Ornithology Journal 1

I went to Shelburne Bay State Park on February 6th from 9:50- 10:50 am for this field journal. It was a sunny day with blue skies and a couple of clouds. 7mph winds were coming from the North and although it was 30 degrees out it felt more like 23 but there wasn’t any precipitation. The habitat was the shore of the lake that was softly iced. The water was still moving in wave motions even with the ice covering allowing the birds to float near the shore in the water. The beach was sandy and there were no trees present.
The particular species I observed was a Ring-billed gull which was flying in the air on the beach. I witnessed this bird fly off the beach and into the lake. This Ring-billed gull had steady wing flaps and at times would just glide through the air without needing to flap its wings at high speeds. I watched its wings go through a circular motion- up forward down and back. The Ring-billed gull would get a lot of lift flying high above the lake. However, the mallard duck had a different flight pattern; The mallard duck had less lift and more thrust, it would make its way along the lake without getting high into the sky but instead hovering just above the water. The Ring-billed gulls spend more time on the beach and the mallard sucks spent more time sitting in the water by the shore. The mallard ducks were more steady in the water whereas the Ring-billed gulls were constantly moving around their body or their head.
A big comparison between these species would be their wing type. The Ring-billed gull had a high aspect ratio wing type whereas the mallard duck had a high speed wing type. A high aspect ratio would allow the Ring-billed gull to fly for a long time giving it more lift with their longer narrow wings. A high-speed wing has a lower aspect ratio and more width which helps the bird gain more thrust when flying. Knowing the bird wing types matched the flight patterns I observed.
In total, there were about 55 birds by the shore where I was observing. There were more ring-billed gulls than ducks however the ring-billed gulls were constantly moving where the ducks were just sitting in the water. The lack of bird species would be due to the timing since it was very sunny and bright out as well as in the middle of the winter. Due to the lack of diverse habitat, this would also lead to little diversity observed in this area. The birds present on the water during the winter would be more specific because these birds would have to be able to handle the cold water temperatures, presence of ice, and lack of food on the dry bare trees present. To have better luck I would try observing this area at an earlier time because the sun is up ahead.

Posted on February 7, 2024 11:10 PM by jloyst