Zachary Winigrad Field Journal 1
Date - 2/3/2024
Start time - 12:26 PM
End time - 1:45 PM
Location - Centennial Woods
Weather - Slightly below freezing (27 degrees), light wind (no direction), cloudy
Habitats - Wooded with large clearings, primarily coniferous trees, and smaller deciduous trees/shrubs
My bird watching began with a short walk from my dorm to Centennial woods, where I heard several crows along the way. I arrived to the woods at 12:26 PM, and within a few minutes of walking I could hear several song birds, namely Black-capped Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches. Unfortunately, there were several factors that prevented me from getting more audio observations, including cars, planes, and even a tuba/trombone player (audible in the American Crow observation). After the initial set of observations, the number of bird sightings decreased as I went further down the trail. The forest opened up at one point, which had a few White-breasted Nuthatches, but otherwise nothing. I turned back, and on the way back near the exit of the woods, I spotted a Downy Woodpecker.
Most of my experience birding consisted of listening to calls, and on occasion seeing a bird for a few moments. Because of this, I had a hard time studying the flight pattern of any one bird. That said, I was able to see one bird (or multiple instances of the sane species) in flight. The flight pattern was a quick burst of flaps followed by the wings tucking in to the body to create a torpedo-like shape. From what I have seen online, this is referred to as "bounding flight" and is used by many of the birds from the first ID quiz. Based on the songs I heard and the color of the bird (as well as the long tail relative to the body), I would guess that I saw a Black-capped Chickadee in flight. The wings of the Black-capped Chickadee(s) in flight were almost exclusively tucked into its body, but the wings were relatively stout (low aspect ratio). The tail was also relatively long compared to the body, and flared out towards the end.
The bounding flight pattern is associated with several song birds, and thus is likely also associated with the forest edge habitat that I saw the most song birds. Meanwhile, the crows I observed flapped less frequently, but moved slower. It would appear that the bounding pattern is useful for quick movement, perhaps to avoid predation, or simply spend less time traveling. Regardless, smaller birds had more elliptical wings, and utilized bounding flight, while larger birds used more spread out flapping to remain in the air longer.
Ultimately, while I did see a fair number of birds, I saw them mostly within the same habitat, and within the same time frame. It is likely that the time of day impacted bird activity, given that birds are more active in the morning. Additionally, because I was in a large natural area, it is possible that I simply did not go to the parts of the woods with higher bird density. Given the short time frame of the bird watching, I did not see much of the woods, and thus likely missed out on the sections of trail that get more attention.
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