hjohannabug's Journal

3/4/2024 4:00-5:30 PM
Shelburne Bay Park loading dock (first 30 minutes) TI-Haul trail (last hour)
55 degrees Fahrenheit, partial clouds, slight wind

Today I spent some time at Shelburne Bay park area. I first spent time observing some Canada goose at the shore across from me. They were in the water and on the marshy grassy area but staying together. There were about seven individuals, one appearing smaller than the others. At times two birds would be swimming together. One individual kept getting tall and flapping its wings while keeping its feet grounded. I wasn't sure if this was an aggressive territorial behavior, or if it was for temperature regulation. The birds were honking at each other quite a bit for the whole time I was observing them. I attached an audio file of this. The birds standing on the land were cleaning themselves with their beaks occasionally. I can imagine the Geese spend a lot of their day doing this social behavior, diving down for food, sitting in the sun when it comes out, or acting territorial. They are well adapted for the cold weather so I would guess their daily life Is much different than other birds.
Next I went across the road to the TI-Haul trail which wraps along the outside of a wooded area. I was sitting on a bench for a while which faced the woods, with a large open grassy field behind me. I did not see many birds while sitting here but I heard a few of them. Most prominently I heard a mourning dove calling for a long time. I assume it spends lots of time doing this based on my experience with it. I was amazed to see a large bird which I believe was a bald eagle fly up from behind the trees and soar around for a bit before spiraling downwards. I think it probably spends much of its day hunting prey because it needs a lot of energy for its large body and flight demands. Less notably, I heard what I believed to be a white breasted nuthatch vocalization, and a common raven screaming. I identified the latter using my Merlin Bird ID app. I think the birds were much more active today because it was sunny and they were exhibiting some spring time behaviors based on the weather. As it warms up, they are able to use more energy on mating rituals, hunting, territorial acts, etc. I'm not sure why the different colors between the bald eagle and the Canada goose are helpful. Maybe for blending into their respective habitats.
Mini Activity: While sitting on the bench I made some psh psh noises for some time. I might be crazy but I think I did notice an uptick in different cheeps and small bird noises in the trees far and wide. I think it made them curious and alert which caused them to start vocalizing a bit. However it did not bring them close to me. I never encountered a group of small birds to test it on.

Johanna Hamilton
3/22/2024 3:30-5 PM
Delta Park, Colchester VT
Weather: 30 degrees slightly windy and mostly cloudy

On Friday afternoon I went for a walk in Delta Park in Colchester. I mostly stayed on the path across the bridge, but I observed many species of birds. Within a minute of being on the path I heard a woodpecker pecking at a tree. The park is filled with many trees that are submerged in water, and the path goes through a sort of estuary. The trees have lots of holes in them which look like they would have good bugs inside. We found the woodpecker and observed it drilling for a few minutes. I identified the bird as a hairy woodpecker. This bird is a resident of Vermont and is able to survive in many climates because it eats insects from trees. This means it can thrive almost anywhere with dead trees. Later on I encountered some black capped chickadees and tufted titmouse in the tree next to the bridge. They seemed curious about us and were singing a little bit back and forth. These birds are also residents of Vermont. Sometimes the younger birds may migrate. The black capped chickadee has much thicker feathers in the winter which enables it to survive here. Their temperature drops very low at night which helps them to save energy and survive.
From the walk to the car and on the walk out we saw some American Robins sitting in the grass. These are considered facultative migrants in Vermont! It probably has traveled from a more southern state to Vermont and could be continuing even more North. The temperature has been slightly warmer with less snow over the last few weeks. Today is quite snowy so they may be surprised! An advantage of arriving early is getting the first pick of resources, territory, etc. However a disadvantage is dealing with the resurgence of winter as spring comes to fruition. These birds eat worms out of the ground which may be harder through the snow.

Mini Activity:
All of the species I observed were resident species aside from the American Robin! Some of the other birds may have traveled a hundred miles or so within New England, so I will give them a combined mileage of 500. For the purpose of the activity I will say the robins traveled from Florida, making a 1200 mile journey. WOW!! total:1700 miles