greaser1399's Journal
Date - 3/6/24
Start time - 10:40
End time - 11:42
Location - Centennial Woods
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - 44 degrees Fahrenheit, gray cloudy skies, gradually got clearer.
Habitat(s) - Deciduous forest but with several interspersed hemlock groves. Also marshy area by the river.
Last bird journal! Almost sad, but not that sad because I will not miss having to fight inaturalist to record sounds.
Date - 3/25/24
Start time - 10:55
End time - 11:55
Location - Redstone Lofts
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - 43 degrees Fahrenheit, somewhat windy, stronger gusts mixed with slight breezes.
Habitat(s) - Man-made drainage pond with surrounding grasses/reeds. Deciduous forest (primarily maple + beech) but with some conifers. Open golf course.
Today was an interesting day for birding. I had very little luck finding birds with one major exception– the Red-winged Blackbird. I think it was because they were sheltered in the little man-made pond area, so the wind was blowing over their heads and hitting everyone else. Whatever it was, they were loud and territorial and perfect for an assignment to observe mating rituals.
In class, we learned that Red-winged blackbirds are particularly loud during the breeding seasons, as the males will find a good spot of territory, then sing aggressively, both to defend it and to attract females. I watched one particular individual for a while, who sang (screamed) loud enough I was able to get a couple of recordings, but didn’t do much else. He looked like he was screaming in a pretty solid spot in the rushes on the side of the pond, and it looked like decent territory to build a nest. I was hoping to see if any females noticed him, but unfortunately it did not seem to be his lucky day, at least from what I could tell. That said, the females of his species are brown and streaky, so it’s possible they were camouflaged well enough that I just couldn’t see them. I’d assume that birds defending better territories have higher fitness, both because they can outcompete other members of their species for those territories, but also because females are more likely to be attracted to them, allowing them to reproduce. At that point in my bird watching, I saw a snake and got distracted because it had a cool green stripe (I’d ID it but I don’t know snakes) and watched the snake for a while instead.
I did not see any birds nesting today so I was unable to answer that question, but I did see an American Crow carrying some sticks the other day (of course, when I wasn’t birding) so that was pretty cool. They were small sticks, so the crow would’ve either had to have gathered them at the tops of the trees, or in the undergrowth.
Overall I’d say today wasn’t too bad, although it would’ve been cooler to see more birds, especially since I heard so many new noises last time. I’ll probably try to go somewhere different for my next assignment, just to try to have better luck.
Until next time,
C. Greaser
(P.S. I don’t know which TA grades my work anymore but hi!)
Date - 4/10/24
Start time - 10:39
End time - 11:41
Location - Redstone Lofts
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - 56 degrees Fahrenheit, occasional gust of light wind, with additional light breezes. Some cloud cover.
Habitat(s) - Man-made drainage pond with surrounding grasses/reeds. Deciduous forest (primarily maple + beech) but with some conifers, open field with different grasses (golf course).
In addition to the observations selected, I'll add that there were several new birds I saw that I was unable to identify, especially as I was only able to hear sounds for many of them and as the migrants are coming in and I don't know as many of them as I do the resident birds. There were several incredibly high pitched chattering calls that sounded like a cross between a Belted Kingfisher and European Starling, that I didn't know. Additionally, I saw far more than seven Ring-billed Gulls, but I stopped counted when I reached sixteen. I'm confident it was more than twenty.
Date - 3/25/24
Start time - 10:42
End time - 11:42
Location - Redstone Lofts
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - 25 degrees fahrenheit, occasional gust of light wind, with additional light breezes.
Habitat(s) - Man-made drainage pond with surrounding grasses/reeds. Deciduous forest (primarily maple + beech) but with some conifers, open snowy field (difficult to determine species composition under snow.)
I feel like my experiences finding migratory and non-migratory birds this winter were impacted by the incredibly warm weather we had, up until this weekend. I’ve seen lots of Blue Jays and Black-capped Chickadees around, and I don’t think they migrate, which is interesting because they’re both small birds that from a quick glance don't appear to be well-adapted for winter weather. However chickadees stay lower to the ground, and are adapted to seek shelter from the wind in bushes that they can also forage in. Blue Jays can migrate, but it’s likely that most of the Burlington ones have adapted to take advantage of the feeders they’re often spotted around. Why migrate if you have a consistent food source that lasts year-round?
As for migrants I happened to witness a flock of American Robins landing in the small grove where I was, which was interesting because Robins are the stereotypical spring arrival migrant, but a lot of them must’ve wintered in Burlington this year. In terms of changes, the environment is not currently cooperating with the journal prompts and the changes we’re seeing right now (snow and wind) are the opposite of what we’d expect from this time, but it lends an interesting perspective to the next question: advantages and disadvantages of early migrants. The clear disadvantage is that the weather hasn’t cleared yet, and while they might have a competitive edge in nest building and breeding, they’ll have to face wind and cold weather to do it, which they may not be adapted for.
I have attached my rough map for the closest Herring Gull wintering areas, as All About Birds informed me it was the only bird I observed today that doesn’t have potential to be a year-round Burlington resident. I estimated it traveled either 337,981.95 m or 371,177.84 m, depending on which area it was coming from.
Hopefully in the next journal the weather decides to agree with the prompts, but it was honestly kinda fun that it didn’t. I also went birding back home over break and it was cool to see some different species (like Tree Swallows!) that I don’t see here, and I kinda wish we’d had a journal on it because it would’ve been more exciting than this one.
Until next time,
C. Greaser
Date - 3/6/24
Start time - 10:37
End time - 11:39
Location - Centennial Woods
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - 39 degrees Fahrenheit, lightly drizzling into a steady rain (drizzled for about forty minutes, steadily rained for the last twenty), gray cloudy skies.
Habitat(s) - Deciduous forest but with several interspersed hemlock groves.
Today’s birding lesson is to check the weather. Always. I don’t know if I’m cursed to perpetually bird in bad weather, but once again I found myself regretting my scheduling choices as far as completing these assignments. Luckily the birds didn’t seem to mind the rain nearly as much as the wind fiasco from last week so I was actually able to hear (and occasionally see) a pretty good composition of species. All of the observations are linked in inaturalist, but I was particularly excited about the Red-winged Blackbird because we haven't covered that one in class yet, but I still managed to recognize the sound from seeing them back home(and boy was I ecstatic to catch a glimpse of it and realize I was right). (Okay maybe there is something fun about this whole birding thing. I still prefer trees though.)
I think birding in the rain may have actually offered me a unique activity to observe different bird behavior than what they might’ve been doing normally because a lot of the birds were roosted or just hanging out in trees and bushes, and so many were vocalizing with each other. I saw a couple of birds just swooping around each other in pairs (like flying in loops around each other? I’m not completely sure how to describe the motion.) which I would assume most likely has something to do with the fact that it’s breeding season for lots of species. Aside from that I saw a flock of birds roosting in a tree together that sounded like they may have been House Finches but there were so many sounds going at once that it was difficult to discern what they were. I’d assume they were mostly just ‘saying’ greetings to each other, although there may have been breeding noises in there? But I don’t know what vocalizations finches make during breeding so I didn’t know. I also heard some chickadee alarm calls, which I assume were saying ‘hey! There’s a weird looking person heading straight for this bush! Abort!’
I focused on the Black-capped Chickadees for the next part of the assignment, as they were the closest to my line of sight. Compared to brighter birds like the Northern Cardinals they’re a lot harder to spot because their plumage blends in nicely with the shadows of the bushes I see them in most often. I’d assume the coloration is primarily for camouflage, vs the Cardinal’s coloration which helps to attract mates. I watched one particular Chickadee for a bit, but as it was raining he wasn’t doing anything too exciting, just flitting from branch to branch of the same bush to make sure I didn’t get too close, while conserving energy and heat. I’d assume most birds that aren’t as waterproof rest while it’s raining to prevent the rain from taking their necessary body heat and ruining their streamlined feathers.
When I pished at the flock of birds higher up in the trees (I’d decided to stop bothering the Chickadees) they didn’t react very much. There was a temporary stall of the noises, but then they started back up again so maybe I didn’t make the noise correctly. Overall, I’d say that it was a pretty average birding experience, not too exciting but for the weather I consider it a win.
Until next time,
C. Greaser
P.S. Hi Teddy!
Date - 2/21/24
Start time - 10:49
End time - 11:52
Location - Small pond/tree area by the Redstone Lofts
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - 35 degrees fahrenheit, incredibly windy (not sure exact wind speed/direction), no precipitation, cloudless blue sky.
Habitat(s) - Deciduous forest (primarily maple + beech) but with some conifers, open snowy field (difficult to determine species composition under snow.)
It’s still winter, but the temperature doesn’t feel like it. As much as I’d love to write about bird adaptations, aside from migration all of the adaptations seem to be minor, mostly related to feather fluffing or choosing different times of day to be active. While I didn’t observe too much bird activity (it was incredibly windy the only day I had free time to bird), I would assume that most birds would be conserving energy for warmth and spending more time resting. I would also assume that they’d be overnighting in sheltered places, like snags, instead of out in the open in order to be protected from the relentless wind. Their diets would have to reflect the species composition available, such as consuming winter berries instead of summer ones, and choosing to hunt prey that doesn’t hibernate. Snags once again come in handy, as many probably harbor insects or other bug species, creating both a resting place and a source of food in the winter when it might be harder to find bugs on the ground or in frozen soil.
I went birding with my friend Abby after class on Wednesday. We decided to walk through the trees that bordered the Redstone Lofts, as neither of us have cars but we’ve also had poor experiences in Centennial woods. It wasn’t a great spot for snags, as most of the trees were smaller and the forest was newer, but we were able to observe three of them with cavities, and two without. The first one with a cavity was made up of a combination of three holes in a tree with bark that resembled a ceder, although it may not have been as it would’ve been an odd habitat for that particular tree. Nothing popped out of these three holes, but they were smaller in diameter, probably about four by two inches, and would’ve only been a good place for smaller birds or animals. The second snag with a cavity was about the same size but located higher up in a dead beech, and again, nothing emerged. The third snag was much larger than the first two, as the dead tree was much wider in diameter, and so the cavity was also much larger, probably about a foot tall. I think it may have been a basswood, but my tree identification is not as excellent as it should be in winter. Even though I knocked on all three snags, disappointingly, nothing emerged from any of the cavities.
As for birds observed on this walk, the coolest part was watching a hawk of some kind (it was difficult to ID, as I am still very much a beginner birder and we have not covered raptor species yet) chase three American Crows away from the mini chunk of woods. They all flew in circles around each other, and the crows made lots of alarm noises, but in the end the hawk chased them across the field, which was insanely cool to watch, especially since we’d been recording noises from the first American Crow we noticed, so we got to listen to the calls become louder and more alarm-like. Other than the crows and raptor, I only noticed two Black-capped Chickadee, and only managed to lay eyes on one of them. (It was windy. Did I mention it was very windy? It was difficult to stand at times. I don’t blame the birds for hiding away.)
All in all, it was not a terribly successful birding walk, so hopefully next time the weather decides not to throw the full force of the wind into my face. I hope whoever's reading this has a lovely day, and sees a multitude of birds.
Date - 2/4/24
Start time - 7:54
End time - 8:57
Location - Centennial Woods, and adjacent suburb.
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - Sunny, few clouds, light breeze, 29 degrees Fahrenheit
Habitat(s) - Deciduous forest, developed suburb with few trees (American Beech, some maples)
Body text:
Unsurprisingly, I don’t think I’m very good at birding. I was supposed to take Dendrology, but my academic advisor informed me that even if I managed to get into it, they’d kick me out, as I am not a forestry major. That left Ornithology as my only option, and now I have been thrust into the birding lifestyle, despite my complete lack of skill. The thing about trees is that they don’t move. Birds move, and while it’s very cool to watch them, they’re much harder to find. I anticipate that I will improve with practice, but as far as journals go, this first one is not very exciting.
I started in Centennial woods, attempting to find birds. I went out early because I was told that the earlier you go in the morning, the more likely you are to find birds. I heard plenty of birds, but all of them sounded far away, and I couldn’t see any. I wandered around, I sat on a log for a bit, I twiddled my thumbs, I studied the trees. No birds. It’s deeply possible that I misjudged how early I was supposed to go, and that while 7:54 is very early for me, it might actually be late for the birds, or it could’ve just been that Centennial woods was coated in a thin layer of ice, and not a very pleasant place for warm-blooded animals to be that particular morning. I had just left the woods and resigned myself to having to return at a different date, when out of the conifers bordering the house to my right came a glorious Blue Jay caw.
I very quickly realized that, while I found no birds in the woods, I could find several species dotting the trees between the houses, specifically many of the ones we studied the first week, which was exciting. In total I observed, or heard five Black-capped Chickadee, or possibly six; two Blue Jays; two Cardinals; one House Finch; another bird that sounded like a house finch, but not quite that I was not skilled enough to identify; and two birds I couldn’t recognize by sound, one that make a ‘cheep cheep’ noise, and another that made a noise that sounded like the rolling of a tongue in Spanish, but not hollow enough to be a woodpecker’s drum.
I was also fortunate enough to observe a crow taking off in a nearby field on my walk back, and I got to watch its wing flapping pattern. It looked to me like it did a run to take off, with lots of flapping, both on the ground and once it got into the air. The feathers on the ends of its wings looked more separated, as opposed to streamlined, suggesting a slotted wing shape, although it was hard to tell which at the angle I was watching it. Having these slotted wings would allow the crow to maneuver better in the air, and it could use thermal currents or air drafts to get around, similar to how eagles do. They’re much larger in comparison to blue jays, which don’t go as high and need to hunt small insects, therefore they may have more elliptical wings, even though the aspect ratio of both birds appeared to be pretty similar. I also observed the unique color pattern of the Blue Jay and noted that for my field sketch assignment.
Overall, I’ll attempt to find a better place to bird next time, and hopefully I’m able to have a little bit more success. I think with some practice I’ll definitely be able to improve, but birding is harder than I originally thought.
