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Time: 2pm - 3:30pm
Habitat: mixed with some open wetlands and feild.
Temp: 59F, partly sunny, clouds cleared to about 50% cover during the outing.
9mph wind speed.

Song Sparrow
Brown Creeper x2
American Goldfinch x2
American Crow x2
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Pine Warbler x2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-headed Vireo x2
Black-capped Chickadee x4
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Red-tailed Hawl x2
Eastern Phoebe
House Finch x3

Heard but not seen:
Northern Cardinal
House Wren

Temp: 50F
No wind
100% cloud cover
Habitat: Urban, clustered mixed tree coverage, Pond behind Redstone lofts with cattail underbrush and sparse Mixed tree coverage - mostly deciduous types.

During this trip we heard a lot of bird song and calls. Seeing as it is still early in the nesting season I believe these are the early precursors to nesting, males are setting up territories and calling to defend them as well as to attract mates. Visually we saw saw the Canadian Geese pairing up and possibly also setting up a nesting site in the cattails around the pond on redstone. This species are ground nesting, the cattails provided good nesting material as well as dense cover. Red-wing Blackbirds were also prominent in this area. We saw two males (heard a few others) and one female. The female came into one male's territory and the male chased her around the cattails, possibly as courting behavior. During this time the other male tried to swoop in but the original male diverted to chase his competitor away. For the Red-winged Blackbirds I would call this habitat unideal. There doesn't appear to be a lot of food availability and high competition with con-specifics and other species. However, there is good cover within the cattails and further an abundant amount of potential nesting material from small twigs to dead undergrowth for the parents to use to construct a nest when it is time. The male doing the chasing is the same one that successfully called in the female, therefore I'd say this male is more fit, or possibly more experienced with age, than the male that tried to fly into his territory. This may also suggest that the area he was defending (much thicker in cattails, with more cover over all) has a slightly better territory habitat than the competing male (who was calling from a lone tree). For the Geese I would say this habitat is more ideal, although still very shallow water with limited food resources, but potentially more for the geese than there is for the Blackbirds as they can feed from the lake as well as the surroundings. Most importantly for the geese this is a very well protected area, with a fence and thick cattails, this would be a reasonable place to raise a clutch, at least for a while. One major downfall of this area is the litter. There were a lot of discarded cans and variable plastics, which may provide nesting material but if ingested by the geese's precocial young, while they're learning to feed, could be deadly or even risk contaminating the shallow waters.
The Chipping Sparrows were all heard in various pine type trees. This suggests this kind of cover is more idea for this species, and that their territories are confined to individual trees, as it seemed only one male was present per pine tree. They defend their trees by constantly calling, they had a jack hammer type call and repeated it every few seconds to reaffirm their territory. These Sparrows create very small and uniform nests using mud to stick twigs together. Similar, I believe to how American Robins form their nests. This method helps make the nests sturdy to hold all the young. Using mud to cement the nest together provides more stability than twigs alone. Twigs aren't the only nest building material, leaves, grasses and even plastic have been utilized for nest construction. This area has an abundance of all of these from the mixed tree species available. Mud can be gathered from the pond that's not too far away, although this may lead to territory disputes the closer to the pond these birds get, as competition for this resource grows. Whereas the Robin uses more branches and hard woods, I believe the Chipping Sparrow uses more pine needles, which would make sense as they were regularly seen among pine trees, which would provide an abundance of nesting materials. Further, Birds may return to the same nests year after year and simply add to them. We noted a rather large nest right outside Jeffords, possibly a Robin's nest, that was huge. It appeared to be continually added to and suspected to be at least a year old. Adding to nests, versus total reconstruction, requires less efforts and provides an overall larger and sturdier nest. This nest was more oval shaped, between larger trunk/base branches, and made mostly out of branches and leaves.
My favorite bird seen on this outing was the Yellow-rumped Warbler. There was roughly 2-3 individuals noted along the fence line leading towards the redstone pine grove. This area has the most mixed tree cover, and near the pine trees would offer a good resource for nest supplies and food supplies, although a highly competitive area with other species. The Yellow-rumped Warblers defended their territories with calls, although no clear territories seemed defended and they frequently invaded each other's space/trees, this could be the early conflicts of territory defense, clear boarders are yet to be defined. This species it seemed they were behind when compared to the Chipping Sparrow or Blackbirds because they haven't solidified their territories just yet. This is most likely due to them just arriving in VT from their migrations. They may also not settle in this area and continue more north before they actually settle down and nest.

45F, no precipitation, 90% cloud cover (cleared up towards end of walk), Centennial Woods
Time: 9am - 10:40am

Habitat and general notes: Walking to Centennial is very urban, more cars/houses than trees. We saw the Robins, Crow, and Nuthatch in these areas. All presumably looking for food, witnessed one Robin actively pulling worm from the ground. The Great Egret was spotted flying overhead the small pond that the Mallard was in and where we spotted the Woodpecker and Blackbird. This area didn't have much cover but was more swampy due to the pond with a few sparse trees and cattails. Inside Centennial, there was an area of less cover with younger small trees, then progressively gained larger, older trees as we walked through. The Chickadees looked to be building a nest in an old dead red maple cavity. Pine trees dominated the further in we went with lots of underbrush (where we noted the Brown Creeper and Tufted Titmouse). The Pine Warbler and Kinglet were spotted high up in the pine trees, where there was the most cover. most of the trees deeper in Centennial didn't have leaves/needles on the lower branches yet, the densest cover was at the tops of trees. The road was not visible through the woods but was faintly heard. We ran into 1 off leash dog and a few joggers but otherwise the forest was empty for us. Overall, there was a wide variety in habitat from urban to light cover to mixed forest with early blooming plants and brush.

All birds seen (notes under individual observations):

• Chipping Sparrow x2
• House Sparrow x2
• American Crow
• American Robin x4

• Mallard
  -Red-winged Blackbird

• Great Egret

• Brown-headed Cowbird x2
  -Hermit Thrush
  -Black-capped Chickadee x2
  -Tufted Titmouse x2

• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• Pine Warbler
• Brown Creeper
• Downy Woodpecker
• White-breasted Nuthatch

Date:4/4/2021
Time: 10:30a-12p
Place: The old North end Pomeroy Park + surrounding neighborhoods + inside from a bird feeder just after my walk (included because they excited me)
Scattered clouds 40F no/minimal wind

All the birds I saw on my walk were year round residents. The American Robin and Cedar Waxwing (unsure if ID correct) may go south for the winter, but commonly they stay put. The European Starling, according to All About Birds, the juveniles may go slightly south by a state or two but not very far. The House Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmouse are year round residents. These smaller birds can more easily navigate the woody underbrush and have access to more cover simply because they are smaller. Even without leaves and tree cover these birds can hide or escape into the undergrowth and become inaccessible to predatory animals. They all seem to group loosely together too, this may further help them evade predators. If one calls a warning call they are alerting not only their own species but other bird species to a potential threat. To survive the winter, as discussed previously, they have downy feathers and are able to insulate themselves better against the cold. This coupled with the counter current exchange in their feet, paired with a small overall body mass, they can stay well insulated during the ice cold VT winters. Further, they may conserve energy by staying in one place most of the day, unless looking for food. Not migrating would be beneficial because they avoid large energy expenses and are all in the same place already when the breeding season comes around. By staying put they may also have first access to the best territories and feeding grounds.

Interestingly, the Robins may go as far as Florida if they do choose to migrate. Similar to the Starlings, I would imagine these are the younger birds. Going south may be easier because it is warmer but also because there may be more food due to the warmer weather, thus allowing the younger birds the best chance of survival into the mating season. Further, the warmer the weather the more likely the trees will still have leaves providing cover from predators. This may be especially pertinent for the younger birds because they are still learning how to be a bird and survival does depend on remaining unseen by raptors or even terrestrial predators. The older birds, know the environment a little better, may have secured territories they can defend and a reliable food source therefore they choose to stay and not spend the energy to migrate so far. Coming back to VT in early April may be due to them simply not migrating that far anyway or a preferred habitat for mating. The Robin may go as far as Canada to mate, so it would make sense a few don’t go quite as far north but find similar habitat here in VT. Vermont may have a different spring/summer food source and better nesting materials for the Robins or simply better forests with better habitat as the months warm up compared to Florida habitat. Coming back early in the season ensures prime real estate and plenty of time to molt or restore their spent energy after migration and before finding a mate. The Blue Jay, I am not surprised they don’t really migrate. They have been described as ‘bullies’ and I would expect them to easily out-compete some of the smaller songbirds for food (at least at bird feeders), making it all the more easy for them to hang out throughout the winter instead of migrating. Their larger body sizes and more aggressive personalities may also deter predatory birds from attempting to hunt them.

I didn’t come across any obligatory migrants (disappointing) this time. However, for my last field journal I did come across a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, who commonly migrate back to VT for the spring and summer months. Again, coming back early in the season would give these birds the best chance of finding ideal territories and a chance to recuperate from their migration. Additionally, it may also give them an advantage to finding a mate. As they trickle back they can pair up as soon as possible, and if you’re late to the party you simply have less mating options. I would imagine this would be especially important for juvenile birds entering their first mating season, the earlier they get back the more time they have to find a mate and possibly learn from other birds how to court a mate. Some disadvantages to getting back to Vermont as early as April is that it is still pretty cold. As we witnessed not too long ago, it may still snow. This could pose a challenge to southern birds migrating north because they won’t be used to the cold climate and the abrupt change from mild temperatures to temps below freezing could threaten their survival.

54F, sunny with clear sky, 5 mph wind
Start: 11:40am End: 1:47pm

Habitat: Explored along Cady Hill rd (at a few bird feeders) and further back onto a friends property about 2-3 miles. Mostly deciduous forest, minimal leaf cover, still some patches of snow cover, no rocky outcroppings, some small river beds and soggy ground at the low points, gentle slope upwards towards field within hearing distance of the road. We also came across about 8 deer!

I unfortunately didn't see as many birds as I thought I was going to see at this location. The most interesting interactions I noted took place at bird feeders. I did see a pair of American Crows seemingly having a dispute over something, maybe territory or a food source? They were very clearly agitated with each other. Their calls sounded very loud and harsh, more so than their call usually is, and happened in quick succession while in chase or closing in on one another. Maybe they were having a lovers quarrel, because they stayed int he same clearing area together, despite their angry calling, for the whole time I was there.
The Chickadees seemed much happier than the Crows as they feasted in front of bird feeders along the road. I stopped at one with about 5 or so individuals at it surrounded by a large ornamental lawn tree and some young crab apply trees. There was one really chunky one, or maybe it was just fluff, that seemed to push the other Chickadees around a bit more. This one seemed to take the prime spot at the feeder more frequently and the others commonly changed branches if he/she came too close. This same one is the one that was most curious when I made the light pishing sound. They flitted closest, to a tree just above me, and hung out there the longest. It seemed like this bird was investigating me, maybe to see if I was a threat or predator? And would return almost every time I made the sound. The other Chickadees didn't seem too alarmed or interested in the pishing sound, and a smaller Chickadee type bird flew away entirely, leaving me with the impression the phishing is more of an alarming sound to them. This smaller Chickadee type bird is not on my bird list simply because I couldn't get a good picture and I have no Idea what it was. It looked like a Chickadee but much smaller with a hint of orange on it's breast and a slightly downward curved bill that reminded me of a Brown Creeper. This little guy/girl was the most elusive and flew away as soon as I moved, but inevitably came back again and again, but keeping much greater a distance than the Chickadees. Furthermore, the Chickadees did not seem to like this little bird, and it almost seemed like they herded them to the out skirting trees and away from the feeder as a group. I noticed the Chickadee's call seemed to get longer (more dee notes) and slightly deeper when they chased this smaller bird away, paired with larger, more noticeable wing fanning? spreading? as the Chickadees approached this bird. They rarely gave chase but definitely guarded the feeder. I'm not sure why they seemed so threatened by this singular small bird, but It seemed like resource guarding behavior. What I believe was a Common Redpoll was entirely unbothered by the other birds, me and my pishing. I didn't even notice this bird approach the feeder, preferring to stay in the thicker bush/tree closer to the house. My guess would be that this bird was simply resting, as it covered it's feet and stayed fluffed up on the branch. Based on just my observations at this feeder, I would assume the Redpoll and Chickadees have converse circadian rhythms. Maybe the Redpoll is most active at dawn/dusk times to eat and be alert and uses mid day times to conserve energy and warm themselves. The Chickadees do the inverse remaining very active throughout the day and resting at night.
Comparing the plumage of the Chickadee to the Redpoll is interesting. They both clearly can inhabit similar areas yet have very different plums. The Chickadee's black caps and distinct muted tones with no speckling or spotted feathers give them almost a shadow type look, especially with their flitted, quick flying style. The Chickadees could blend in with the less dense branches of the crab apple trees, and basically disappeared in the thicker brush (or my eye sight is just really poor). The Redpoll of course has red hues and a distinct red cap. But more interesting was how the speckled brown breast helped them hide away in the thick brush, mimicking filtered sunlight through branches or leaves. The darker brown hues helped the Redpoll camouflage in with the darker brush, and would've stood out more on the more barren branches the Chickadees commonly braved. The red cap is a give away I would think on the Redpolls but oddly I didn't even realize it had red hues until I tried to get a closer look and the light caught it.
Other interesting group behavior I noticed was with the Red-winged Blackbirds. Unfortunately I noticed these guys (by their insanely loud calling) as I was driving away, I did stop and watch but only for a few minutes. They all were perched in this very thick and one of the only pine trees near this house set a couple hundred yards away from the road. They all seemed to make the same konk-a-reeee sound at the same time, emphasis on the REE note, creating a super loud group call. Then, they all got up out of the tree at the same time and flew towards the feeder and dispersed in the shorter shrubbery around it. I appreciated about 14 that flew from the tree, but I'm sure there was more still hanging out in the tree or the surrounding brush. All the ones I could see in flight seemed to be male, with the distinct dark body and bright red/orange wing shoulders. Maybe this is a common survival behavior, they migrate together? and then stay together post migration? maybe male groups help each other find females which is why they're all flocking together pre-breeding season? Which would also suggest the start of an important circannual cylce of breeding season and the end of the spring migration period.

Time: 12:45p - 2pm
River Walk to Salmon hole near Gardener's Supply in Winooski VT.
Clear Sky, sunny, 25F 9mph winds
Habitat: winnooski river, mixed forest of mostly deciduous trees without much leaf cover, sparse coniferous trees, dense underbrush of mostly woody plants, a few patches of cattails, close proximity to the road at the start of the trail.

During this birding excursion I was surprised to see Ducks! I observed 4 Mallards just chilling in the river among the ice chunks and thought about how absolutely freezing the water must be. It was fairly warm in the sun, but that doesn't discount the frigid water the Mallards were swimming and feeding in. I did observe them feeding, as they dunked their heads and went bottoms up a few times. I'm sure there are a variety of fish in the Winooski river as well as aquatic plants and algae, although I can't speak on the availability of these during the winter. I would imagine more small fish, snails and crustaceans would be available in the summer months, therefore more cold weather greens or potentially even insects might be favored in the colder months. Evidently there was enough to go around for all 4 individuals (2 male 2 female) to hang around. I would imagine having waterproof outer feathers help keep the ducks from actually being wet and thus freezing, paired with thick downy both help insulate the ducks during these winter months. Perhaps Mallards also have some afterfeathers to provide additional insulation, although I believe afterfeathers are more common in larger, colder climate birds. But what about their feet? My hands absolutely froze solid on my bird walk, one would think their feet should just fall off of frostbite in the winter. After a bit of research, paired with lecture material, I learned that basically the down feathers that insulate their body cavities do such a good job keeping them warm that it created a counter current exchange function in their feet. The blood going from the body to the feet warms the blood leaving their feet, effectively keep them warm enough to not freeze off: the blood in the arteries is warm and in close proximity to the veins that the heat from the arteries also warms the veins. Assuming the other water bird I saw was a Common Merganser I would imagine the same principles apply to them, or any colder climate waterfowl. I believe they'd all share these traits due to homologous evolution (development of similar/same traits due to a common ancestor) and have been kept due to their obvious effectiveness at keeping these birds warm. I'd imagine sleeping close to the water or in the water would be beneficial to these water fowl types to protect them from predatory mammals. These birds were also seen not feeding, but basking in the sun along the shore, again I assume the water offers a lot of safety to these types of birds even throughout the day, allowing time to rest and conserve energy. The two male Mallards did seem to squabble a bit with each other, I don't think its mating season but I wouldn't be surprised if they were pairing up in preparation for it come early spring. This though was further proven by the 4 ducks splitting up in to male/female pairings and eventually splitting in pairs from the group.

The smaller passerine song birds I saw today also have down feathers to insulate their bodies, and I'd imagine have a similar counter current blood exchange to keep their legs warm, paired with specialized skin (from possibly their reptilian ancestors) to further help insulate their legs. The skin along their legs is almost scale like and may have evolved from reptilian scales to be more insulative and tough to endure perching on rougher surfaces such as tree bark. These birds, the Black-capped Chickadees and the Northern Cardinal were seen in coniferous pine (?) trees near dense undergrowth around a well dead tree. I'd imagine these birds feed primarily on seeds from these pine trees, and insects may be scavenged from snag trees, suggesting why these birds were hanging around in this area. However, not a lot of these smaller song bird types were seen, so I'd assume noon is probably not their ideal feeding time, but rather their time to stay warm, maybe digest their breakfast (also generates heat), and overall conserve energy. In the summer these birds may feed on a wider variety of seeds and bugs as they both become more abundant in the warmer months. There were a lot less pine trees the further down the trail I went, and also less of these song birds, they seemed to really concentrate in the pine/coniferous trees, I believe because they over the most cover, especially as a lot of the trees were bare. I did notice some evidence of woodpeckers (see pics attached to Hairy Woodpecker observation) but no actual woodpeckers. Again, this is probably because they don't feed in the middle of the day but probably closer to dusk when it's slightly darker out. This also makes sense as the time I did see a Hairy Woodpecker (2/28) was around 3-4pm, much later in the day (not at the river walk location though, see observation location). Feeding at dust makes these smaller prey species of birds less visible due to the changing in lighting, so it might be an advantage to them to hid from raptors and such to feed in times of lower light.

Lastly, the soaring birds: Herring Gulls and American Crows (larger black birds could've also been some kind of Raven) were also observed on my walk. Neither of these bird species were seen on the ground but rather circling the same areas above the Winooski river (at separate instances and not together). Again down feathers and specialized blood flow help these birds, but I also think they use warm air streams to warm up as well. Judging by the amount of time both species spent above the river I'm confident their must have been a warm up draft in the area that they appreciated. I didn't see these birds eating but I know both can be scavengers and like living around human civilizations eating scraps and such to supplement their wild type diets. The gulls hung around the most, 12 or more individuals enjoying sun as well as the updrafts off the river. I'd assume they must spend mid day conserving energy and finding warmth and feeding during the dusk hours similarly to the songbird's patterns of eating.

Start: 9:10am at Davis Circle
End: 10:34am South Prospect st
5-10 mph west blowing wind
mostly sunny, clear sky, occasional cloud, 21F
Habitat: scattered Pine trees, deciduous trees and brush along Redstone pathway and South Prospect street and bird feeder in urban neighborhood (off south prospect) with coniferous tree cover and undergrowth.

There was an abundance of American Robin sightings throughout our walk across redstone campus. These small birds flitted in and out of dense tree branches with ease and even in an open space seemed to bob in the air: flapping a few quick beats, coasting and dropping slightly then flapping again in rapid succession. These birds have an elliptical type wing to allow them more maneuverability among dense branches and undergrowth. Compared to the Herring Gulls, these birds seemed to have much quicker more flitting movements. The Herring Gulls were observed much higher in the sky than the robins, and none were observed on the ground or perches. Due to their high aspect ratio wing type, they are more equipped for soaring long distances versus fitting through branches like the robins. Furthermore, they have to flap a lot less than the robin to stay aloft, especially at higher altitudes, the Herring Gull seemed to use slower more evenly flapped strokes then spiraling or gliding on a wind current. Both these wing types fit these bird's flight habits but also habitat niches. The robin is a forest dweller where the Gull can be found closer to large bodies of water or large flat lands and marshes. The robin's wing shape helps them maneuver between trees and among under growth to get to insects and seeds or berries. Whereas the gull is equipped to soaring across larger stretches of land or above water bodies where they'll scavenge for fish or smaller birds and insects.
We observed a flock of roughly 12 Herring Gull outside Redstone Music hall, with a few individuals noted randomly at the start of our walk. However they all seemed to gather above the music hall and all of them just made slow circles around that area. Because they are pretty good at soaring it was mentioned that they probably found a warm updraft of wind current and were using it to just coast. A few darker gulls were noted and assumed to be first year juveniles who haven't yet molted in to their adult basic plumage. This was a great demonstration of how high aspect ratio wings are ideal for coasting on wind currents, the gulls hardly had to flap and just leisurely circled way above us. I do wonder why the Herring Gulls were not closer to lake Champlain, I would imagine air currents coming off/around the water to be much more abundant than on campus. I also wonder what the gulls eat on campus, or in general what attracts them to campus more than the open water - I'm assuming campus contains easier food sources via humans/human activity.

I also really enjoyed observing the Common Redpolls feeding at the bird feeders off south prospect. Similar to the robins they seemed to have more flitted movements than the gulls. The Common Redpolls share a similar habitat to the robin so it is understandable that they will have similar body shapes and wing shapes. Although I would say that the Common Redpolls and the House Sparrows have the most similar movements of the birds we observed today. Similar to the robins they had quick wing movements followed by a short period of coasting before repeating their furious flapping. These birds all were only seen flying short distances, from tree to tree or tree to ground/feeder, minimizing their need to coast. Seeing as they share common habitats and diets it is logical that they would have similar flight mannerisms to navigate the same habitats. The House Sparrow, Common Redpolls and American Robins all shared similar feather colors as well. With varying shades of brown, black and grey they all blended into the trees and undergrowth expertly. Paired with their quick dashes from tree to tree or branch to branch they were hard to focus on! This color pallet only further helps these birds survive within their habitats. I wonder how the Robin and Redpolls developed such bright coloring. The robin's orange breast seems more camouflage with dead/dying leaves but the Redpoll's bright red cap definitely stood out, besides attracting mates do they have other purposes?
In all I count today's outing a great introduction to birding and definitely set me up to know what to look for next time I'm out!