Red Rocks Park Birding Expedition

Today, on March 7th, 2017, at 1:38 p.m., I went into Red Rocks Park in South Burlington Vermont. The temperature was 41°F and it was sprinkling. I was afraid that there wouldn’t be a lot of bird activity due to the high wind; it was blowing in a southerly direction at 18 mph. It turns out my fear was unfounded, for the forest started to come alive.

I was walking down the main path of the park, observing a small dog prancing, when I heard some American Crow cawing in the distance. This quickly grabbed my attention and got me into birding mode. The path I was walking down was quite narrow and flanked on both sides by eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). Approximately 5 minutes after I first heard the cawing of the American Crow, I saw 3 American Crow fly south over the eastern white pine stand. I decided to follow this group of American Crow towards Lake Champlain. This turned out to be a great idea, because I saw 10 more American Crow flying towards the lake. This group of American Crow appeared to be flying towards some trash containers, which I believe they were doing to forage for food.

After observing the American Crow, I decided to walk down some of the more secluded paths. As I was walking through a mixed stand of coniferous and hardwood trees, I saw a small bird fly through the canopy. It moved to quickly for me to ascertain what species it was. I stopped in the hopes of seeing this mysterious creature once more. As fate would have it I did not catch sight of it again. However, I did hear some sort of bird song coming from an eastern white pine snag. It was hard to distinguish the song, but I do believe that it was coming from a Tufted Titmouse. The whipping wind muffled the song, but I am quite positive that I heard the distinctive peter-peter-peter of a Tufted Titmouse.

For some odd reason, I got the strong urge to head towards the lake. To my surprise I saw 3 Canada Geese take off from the water and fly away in their characteristic “V” formation. I wasn’t expecting to see any Canada Geese for at least another month. Canada Geese migrate south for the winter in order to keep warm and to find enough food for survival. The recent warm weather must have prompted the Canada Geese to trek back north prematurely. Waterfowl are by far my favorite type of birds, so this unexpected sighting got me extremely excited to continue my expedition.

I was slightly chilled by the strong winds coming off of the lake. So I determined that it would be a good idea to do some bushwhacking, in order to warm up. I saw an eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) stand off in the distance calling my name. After sitting in my cozy lair for 10 minutes I noticed a small sparrow sized bird about 15 meters up an eastern white pine. I couldn’t positively identify it, but I believe that it could have been a Tree Sparrow or possibly a Dark-eyed Junco. As I was trying to determine the identity of this bird, I heard some American Crow cawing nearby. I decided to respond to their calls and gave out a few caws of my own. To my surprise they responded back to me and 2 American Crow flew overhead.

I felt sufficiently warmed after my encounter with the American Crow, so I decided to skirt the edge of the lake once again. As I was walking along the jagged cliffs I spotted a Ring-billed Gull flying among the waves approximately 150 meters from shore. As I was staring at the Ring-billed Gull I saw a pair of Common Mergansers flying parallel to shore. I quickly lost sight of them, but I was quite sure that the pair contained a hen and a drake. I wanted to confirm that these ducks were indeed Common Mergansers, so I followed them. I walked about a quarter mile along the shore until I finally caught up to the Common Mergansers; they were floating approximately 30 meters from shore. I was able to differentiate the two individuals and confirm that they were indeed a hen and a drake. I observed them for 15 minutes before them swam off. On my way out of the park I observed a Black-capped Chickadee fluttering through an eastern white pine stand. This stand had a sparse canopy with a thick understory.

All of the birds that I saw today, besides the waterfowl and the Ring-billed Gull, where found in areas that had fairly dense cover. These areas provide ample wind cover and contain plenty of dead snags that are being utilized by the birds and other wildlife. There was also an abundance of conifer cones on the ground, which may be used as a food source. The American Crow seem to primarily forage around areas occupied by humans and they seem to have no problem picking through trash. The waterfowl and the Ring-billed Gull probably eat fish and other aquatic organisms to survive. The food sources available to the birds that stayed behind for the winter are most certainly limited in comparison to the summer. The non-migratory birds must be hardier, or at the very least better winter competitors, in comparison to their migratory counterparts.

Publicado el 08 de marzo de 2017 a las 05:24 AM por mrgorton