Käyttäjän cloverkoval päiväkirja

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 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.