locate a good nesting spot for the breeding season. Food and nesting area are the two main drivers of migration and Vermont in the winter has limited food options.

Last week I embarked on my next birding adventure. I traveled through the Old North End neighborhood of Burlington towards the Intervale road. The weather was fair with temperatures are about 34 degrees and a mostly clear sky with a few clouds. I first saw an American Crow flying around by the street and onto the nearby buildings. I observed what it was doing to try to answer one of the questions for this exercise. I witnessed the bird hopping across the building’s roof and then flying onto the sidewalk in front of me and then picking at some food that appeared to be dropped on the sidewalk. I was not able to make out what sort of food it was as the bird picked it up and retreated to the roof. I would assume that birds that winter in Vermont have to rely on foraging for most of their food. I have seen many birds come to my bird feeder outside my apartment and watching this American Crow pick at food from the sidewalk seemed to support this.
I saw two Mourning Doves sitting on the telephone wires overhead. They were not moving much and seemed to be resting. They were also not vocalizing. Next, I saw a Ring-billed Gull fly overhead. I was able to identify this bird as it scooped closer to me and I was able to see the black ring around the bird’s bill. I have been noticing more Gulls away from the lake shore and deeper into my neighborhood recently. I wonder if they have been having to scavenge for food recently due to the frozen lake and this is what caused more to come inland.
When I got on to the Intervale Road I sat on a bench that overlooked the sloping forest on the edge of the Winooski River. I saw a few of White-breasted Nuthatches perching on the trees and also jumping and flying between trees. They were close enough to me I could make out their coloration and defining characteristics but all the photos I took were too blurry when zoomed in. I took a look at their plumage and noticed that they blended in with the trees. When the birds would perch on the trunk with their head down and their white underside not exposed it was hard to make them out. I then compared this to American Crow I saw earlier. The American Crow was completely black which stood out among the streets and backdrop. The American Crow was very obviously seen while the Nuthatch had some camouflaging abilities. Perhaps the American Crow has less of a need for camouflage because of their large size and omnivore diet.
I tried to pishing exercise when I was watching the White-breasted Nuthatches. Before I did any pishing I listened to how the birds were communicating. I heard one Nuthatch doing a call and then one of the other responding then hopping over. They seemed to be calling for each other to come together. I am not sure what the real reason why they were communicating about but it was nice to hear some bird chatter while watching them be so active. I did some pishing noises and it seemed to catch the birds attention. To my surprise, after I did the pishing I saw two more White-breasted Nuthatches appear. I do not know if they were reacting to me or reconnecting with the other ones. I gave it some thought to why birds react to pishing. I think they could be a few different factors and different species may react in different ways. One thought is that the pishing noise is similar to the bird’s typical vocalization and the birds will be interested in the noises as they think something is happening. Another possible reason would be the birds are unfamiliar with the noise but it has a similar rhythm to bird calls so it interests them. The birds might just be trying to figure out what the noise is and what is making it.
After spending some time observing the Nuthatches moving around in the trees I continued my walk and saw a Pileated Woodpecker at a bird feeder outside somebody’s house. This was pretty neat because I was able to get pretty close to the bird as it was focused on getting seeds out of the feeder. I also was able to identify an American Robin first by its distinctive song and then locate it based on where the song was coming from. Overall it was a fun afternoon seeing some common birds. It was nice and stop to observe the bird’s behavior and the evolutional behavior that has helped them survive the winter in Vermont.

I went to the lakeside path that connects the waterfront park by ECHO and north beach. I traveled this path often this summer to head to the beach but have not been down there since the winter started. I heading down around noon and spent 90 minutes strolling the path looking for birds and enjoy weather that was not freezing. It was in the high 20s but pretty sunny with some mild wind coming off the lake. I had not been done by the lake for a while so it was nice to check out the winter landscape.
I kept my eyes out for snags and saw a couple. Snags are very critical habitat elements because they provide cavities and nesting areas for birds and other small woodland critters. I noticed that some large snags had many different cavities with varying sizes. The ones I saw were off the path so I was unable to rap on it. I did notice a single Downy Woodpecker on one snag. It was not pecking but just hanging out. It wasn’t moving around much so took me a while to notice it but when I tried to take a picture with just my phone I could not get a good enough one. I did have some not great binoculars so could tell it was a Downy Woodpecker and not a Hairy Woodpecker. I kept walking the path and was enjoying the quiet atmosphere as there were not too many people on the path.
I saw five American Crows but heard quite a bit of “cawing” so it is very possible there were additional crows. I have seen so many crows recently so I have gotten very used to the constant cawing. It is very nice that I am now familiar with several common Vermont’s bird calls as every morning I get woken up from bird calls and I can now confidently identify the call. Most morning I hear a Black-capped Chickadee and American Crows, but this morning I also heard a few Northern Cardinals. The bird’s calls are increasing I have noticed with the phonological changes. I have been honing my bird call identification which came in handy on my birding expedition. I heard both a Black-capped Chickadee and an American Robin. It is possible there were several of each species but it was a bit tricky to tell. Unfortunately, at this point, my cell phone died so I could not many pictures or audio recordings but thankfully I had my field notebook so I could collect information on the birds I could ID. I was able to get a recording of the Black-capped Chickadee. When I was almost done with my birding trip I saw a European Starling fly overhead and then land on a nearby tree. It was a bit tricky to ID in flight but I was able to notice its distinctive plumage. Once the bird landed I was able to get a pretty good luck at it and confirm my in-flight ID. I also saw some other birds flying over the lake but they were a bit too far away to truly identify even with the binoculars but it was nice to see some bird activity.
I did not see any birds eating or hunting and noticed that some of the birds I saw were just sitting fairly still. This could be caused by cold weather and the time of the day. I think next time I go birding I will go closer to dawn or dusk to hopefully see more action. Overall it was a nice hour and a half of immerse nature and I enjoyed seeing the birds I could locate.

On February 8th, 2019 I ventured off for my birding adventure for the field observation assignment. I decided to go to Centennial Woods in Burlington as I thought I would see more bird than I would see in downtown Burlington where my house is. That was not the case. The weather was mild this day, as I headed into the woods around 2:30 pm it was about 37 degrees. It was pretty cloudy and overcast but not raining. The ground was covered in snow and ice but thankfully I had on my micro-spikes to avoid slipping. Armed with a camera and binoculars I ventured into the woods to my first location. A mostly open valley with some fallen trees and some standing snags. I silently sat for about 15 minutes listening and watching for movement. I saw no birds but heard at least one Black-capped Chickadee. I left that location and headed to the highest point I could find, on top of a ridge, and sat again and listened and watched. I then heard some cawing and looked up to see three American Crows fly above me. I could hear more cawing around me and saw a few birds in the distance which appeared to be American Crows as well.
I waited and listened for a while longer but did not see or hear any evidence of birds. Centennial woods was eerily quiet this afternoon. I saw a couple of dogs on walks, but no signs of wildlife other than the Black-capped Chickadee and the American Crows. I think it is possible I did not see many birds in the woods as I went when many birds aren’t feeding or moving around much. I would imagine there would be more activity at dawn or dusk.
I left the woods and started to head back to my house. I thought I was done birding but was still keeping a watchful eye. I noticed some movement next to a house. Directly below a bird feeder, there was some fallen seed which had attracted some House Sparrows. I saw five in total but was able to get a picture of two of them. I observed them making some “chih” noises. When I arrived back to my house I saw a Dark-eyed Junco come to my bird feeder. It was a clever little bird, it kept grabbing a few seeds and then hopping away from the feeder and then hopping closer for some more. Although I did not see these birds in the woods, I was still excited to get to see the species we were learning about in class out in the world.

I kept in mind the field assignment and watched how the American Crows were flying as they were the only birds I was able to see in flight this outing. The American Crows I saw were easily identified by sight and sound but the ones further in the distance were a bit harder to id without looking into the binoculars. I was watching how the crows were flying and noticed how they appeared to glide smoothly between trees but they also had longer flight moments when they were beating their wings in a big motion. The wings beat fast but in a smooth manner. I have seen an abundance of crows recently as they have been large group roasts right outside of my house almost every night. We hear the crows coming in and then see large swarms of them heading to the trees in the evening – it is pretty neat to see. The crows seemed to use the gliding motion without much flapping to change perches or move to a nearby tree, but in flight, they can move quite quickly with their flapping motion.