Burlington Bike Path Birding Expedition

Today, on April 28th, 2017, at 11:10 a.m., I decided to explore the Burlington Bike Path in Burlington and Colchester Vermont. The temperature was 68°F and it was cloudy. The wind was blowing in a North Northwest direction at 8 mph.

The first birds that I ran into along the bike path were a pair of Mourning Doves. They were splitting their time between foraging and interacting with each other in a residential yard. After noticing the Mourning Doves, the whole landscape seemed to come alive. It sounded like I was surrounded by an orchestra of birds. I heard many birds that I was familiar with, such as Red-eyed Vireo, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Black-capped Chickadees. There were also no shortages of bird songs that I was unfamiliar with. It was truly a beautiful spectacle to hear.

There appeared to be a clear divide between the territories that the birds occupied. The Red-winged Blackbirds, Tree Swallows, and Rock Pigeons appeared to prefer open habitats. The song birds preferred the wooded habitats and the American Robin and Common Grackle preferred the more residential areas, while the waterfowl obviously preferred the wetland areas. While I was walking, I heard what I thought were Canada Geese honking and a dog barking. I believed that a dog was attacking one of the Canada Geese that I saw. So I rushed over to observe what was happening. I was shocked to see three Canada Geese aggressively fighting each other. I have never seen or heard of this happening, so I was extremely excited to witness this awesome event. I am not sure why they were fighting, but I believe that they may have been fighting over a female.

One species that truly stood out to me was the vocal Red-winged Blackbirds, their songs dominated the landscape. I observed one male Red-winged Blackbird chase away an inferior Red-winged Blackbird away from his territory. Compared to the inferior bird, the superior bird had a much larger red patch on its wing. After the superior bird chased away his would be usurper, he circled his territory, landed on a cattail, and started signing again. His territory was located on the edge of the Winooski River and it was approximately 30 meters by 30 meters in area. This territory was open allowing for his song to carry, filled with grass, and could potential support numerous female Red-winged Blackbirds. This active defense of a pristine territory indicates that this individual Red-winged Blackbird had excellent fitness. I also saw another Red-winged Blackbird defending his territory in a swampy woodlot. It seemed as though he had no competition for this poor territory and I believe that he didn’t have any interested suitors, which could possibly be due to his song being muffled. I wouldn’t say that this bird was in poor condition, however he wasn’t as fit as the previously mentioned Red-winged Blackbird.

Another species that was exhibiting interesting behavior was the Northern Cardinals. I saw a male Northern Cardinal defending a female. The male was a few meters away from the female, singing his song and foraging for nest materials. Every now and then, the male would bring a stick to the female who was performing busy work inside a buckthorn thicket. This pair of Northern Cardinals occupied an area in the woods and seemed to collect most of their nesting materials from the surrounding area. Out of curiosity I decided to mimic the male Northern Cardinals song. At first he humored me and responded back, but after a short period of conversation, he seemed to become irritated. He stopped answering and went back to work.

I would say that this expedition was a great success. Not only did I get to enjoy the beautiful weather, but I was also able to make a bunch of valuable observations. I feel as though I now have a better understanding and appreciation for the avian world.

Publicado el 28 de abril de 2017 a las 07:48 PM por mrgorton