Diario de vanbiederman

Location: 137 Bryant Rd, Manchester VT, my mom's friends house.
Time:12:00-1:30
Weather: Windy and 19 degrees F
Looking out of the back door at the bird feeders, it was clear that the birds knew about this spot. Many of the birds perch in the two white birch trees right next to the feeders and take turns letting other groups of birds in while some rest in the tree. Tufted Titmouses wait as the chickadee's chirp on the perch of the green feeder. As the chickadees fly to the trees, the blue jay swept in with its sleek body in the winter time, preying on efficient forms of food: fat and berries. It ate the suet with swift pecks and dislodged pieces of the block to take out of the cages. Blue jays do not look like they could survive the winter in the skinny windbreaker they have, and they must eat a lot to stay warm.

I was outside watching the birds on a feeder when a white and orange snow bunting was chirping on the roof of the barn. In my picture, it is visibly larger than any chickadee or sparrow around and was so round I doubt it could have flown with the puffed out feathers. The bird was sitting on the bard for about ten minutes, chirping to no one but himself. The snow buntings have very large feathers to keep them warm far up into Canada for the entire winter, and when in warm Vermont they have it easier. They are adapted to harsher weather and are not shy of negative temperatures. With the temperature being higher, they have time to rest and get warm instead of feeding constantly.

Comparing the Snow Bunting to the Pine Grosbeak, the bunting has much more time to relax. The Pine Grosbeak are known to eat entire trees of cherries and fly awkwardly in the trees to get the berries they see as efficient to eat as possible. Grosbeaks are bulky birds all year round, and stock up in the winter although the weight of the bird is miniscule. Grosbeaks are high energy birds, and love berries for the fermented taste and alcohol in the berries. The bird appeared to be a cedar waxwing, and after multiple viewpoints I decided it was most likely a Pine Grosbeak.

Place: Centennial Woods pull off, wooded area with assorted trees
Weather: Sunny in the late afternoon shade, 30 degrees
Date:3/26
Time:4:45-6:15

The Centennial Woods is a place where I don't understand how people see birds there. It seems too noisy for any rare or picky birds to be around and gives off an impression it will only have some crows and geese if you're lucky.

Once I parked in a legal parking spot, because it is next to the police station, I hopped out of my car and was surprised to hear at least 5 types of different birds chirping along with each other. A couple of robins in one tree basking in the last minutes of the sun. I heard black-capped chickadees, but as I walked over I scared them out of the low trees. There was one loud gawking red-winged blackbird sitting alone in a nest-to-be. The bird was stagnant for 25 minutes and called out to a very distant, but audible other red-winged blackbirds.

The robins were distant at this point, but with my binoculars I could make out four male robins, sitting puffed out on a very tall tree above the ambulance service station. The birds all tweeted together and moved simultaneously around the tall tree branches. The four individuals chirped at each other to communicate if they see anything endangering them, or that the robins were all watching a female and trying to woo her. with their constant chirping and bouncing in the trees.

As I walked into the woods to find something else, Two flocks of European starlings chirp as they fly separately in flocks of four, and behind them are three Canada geese flying east. The birds stopped chirping the farther I walked into the woods, I guess it is because the birds were staying in the sunlight as long as possible because it was bitter cold where I turned around.

Mini Activity: The black-capped chickadees seem to be very easy to chirp to and always respond to a chirp if they hear it, or they chirp regardless. I had no luck chirping at a bird or flock when I went bird watching this time, but a couple of weeks ago I chirped to a tufted titmouse which was in an old dead birch tree in some forests behind my house. I've seen people holding titmice before, and knew that it would chirp back.