Käyttäjän cloverkoval päiväkirja

On a breezy, sunny afternoon at around 3:00 pm, I sat in a field near Cloverfield Farm in Colchester, Vermont, waiting to see what birds I would see buzzing by me. It was about 65 degrees on May 2nd and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. I sat on the edge of a forest near a small swampy wetland where there seemed to be dozens of Red-winged Blackbirds nesting in the reeds and trees surrounding. I was able to hear many more birds than I could see, for many of them were in the dense reeds and understory where the wetland met the forest. The only birds that seemed to come near me were the Common Grackles and American Robins. I heard a Belted Kingfisher calling to another somewhere in the wetland, but did not see it. I assume it was a mating pair, one on a nest somewhere in a little bank near the water and the other scouting out around the edge of the swamp.

I also noticed a couple Blue Jays chasing around European Starlings in some of the trees on the edge of the field, fiercely defending their territory and likely preparing for their offspring. While these blue Jays were defending their territory as if it was a hot location, I'm not sure it was the best place for them to be brooding in comparison to other locations nearby and may have been a poor territory choice. I say this knowing how often I see Red-Tailed Hawks and have heard owls in the area, in addition to simply how busy this area is full of birds. There might be many resources in this location for them, but the competition for those resources is certainly high. These Blue Jays were likely expending a lot of energy and were in great shape regarding their fitness in acquiring resources. Based on how tough these Blue Jays looked while fighting off birds that didn't seem like too much of a threat, I have a feeling they will be mostly ok.

I noticed the Red-winged Blackbirds spending a lot of their time in the reeds and in the marshy vegetation at the edge of the woods. I assume many of them were nesting there, defending and spending time keeping an eye on all the local happenings. They mostly build their nests out of reeds or marsh grasses that die or dry out, which seem to be sturdy and easy to carry.

Before I left this little spot, I drew a "sound map" of myself and the proximity (not to scale) of me to the birds that I heard around me. As you can see, there were birds on all sides of me almost at all times, but the Red-Winged Blackbirds did not move too much from the marshy part. I tried to roughly notate the songs and calls of each bird as they compared to one another with different musical notes corresponding to their rough rhythm. The quality of their sound is vaguely depicted through the illustration.

I took a lovely walk with my mom looking for birds at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Sunday May 9th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. It was 64 degrees F outside and sunny with some cloud coverage. The air felt moist and I noticed many leaves and flowers on the trees. Mount Auburn Cemetery is a quiet cemetery with a diverse array of older, mostly planted hardwood trees and some ponds scattered throughout. Although located in the heart of Cambridge, the atmosphere is quite serene and is full of wildlife.

On Saturday April 17th, I was visiting my family in Concord, Massachusetts and went out birding with my mom from 4:30 to 5:30 pm at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. It was 48 degrees and windy, with high cloud coverage. Great Meadows is a wildlife refuge of about 4,000 acres outside Boston and in my hometown of Concord. The majority of the refuge is made up of freshwater wetlands surrounded by hardwood forests and is home to a diverse array of wildlife year round. The area of the refuge I walked in was the main trail slicing through the middle of the water, with dry marshy plants on either side and some trees scattered around. Several beaver and muskrat lodges and nests were spotted with birds occupying them as well. Much of the area is open water.

Great Meadows is home to a plethora of migratory bird species, and all the local Boston birders are everywhere there, so I was really hoping to see some cool birds during my visit. I've heard about some really interesting species stopping by Great Meadows already this early in the year, for it is an ideal destination and home for so many migratory birds. Unfortunately, I was only in town for one day and it was snowing the morning of my outing, so I waited for the weather to be a little more forgiving for the sake of myself and the birds. I ended up waiting until the late afternoon, in which I have still seen some cool species in the past, yet I knew it would be on the later side. I was slightly disappointed, for I only saw some of the same few species I see daily in Vermont, however Great Meadows is one of my favorite places on the planet and I was still happy to see how much wildlife was hopping around, even on a slightly more miserable spring afternoon.

On Friday I decided to walk further up the road away from the horse farm where I work in Charlotte, a place I have recently spent a lot of time birding at, for I noticed that as spring has come back around, so have many of our feathered friends in this area specifically. It was a partly cloudy day with some sunny moments, very windy and about 35 degrees Fahrenheit.

At the beginning of my walk, I saw lots of the familiar faces I see throughout the year near my work and almost anywhere in the Burlington area, including seemingly dozens of House Sparrows flying in and out of abandoned barns, accompanied by a few European Starlings as well. Both of these birds are very well adapted to Vermont life in all seasons of the year for many reasons, with an essential one being their habitat. Both species like to nest in cavities and tight spaces, and have no issues living near humans. House Sparrows often live in crevices in buildings they have access to, including the sparrows I saw nesting the in the rafters and gutters of an abandoned house and cow barn that I saw. This obviously demonstrates adaptive they are to developed or human-influenced areas. Local habitat examples that I see these species at everyday include my front yard, campus, even areas near busy roads such as this spot, but it does seem a bit as though wherever people can live, there is a place for House Sparrows and maybe other birds like European Starlings. House Sparrows also are omnivorous and have very adaptive diets, so they don't have as much trouble finding food in the colder months than species that only eat specific types of insects or flies that might not be suitable to live in the brutal Vermont winters.

Along with their habitat niche, they also have elliptical wings that are very effective and flying quickly between shorter distances, which, once again, allows for them to be well adapted to cities, suburbs, houses and human-made structures in addition to their tight habitats in natural areas. Living in small spaces certainly has its benefits when it comes to keeping warm, as opposed to an open exposed habitat that would make thermoregulation and overall survival much more difficult.

Along with these long-term residents of Charlotte, I saw a few common migrants as well on my walk as I entered a marshy area surrounding a river. I noticed several male and female Red-winged Blackbirds calling to each other and singing. I was incredibly happy to see them, as they are certainly some of my favorite birds that pair with many fond early childhood memories of mine. I saw them flying back and forth across the road to where the edges of a hay field and the marsh meet, I assume looking for food in the more open areas. They stood on branches and reeds in the marsh and they seemed to be popping out of every corner I looked in this area. These birds spend their winters in the southern United States, where they can likely find habitats not too different from this little marsh in Charlotte, but certainly much warmer. They likely decided it was time to back up and go back to their summer homes when the photoperiod began to change significantly in just the past several weeks. The spring equinox marked longer and brighter days for both us and the birds coming back here, in addition to all of us appreciating the warmer spring temperatures.

Along with the Red-winged Blackbirds, I noticed many Canada Geese, both in pairs and flocks. They are pretty hard to miss, hearing them call from one corner of the sky to the other. They were flying Northwest, seemingly towards near Lake Champlain. While it's possible that these geese could be year-round residents, I assume that these could have been coming from somewhere a bit warmer in the central or southern states. Cumulatively, Red-winged Blackbirds and the Canada Geese travel anywhere from 1200-1900 miles. While this is not nearly as far as some other species that will be arriving soon, it is still incredibly impressive and always blows my mind that these little creatures make a journey that great every year.

On Saturday, September 13th, at approximately 2:45 pm, I entered Centennial Woods in Burlington, Vermont and almost immediately heard several Black-capped Chickadees about 100 feet down the trail the entrance that opens straight into the parking lot. The entrance of the trail is quite open and descends to a small forest of younger, smaller hardwood trees mixed in with several White Pines. There is a large apartment complex that can be seen for at least a hundred meters into the trail before descending down a hill towards the brook. There were at least three individuals that I both heard and saw singing and calling to one another. It was 28 degrees Fahrenheit and very bright, cloudless day with light to no wind. Some of the Chickadees were calling with the classic "chicka-dee-dee-dee" but I noticed that in many of the calls the "dee" was repeated several times alone without the beginning of their call. I also noticed different chattering sounds from them as I followed them down the trail. As one individual would call with a longer, more pronounced call, I noticed the other individual would appear to respond, either with a short chirpy kind of call or another full one. I believe they were communicating where they were to each other, while also telling each other exactly where I was at all times. In between all of the chatter and calling they would sing the iconic Black-capped Chickadee song that it seemed I could hear from all directions almost anywhere in Centennial Woods on my hour-long walk.

In my attempt to try out "spishing" with the Black-capped Chickadees, I'm not sure it actually attracted the birds to me or if they were already near me and just watching me look a bit stupid. They definitely seemed more curious and then immediately uninterested than attracted to and excited about my sound. I have a feeling either my technique was incorrect, or these Chickadees have had a handful of other ornithology students testing their luck with them and trying to win them over. I would think that "spishing" would work as a sound to attract many small birds because it might mimic the vague sound of a call. It also might simply be a sound that cuts through all the noise in the area because of the high frequencies of the noise, and the birds might just be curious and confused as to what the sound is and want to check it out.

As I continued on my walk, I also came across a couple White-breated Nuthatches, a Cedar Waxwing, and a Pileated Woodpecker. I could hear the woodpecker drumming for about half an hour as I strolled down the path, and I eventually decided to just walk up and down the path to follow it until I could see it high up in a dead tree that seemed to be a favorite given that it was covered in holes and likely a nice home for some insects. While I couldn't hear any other woodpeckers drumming nearby, I am pretty certain there was another close, for when I creeped up to the individual up in the tree it started calling almost immediately, probably telling someone that I had pulled up. I watched the woodpecker for about 10 minutes and found it incredibly cute how intricately it analyzed the tree in tilting its head and moving up and down one specific section on the tree. Pileated Woodpeckers are considered non-migratory, so this individual likely doesn't stray too far from home depending on the time of the year, however I'm sure it is becoming more active as it adapts to its circannual rhythm, with the days getting warmer and longer, as well as more insects coming out with the warmth. In terms of its circadian rhythm, this bird was likely going to be at it on this tree or other trees nearby for just a little bit longer before retiring for the day, for I saw it at about 3:30 pm.

The plumage on this bird is starkly different from the other nearby birds such as the Black-capped Chickadee. The Pileated Woodpecker has a patterned, splotchy black and white plumage all times of year that likely assists with camouflage in mimicking the pattern of tree bark, while their iconic red crest pops out through one's vision. I would think that the red crest would be helpful for attracting or identifying a mate, and I am quite certain the individual I saw was a male, for I think it had a black stripe on its face but it was a little too far to tell fully with my mediocre vision. In contrast, the Black-capped Chickadee's plumage is a bit more on the down-low compared to the Pileated Woodpecker. White they have the strongly blocked black cap, the rest of their plumage is quite soft and neutral, with an orangeish-tan belly and gray back. The Black-capped Chickadees likely deal with more predators than the woodpeckers do, so their plumage has to be a bit more discrete. They also don't really travel too far of distances, so there isn't a huge need to see one another from far away or in a congested area. Both of these birds are present in Vermont year round and their plumages don't vary too much in different times of year, but I was still incredibly happy to see them :)