Field Journal 1

Date: 02-08-2024
Start Time: 3:56
End time: 4:56
Location: Centennial Woods
Weather: The weather today was mostly sunny, with minimal cloud coverage. The high for the day was 43 degrees Fahrenheit, and when I was outside, I believe it was around 42-43 degrees. There was little wind.
Habitat: Many trees, but most were dried with no leaves. There were some clumps of pine or coniferous trees clustered close together, but those were the minority. The ground was mainly covered in dried leaves and pinecones, with some patches of snow sitting on the ground.

One of the birds I was able to observe the most was a Black-capped Chickadee. While I wasn’t super close to the birds and they didn’t tend to fly openly, I was able to observe a few specimens fly briefly from tree to tree or from branch to branch. Their wings often fluttered a bit at take off, then they would quickly hop and glide to a different tree. When in flight, a chickadee’s wings are very rounded, and create almost an oblong shape around its body. This wing shape suits the bird well, seeing as chickadees never have to travel long distances or migrate.
Another bird I observed was a White-breasted Nuthatch. I didn’t see as many of them as I did Black-capped Chickadees, but I was able to see one in flight. It mainly glided between tree trunks, only a few feet at the maximum. The nuthatch’s wings are a bit more narrow than that of the chickadee’s. They still have rounded edges while in flight, but the overall shape of the wingspan is much less oblong. This could be due to the fact that nuthatches mainly land on the trunks of trees rather than the branches, and they can achieve that with more gliding and less flapping.
Overall, I did not see many birds. Many factors could have contributed to this. I feel like the weather was ideal to see birds; it was sunny with little wind and quite warm considering the time of year. However, the spot I chose has a lot of human activity and foot traffic, which may have deterred some birds. The footing was dry leaves and snow, so walking around, even on a trail, made a loud ruckus which could have disturbed them. If I wanted to come here again, I would go closer to dawn or dusk, when other people are less likely to be in the area. I also feel I would have more luck in an area with more tree coverage. The birds seemed to stay away from trees without any leaves, and those trees made up the majority of the area I was in. They liked pines trees or any trees with some green on them, so an area filled with those trees might prove to be better.

Posted on February 9, 2024 06:15 PM by jenna_siders