Käyttäjän betseyroselocke päiväkirja

I went birding on 4/5/21 at 10:43 and ended at 12:22. It was 48 degrees and the wind was at 21 mph. I was in downtown Burlington. The habitat was residential with some dense bushes and trees.

I saw European Starlings, House Finch, House Sparrows, and Northern Cardinals which are all, year-round residents. I assume they forego migrations because there is still enough food here for them to sustain themselves throughout the winter. I also believe since I saw most of them in dense brush or trees that they also had sufficient cover throughout winter. They all have pretty large populations so I assume it would be easy enough to communicate with each other to find food.

I saw an American Robin who is a facultative migrant. They can spend year-round in Vermont with sufficient resources. They can winter in Florida, Texas, Mexico, and other southern regions. I would assume that the Robins that are here would migrate from Florida, sticking to the east coast. I assume this is a pit stop since their breeding region in Canada. It got very warm the past couple of weeks with a sudden snowfall last week but I assume the spike in warm weather brought them back.

I saw a couple of obligate migrants. I assume it could be an advantage coming somewhat early for scouting food and resources along with territory and finding mates. The disadvantage would be the uncertainty in weather as we had a snowfall a couple of days after it was 70 degrees.

Mini Activity:

Ring-billed Gull: 1037.49 miles
Turkey Vulture: 802.75 miles
American Robin: 1254.19
Total: 3,094.43 miles

I went birding on 4/18/21. I started at 4:12pm and ended at 5:52pm. It was 52 degrees and sunny with some clouds. The wind was 8mph. I walked from my house downtown to centennial woods and then walked on a trail. The habitat was woods and streets with dense trees.

I went birding on 4/24/21. I started at 2:14 pm and ended at 3:50 pm. I walked from my house downtown to the Winooski Salmon Hole. The habitat was some main streets and urban areas and dense woods and river banks. The weather was 66 degrees and cloudy with slight rain for 10 minutes. The wind was at 9 mph.

The birds were very vocal. Some went on chirping for 5 minutes straight. I could hear different pitches of the same call leading me to believe there were different birds talking to each other. This could be a sign of males and females looking for a mate. I also saw some song sparrows chasing each other. That leads me to believe there might have been a territory squabble or in pursuit of a mate. Since at some points there were very quiet as I passed by I thought that might be a defense as I had a dog with me. I also saw many robins hopping on the ground picking up sticks, I would assume it was for their nests.

When I was walking to the salmon hole, I did pass by one nest that had a plastic bag in it which I was very concerned about. It was a very open nest so I thought it might be an American Robin nest. At the salmon hole, the trees are very tall and some were very dense. I figure that a lot of the birds would nest higher up in the dense parts. I also passed by a snag that had holes inside which made me think there were some cavity nesters taking up residence.

There was a Song Sparrow that was very vocal for a while. I assume it was trying to call for a mate or defending its territory. The territory was a large tree on the bank of the river. I would assume that it would be prime territory as it was a dense tree next to a water source and food sources. I would assume that this bird would have high fitness.

The Salmon Hole was riddled with trash. As I saw some Robins picking up small sticks and twigs, which made me happy but since there is a high supply of trash I wonder if it will also take those materials as well.

Mini Activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nSQw0MajCkII_dT3ISM11GYMrY6-9hSK/view?usp=sharing