Ornithology Field Journal Entry 2

Date: February 24th, 2024
Start Time: 2:30 pm
End Time: 3:45 pm
Location: Centennial Woods
Weather: day high of 27, low of 10, currently 18, wind 12 mph blowing SSW, sunny
Habitat: Northern Hardwood Forest

It was a chilly weekend. The sun was bright and the sky was clear, but I made sure to bundle up and the wind still nipped. I had been quite sick this week, stuck in my bed for most of it, just listening to the birds outside my window. A chattering of European Starlings has been quite noisy for a few days now, perching on a tree right outside my window and interrupting my sleep. I finally felt well enough to spend a dedicated amount of time outside for my observations, and Saturday, I made the walk into Centennial Woods. I walked along the trails until coming to rest on a fallen long. I was towards the middle of the woods, in a primarily Beech forest transitioning into towering Pines a little farther along.
The woods weren’t quite for a second. Many chickadees fluttered in and out of my line of sight, chirruping all along, and a cardinal called out from somewhere nearby, clear and strong. Although the cold drives many birds south, the winter skies are far from empty. Cardinals are a bird that will sing partially into the winter, and will go to a tall tree, for their song to carry far. Very active birds currently, are the Woodpeckers. It is their breeding season, and Centennial Woods is packed with Woodpeckers making themselves known! I was sitting very close to a tall dead Beech tree, and shortly upon my arrival, a Downy Woodpecker landed on the trunk of the snag. He began pecking away, the trademark drilling ringing through the trees. I felt very lucky to be so close to the little bird, the wood shavings were even falling on my boots. In my awe I failed to even take a picture. I’d rather the memory though so I’m not too broken up about it. A silly winter birding matter is how difficult it is to get out the camera. At least for me, these winter temperatures call for gloves and pockets; while my eyes and ears remain alert, my hands are tied up and I can’t be so quick to get out the camera without missing the bird entirely. Well back to the matter at hand, woodpeckers utilize snags to the fullest. Relying on them as a food source and nesting site, these dead trees are a vital resource to woodpeckers and many other cavity nesting species.
I didn’t see all that many birds flying around, I mostly heard their calls. In the winter the melody of the woods changes, and instead of long winding songs, more often the birds call out in shorter chirps and such. One bird that I definitely hear a ton of is the crows. As I mentioned in my previous journal entry, one of my absolute favorite parts of the winter days, is watching the crows of Burlington fly to their roosts each night. A few birds combat the winter months by roosting in the wintertime. Two that I see frequently are Dark-eyed Juncos in small clusters, keeping each other warm and informed; and of course the crows, coming together in hundreds, sleeping together for warmth and knowledge on food and other scarce resources. We all get a little cold in the wintertime, even the birds with their special molts and hollowed out trees.

Posted on February 25, 2024 11:44 PM by allieableman