Diario de mnwaterman

I got to Colchester pond around 7:15 a.m., as it was an hour from my house. By the time I got there, it was already sunny and warm enough to be in shorts and a t-shirt (it claimed to be 55 degrees, but felt much warmer). As the day progressed, it warmed up to the mid-70s, and when I left around 11:45 a.m., my car thermostat said it was 83.

The habitat was mixed, as there was a very large pond on one side of the path and grasslands to the other side. Between the water and path stood some shrubbery, which eventually turned into a fairly dense forest a ways down the path. There were some marshy areas at the ends of the pond, and some large rocky cliffs along the sides.

For the first few hours, I wandered around the path next to the pond. Later on, I ended up putting my kayak in the water and birdwatching that way (as I didn't have a great view of the water from the path).

Although most of the birds I saw today were species I was familiar with, I was excited to see so many Common Yellowthroats, as I had never seen more than a few at once. I was also happy to see a few Bobolinks, as I've only ever seen a few in person. One thing that was really cool was that a Common Loon swam straight under my kayak when I was in the middle of the lake! In contrast, as somewhat scary (but also funny) event occurred when I was walking back to the car on the path. I tried skirting around a large group of Canada Geese, but one of the parents was not happy that I was so close to her babies, and ended up hissing at me and chasing me back the direction I came (I had to wait awhile for them to leave).

Overall a really fun, beautiful day! Thanks to Jim and Allan for a great week of birding!

Since it is a little over an hour from my house, I arrived at Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge a little after 7:30 a.m. I ended up staying there until just after 11:30 a.m. so that I could make our 1:00 meeting, but wished I could stay longer. When I first got there, it was already sunny and warm enough to be wearing shorts (rising from the mid-50s... later, it was 70 degrees). There was no wind, and very few people were out and about (I actually saw not a single person on the trail, and only a few out on the river).

The habitat was mixed, as a large river with multiple sandbars in the middle of it stood to one side of the walking path, while a big grassland lay to the other side. There were a few small maintenance buildings, and the path was pretty broad and covered in stones. The woods between the path and river were riparian, as were the woods to the far side of the grassland.

I was really happy to see so many Baltimore Orioles, as they are just so pretty! The same went for Yellow Warblers (I've never seen so many of them!), the two mating pairs of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker I stumbled across on my way out. At one point, a Downy Woodpecker even flew by inches from my head! One more thing I was really excited about was that I was able to track down and photograph a White-throated Sparrow. I'd heard it singing from the ferns, and saw a flash of movement but it took absolutely forever to locate it... when I did, it moved too fast for a photo but it finally hopped onto a log and sat nicely for a minute.

I arrived at the Green River Reservoir (I think Hyde Park, VT) at 6:32 a.m. The temperature was already almost 50 degrees, and there was only a tiny bit of wind. As the day progressed, the sun came out and the temp warmed to the high-60s. I ended up staying until almost 12:00 p.m., when I couldn't stand the black flies anymore.

The habitat was mostly forest, although the old roads I followed occasionally led to a small meadow, and the woods went straight up to the waterfront (so I saw a few waterbirds, as well). The terrain was pretty steep and hilly in several areas, and I found that there were several large boulders towards the tops of these hills. While the trees near the water were mostly coniferous, I found that the higher-up/further-away-from-water trees were more likely to be deciduous. One side of the area I walked around was pretty shaded in the morning, while the other opened up straight to the sun, making that area much warmer and brighter.

Among my favorite finds were a few adorable Black-throated Blue Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and of course the Common Loons out on the lake (always a favorite). I was glad to get more acquainted with warblers, as I have little to no experience/prior knowledge of them. Although I'm still really struggling with songs, I think I've been making some good progress.

Note: for some reason, I can't seem to link but 6 of my observations to this post. Only the first 6 observations show up on the "choosing observations to associate" page (the others don't have pictures anyway, so maybe not a big deal).

05/19/20

Since it is about 40 minutes from my house, I arrived at Mills Riverside Park in Jericho a little after 7:00 a.m. The temperature rose from around 45 degrees for the early morning to a warm 66 degrees when I left the park around 12:15 p.m. It was slightly overcast at first, but the sun came out within half an hour of walking the trails, and there was a bluebird sky by 10:00. There was a very slight breeze that made it seem a little cooler at times, but it wasn’t constant.
The habitat was a little variable, since the park is pretty big and I had to take some wooded trails to get to some farther-away fields. However, I spent most of my time along woods/field edges, the middle of a field, shrubs in a field, and the edge of a river (with lots of shrubs)... so, mostly field/shrubs.
Some of the most notable species I saw were a Green Heron that flew over the field (probably headed to some wetlands downstream), a couple adorable American Redstarts next to the river, and I was also really excited to see American Goldfinch. I also saw a Chestnut-sided Warbler and a Brown Thrasher, which I thought was cool because I don’t think I’ve ever seen either of those in real life.
There was a lot of good song practice today, as many birds were deep in the shrubs and I wasn’t able to see them. This was definitely challenging, but I think I can discern between certain songs much better than before.

Around 6:30 a.m., I arrived at Lake Lamoille (right in Morrisville, VT). The temperature was mid-40s, warm enough to be comfortable wearing just a flannel. The first several hours were overcast, although the sun eventually broke through around 10:30, and the temp soared to 65ºF. The wind was slight all day, with an occasional stronger gust. I ended up staying out until 12:00, getting a good 5.5 hours of birding in!
The habitat was marshy in areas, and a full-on lake in others. At the far end, the Lamoille River fed into the lake. There were a lot of mud flats and cattail/tall plant areas, and this is where I saw most action (lots!! of Common Grackle, Swamp Sparrow, and Red-Winged Blackbird, and even one American Goldfinch). Along the shores, the only birds I saw were Spotted Sandpipers and the occasional Common Grackle. In the open water, I saw the highest variety of birds (Mallard, Common and Hooded Merganser, Wood Duck, American Black Duck, Common Loon, and lots of Canada Goose). There was also a mostly-coniferous forest at my back, and there was some activity there with Blue Jays, American Crows, a White-breasted Nuthatch, and a few Tree Swallows and Pileated Woodpeckers.
Right when I got out of my car at the beginning, I heard some Canada Geese going absolutely wild, and was able to watch them honk and swim around for a good twenty minutes before they eventually flew off. I ended up seeing a LOT of these guys over the course of the morning, usually in pairs (except for one group of four).
I also found an Osprey nest, and the adult kept circling, landing, leaving and coming back so I was thinking that there might be a few chicks in it. One really cool thing that happened there was that the Osprey kept calling out, which was making the Canada Goose pair nearby go wild, as well as a pair of Gray Catbirds (I had never identified Grey Catbird before, so I was happy I knew them right away by sound and was able to get really close to them to confirm visually).
I was amazed by the variety of waterbirds I saw, and although the pair of Wood Ducks spooked really easily, I was excited to see them because I don’t often get a good look. I also was glad to see the Common Loons, as they seem to be very shy around here and aren’t easy to get close to (the loons at my family’s camp in Maine swim right up to the kayak).
Overall, I saw a lot more species than I was expecting to see. I hadn’t even been aware (before Ornithology class) that there were shorebird species in VT, as I thought they were only found near the ocean. However, there was certainly an abundance of them at the lake today!

When I woke up this morning (April 22nd), I was surprised to see a thick blanket of snow on the ground, with the skies showing no sign of it letting up (so the sun was blocked). The wind was fairly strong, and kept blowing snow out of the trees. The temperature was fairly warm, hovering around 25ºF. I ended up going outside around 10:30am (stayed out until 12:00), and noted that there were at least three inches blanketing even the forest floor.

Starting from my house, I walked around in the woods for a little over an hour and discovered that there were very few birds out and about in this weather, at least where I was. On my forest walk, I saw the occasional American Crow flying overhead (7 of them), Black-capped Chickadees (2 in one place, 4 in another), 2 Hairy Woodpeckers, 1 Blue Jay, and 3 Wild Turkeys. However, upon nearing my house on my way back I noticed that the bird feeder was absolutely teaming with birds, as there were more than 40 of them all in my front yard. (4 more American Crows, 2 Hermit Thrushes, 9 Black-capped Chickadees, 12 Dark-eyed Juncos, 4 Mourning Doves, 2 American Robins, 2 Song Sparrows, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 3 Blue Jays, 1 Brown-headed Cowbird, and 1 White-throated Sparrow). I spent close to another hour there, taking photos and walking down my long, winding driveway observing birds hopping around the stones and flitting between the trees overhead. The two Mallards that have taken up residence in our pond were seen around 8am, but were nowhere to be seen on my walk.

What behaviors (visual and aural) are you seeing that are related to mate selection, nest selection, or territory selection?
The most noticeable mate selection was definitely the Wild Turkeys. There were 2 males and 1 female, and both males were trying to impress her. However, one was much more mature (a tom with a huge fan and long beard), while the other was a younger jake (the one I took pictures of, the others were too far and ran before I could take a photo), with a short beard. The second male was much farther from the female, seemingly boxed out by the tom. From a distance, I had heard both males gobbling, which is how I found them. I also noticed that the Hairy Woodpeckers seemed to be a mating pair, as the male (with the red crown) was constantly following the female (no red crown). They were also both flapping their wings and drumming on the dead trees they were on. I think these two were in the process of making their nest, as they kept grabbing sticks in their beaks and flying to what looked like a cavity high up in one of the pines nearby.

Where, specifically, on the property might some of your observed species be nesting? How do these habitat requirements differ from species to species?
The Hairy Woodpeckers were definitely nesting in some of the old Eastern Hemlock snags, further into the woods on my walk. They typically nest in the excavated cavities of older trees that are either dead, dying, or have old branches that have died. In contrast to them, American Robins typically nest near human structures, such as gutters, rafters, or porches. These Robins have actually been building a nest in the rafters of our covered steps leading up to the house from the garage. Black-capped Chickadees, like woodpeckers, usually nest in excavated cavities in trees (often an old woodpecker nest). Since I saw a few of them in the dead trees bordering a marshy/beaver area, I think that they might have set up there.

Find a bird that may be defending a territory (i.e. singing). Is it defending a prime or poor territory compared to other members of its species? What might this indicate about that birds’ fitness?
I noticed that the Blue Jays were much more aggressive than the other birds. The Blue Jay I saw in the woods was in a mixed-forest area, and when an American Crow flew overhead, it sounded the alarm for quite some time. Although jays do prefer these types of forested habitats, I think the three others of its species who kept chasing away the smaller songbirds back at the feeder had the better territory at the moment, since the surrounding forest was still mixed, and there was an abundance of easy-to-get food at the feeder. However, because of this abundance, there wasn’t as much need for defense at the feeder, and the group of jays eventually flew away. I would say that a bird with a more desirable territory would probably have better fitness than a bird with a lesser territory, as it would have to spend more energy on defense (more birds would want to trespass), and they likely have more food.

Pick a different bird and describe what it may be using to build or line its nest. Where, specifically, would it have to go to acquire these materials?
American Crows typically build their nests using twigs, pine needles, vegetation, soft bark, and animal hair. Since the area I observed was all forested, they would have no problem finding materials. However, they could definitely visit my barn to pick up some hay, as well as hair from the horses (they are shedding and I also combed their manes, so there was a lot of hair lying around). I also noticed a lot of crows in the marshy area, which had a lot of old downed woody debris from the beavers, so that could be a good place to get some softer bark/wood.

Note: the drawing of the sound map should be attached to the Mourning Dove entry.

This morning, I watched out my windows and from my porch from about 10:30am to 1:30pm. The temperature was mid-30s, and it was cloudy when I started, although it was sunny by the last hour of watching. The air goes back and forth between completely calm, to strong gusts of wind that last for only a few minutes. The habitat I watched (except for the pond) is woods-edge habitat bordering the open clearing of our driveway.

We have a pond regularly visited by a mating pair of Mallards, but they were seen in a puddle in our yard today. I also saw 4 Black-capped Chickadees around the bird feeder, and hanging out in our silver maple tree. There were 3 Mourning Doves and 1 Dark-eyed Junco eating on the ground, and 5 American Crows seen flying overhead and eating on the ground at the other side of the property from the rest of the birds. I saw one Brown-headed Cowbird eating on a stump, but wasn't sure until I heard its call (I have never seen one around my house before). There were also two male Blue Jays who visited the feeder for about 5 minutes (I got a photo of one flying!), and 2 Downy Woodpeckers eating the suet hanging from a tree (they live in a tree nearby, and are seen often).

On Tuesday, April 15th, I watched my backyard for birds, focusing on the bird feeder and pond, mainly. The weather was mid-50s and it was very windy, with only small periods of the sun breaking through the clouds. I watched from around 10:30am-12:30pm, and saw a range of species. I saw the pair of Mallard ducks that visit our pond every year, three Wild Turkeys along the edge of the woods (2 toms and 1 hen, at separate occasions), seven American Crows, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers (that made several reappearances), two Mourning Doves, one Eastern Phoebe, and eight Black-Capped Chickadees, and lots and lots of red squirrels and chipmunks.

Following is my list of resident bird species which stay in VT during the winter (mostly… I think some crows do occasionally migrate).
Black-capped Chickadee: These tiny songbirds have a lot of adaptations that make them well-suited for surviving winter. They have thick feather coats to conserve heat, are known to hide food, roost in tree cavities, and are able to go into controlled hypothermia at night to save energy. They also are able to put on a lot of fat during their daily foraging that allows them to have that extra energy stored for nighttime.
Downy Woodpecker: These birds can be found nesting in small tree cavities that they’ve hollowed out, where they will shelter for warmth. They feed mainly on trees, digging deeper into the bark during the winter (this means that their food is still plenty available during winter). They can also be found eating suet in backyards, as they do in mine.
American Crow: Crows are not picky eaters, so it is easier for them to find food during winter than for many other birds. They can eat carrion, be found at trash piles, or scavenging in other areas. Their larger size also probably helps them retain body heat compared to smaller birds. They also tend to flock in larger numbers during the winter, which allows them the advantage of finding food easier.
These birds forego migration because it is a massive expense, and lots of birds would die during the long flight south. If they are able to survive during the winter, it makes more sense (is safer) to stay than to go. The physiological and behavioral adaptations talked about above all help these birds to survive in the winter.

A facultative migrant is a bird that can choose whether or not to migrate, while obligate migrants have to migrate. An example of a migrant that should be arriving in Vermont now would be an Eastern Phoebe. They are coming from as far as Mexico, and go as far north as the upper latitudes of Canada during the breeding season. Phoebes eat mostly insects, but also some small berries (and seeds from a bird feeder, if there is one around). As spring rolls around, there is more of their food available, and the insects will be plentiful by early summer. It also becomes warm enough for them to not freeze overnight. One advantage of their migration in early April would be that they get here before other birds, and maybe get the best pick of habitat/location, and can scope out the area to know where the best food is. A disadvantage of arriving so early is that they might have trouble finding food (insects), or it might be too cold for them (overnight freezes, late snowfalls), and they are not suited for this.

Since the range of wintering habitat for most species is so broad, it is hard to determine where exactly/how many miles were flown by each incoming migrant, so I used a mid-range location. After adding up Mallard, Eastern Phoebe, and Mourning Dove, I have about 3,000 miles flown.

On Sunday, March 22nd, around 12pm, I arrived at the Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area in Addison, VT. I was with my dad, and we drove around to multiple locations, seeing many birds while we were driving, including several Red-tailed Hawks, Canadian Geese, and Mallards. It was only around 28°F, and there was a strong wind that showed up periodically. Dead Creek is a wetlands area in the Champlain Valley surrounded by agricultural fields, and is a common stop for many migratory birds during springtime. We were a few weeks early for there to be as many birds as my dad has seen there in the past, but there were still several large flocks. Other birds we saw include: Common Grackle, American Wigeon, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, House Sparrow, (Herring?) Gull, Turkey Vulture, and American Robin.

One bird that was seen the most often on our adventure was the Common Grackle. They were seen in multiple large flocks, and although it was hard to get close to them before they took off, they were also very vocal. I was able to capture two great sound recordings of them, when they were hiding in the shrubbery (linked to my observation post). The most common sound made by them was a short, grating song that sounded kind of like a rusty gate, when they were communicating with each other. I noticed that when some of the birds made their rusty-gate song, they puffed out their feathers, perhaps as a mating show for the females. However, whenever they took off, their alarm call was high, squeaky, and grating, and the entire flock would get up and relocate.

One bird with very different plumage from the Common Grackle is the Blue Jay. While the Grackle looks dull brown from a distance (even though I could see the golden eye and iridescent blue head and oily-looking body through binoculars), the Jay is easy to spot without binoculars because of its bright blue and white feathers. While the Grackle was able to blend into the trees really well (I spent quite some time listening to them, but was unable to see them when they hid in the brush), the Blue Jay can't really hide among the brown dullness of early spring. The evolutionary advantage of blending in is that you can hide from predators, while the advantage of being colorful is that it's easier to prove to potential mates that you are strong and healthy, without so much of an energetic display.

One individual bird I focused on was a Red-tailed Hawk that spent some time circling over the field next to the path I was walking on. It was obviously hunting something, and was circling until it had its chance. After awhile, it dove down towards the field, but pulled up before reaching the ground, apparently because its prey burrowed back into the ground. Eventually, the hawk circled back up into the air and flew off, in search of another meal. This fits into its circannual rhythm because it is probably getting ready to mate, and raise its young. To do so, it has to be strong enough to provide food, which means it needs to eat enough food for itself, as well.

When we came across the small group of Black-capped Chickadees, they were much less skittish than the other birds we encountered. We were able to do the "pish" calls, and apparently we did it right, because a few more chickadees appeared, and the ones that were there came a little closer to investigate. It almost seemed like the pishing alarmed them, and they were gathering together for safety in numbers. I also wondered if the spishing sounds replicated insect noises, and they were looking for prey?

FJ: Ecological Physiology

At 4:10 pm on Thursday (03/05/20), I left Redstone Hall to walk towards the golf course. There was just a light wind, the sun was out, and it was in the 40-degree range. The snow is all beginning to rapidly melt, and grass was exposed in several areas. Campus is very open, and so was the golf course, although there were plenty of forest edges surrounding the golf course. I also had to walk through a small copse of trees to get to the golf course, and there were several snags there. However, the only one with holes in it did not seem to have any birds inside, and nothing looked out when I knocked on the side. If I had to guess, I'd say that the larger snags would have larger holes, and birds would be more likely to hang around these (all of the snags here were pretty small). They're important habitat for birds who might nest inside them, and they also provide a food source for birds such as woodpeckers, who eat the insects inside the decaying wood.

On my way to the golf course, I saw 3 Gulls (not totally sure what kind; they were far away), 5 House Sparrows on top of Christie Hall, 4 American Crows flying overhead, 9 European Starlings huddled in a tree, and 2 Mallards (a male and a female) swimming around a small pond, quacking a lot. I saw fewer birds on the golf course, but did spot one White-breasted Nuthatch flying around some pine trees, as well as 6 Black-capped Chickadees flying around some dogwood and buckthorn bushes between the golf course and road, seemingly on the hunt for berries.

I noticed that most of the berries had been eaten off of the smaller trees I walked by (such as dogwood). The birds likely ate a lot of berries during the winter, as there aren't many insects flying around, and no worms for them to dig up. When I saw the European Starlings, I noticed that they weren't moving very much, and were huddled together in one clump at the top of the tree. This is probably to conserve energy and heat in the cold of winter. No birds were engaging in breeding activity yet, as it's still a little too cold to be expending energy on that. Instead, most birds I saw were either sitting fairly still, in a group, or looked as though they were hunting for food in the trees I spotted them in. I thought that birds would probably prefer the thicker copses of trees bordering the golf course (for overnight), as there is more shelter and it would probably be warmer.