lammieli's Journal

This Wednesday (02/07/24) I went to Oakledge Park here in Burlington. The weather was quite cloudy, with the sun beginning to set. There was very low wind speed at this time and the water was calm. I went for a walk around the park and came across a large gathering of Mallard Ducks at 4:15pm. These ducks were swimming in a small alcove in the lake with rocky outcroppings surrounding two sides and a small beach on the other. The surrounding trees are generally coniferous with some deciduous trees closer inland. The trees appear to be mature, with little variation between the species. The water is relatively clear and there was no ice on the surface.
I sat watching these ducks for a while. I instantly knew they were mallards by the distinct coloration of the male’s heads and wings. They spent most of their time swimming and floating in the water while occasionally flying short distances to different spots in the cove. When they fly short distances like this over the water, they flap their wings very fast in attempt to get airborne. It’s not the most graceful movement, and they tend to touch their feet or part of their body to the water creating small splashes. Eventually, the flapping speed decreases as they stabilize in the air. However, the wing speed is still relatively fast as they have large bodies to keep airborne. The wings of these ducks are broad and pointed at the end. They need a lot of surface area to get them airborne. It is obvious watching them fly that they are built for the water and not particularly long flights.
This differs from the American Crows that were flying overhead while I was observing. The crows had relatively long wings with long pointed feathers. These crows were flying a straight path with consistent long wing beats. The wing motion was more of a row than the rapid flapping of the duck.
Overall, this is a nice spot for watching waterfowl however that was really all I saw apart from the crows. I think if I had sat a little more inland, I could’ve seen a wider variety of birds.

Date – 02/21/24
Start time – 2:30pm
End time – 3pm
Location – UVM Harris Millis parking lot
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) – About 40 degrees, low/no wind speed, partly sunny
Habitat(s) – Urban/suburban edge habitat

I was taking my usual walk home to Harris Hall at 2:30 when I began to notice a lot of bird activity on my route. I decided to take this time to focus on it and observe these birds as well as the surrounding habitat for about an hour. The majority of my time was spent on East Ave in Burlington which runs alongside some houses/buildings with lots of trees in between. However, I also took a walk down Catamount Drive which follows Centennial Woods. These trees are mostly deciduous and there is not much undergrowth at this time of year. A lot of the undergrowth is also mowed/maintained. Another thing to note is that, at some points, this street runs parallel to Centennial Woods.
This brings me to the birds that I was observing on this walk. What caught my eye most was a large flock of what I presume to be European Starlings. There were about 30 of them and they had distinct black feathers with white speckles on the tips of some of their feathers. These starlings were flying together from tree to tree and occasionally swooping to the ground to grab some undiscernible food/items. I’m assuming based on the nature of the trees they were staying close to that they were eating seeds from the ground. This is what is most abundant at the moment but I assume that they probably do this ground scavenging year-round, especially when berries and seeds are available for them. While I was watching, they spent the majority of their time resting in the trees and staying very close together. I think that they probably stay so close together to retain some amount of body heat, almost like a huddle. I would guess that these starlings probably also sleep like this during the night, as there are so many of them it would be hard to find a cavity/shelter large enough.
While I was walking, I kept my eye out for any dead trees/snags. I did notice a couple of dead trees deeper into the tree line. They had large cavities in them and one in particular appeared to have been opened up by a woodpecker. From what I observed, the starlings took very little interest in the snags and preferred the larger, living, trees. Snags are important for other species though. Especially mammals, like squirrels, which may rely on them during winter. I also know that birds like swallows tend to utilize cavities for nesting or sleeping overnight.