Diario de simonbradley

Date: April 29th, 2020
Time: 10:00am - 11:30am
Location: Curtis Pond (Maple Corner), Calais, Vermont
Habitat: White Pine tree stand near a manmade pond
Weather: 56 degrees Fahrenheit, mostly sunny, little wind or cloud coverage, short bout of rain lastly roughly 5-10 minutes.

1 Blue Jay
1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Great Blue Heron
2 Yellow-rumped Warbler (1 male, 1 female)
5 Mallard (1 male, 1 female, 3 juvenile (or perhaps small females))

Date: May 6th, 2020
Time: 2:00pm - 3:50pm
Location: Hersey Hill, Calais, Vermont
Weather: 57 degrees Fahrenheit, mostly sunny, little to no wind
Habitat: Dense woodland, mostly White Pine with some Striped and Sugar Maple

2 House Finch
2 Song Sparrow
5 Killdeer
1 Pileated Woodpecker
6 American Robin
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Ruffed Grouse egg

Note: 'Field Journal 3' prompt was regarding Winter birds and their evolutionary and ecological adaptations to deal with harsh conditions. Seeing as it is nearly summer, I decided to do my best to recreate this prompt so it is more suitable for this warmer weather.

It was an excellent day for birding. From the moment I stepped outside the birds were singing and calling with such ferocity that it was impossible to get a clear recording of any single call. I decided to only make my observations on the species that I could clearly identify, but there were many more today. Hersey Hill is a small hill located just Northeast from my house on Longmeadow Hill and has noticeable denser woodland. Despite this, it is similar in composition: mostly White Pine with some maple spread in between.

Interestingly, the majority of the birds that I saw on this day were on the ground. Many American Robins and Killdeer were seen scurrying, primarily around a fallen White Pine most likely knocked over by wind (this is common in this area as the wind is strong on the ridge). Both these species share similar diets during the Summer months, feeding mostly on small invertebrates like insects and millipedes, as well as some seeds, explaining the ground-oriented behavior they display. They were more than likely drawn to this fallen White Pine as it shades the ground keeping it moist, which is idle for these small invertebrates and possibly contributing more seeds than usual. During winter months, Killdeer must migrate South in order to keep up this diet as the cold often kills off insects, forces some invertebrates into hibernation, and covers any seeds that may be on the ground. American Robins, however, have evolved to change their diet to primarily berries during the colder months which allows them to stay in their habitat year-round.

Unfortunately, as the winter months have passed us the "Snag Watch" activity has become less relevant. Neither the American Robin, Killdeer, or the other birds I observed seemed to house themselves in the snags I found. It should be noted though that several of the larger snags I found had large holes burrowed in them. This may have been termites or chipmunks, but based on what I saw earlier in the year and the abundance of Woodpeckers in the area that these cavities could have previously been home to Downy, Pileated, or Hairy Woodpeckers. Also, in a previous journal entry, I mentioned that a snag at the end of a small pond was a possible nesting site for two Wood Duck I had seen and would like to confirm that it is fact their nesting location! I returned several times and did see the nest. I plan on continuing to go back to check on the nest and see if any juvenile emerges. This cavity was much large than those seen by made by woodpeckers, which is understanable due to the species comparitive sizes.