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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 :)