lammieli's Journal

Date – 02/25/24
Start time – 11:00 am
End time – 12:00 pm
Location – Intervale Center, 180 Intervale Rd, Burlington, VT 05401
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) – About 40 degrees, low/no wind speed, cloudy
Habitat(s) – Deciduous Forest along a river

For this journal, I took the opportunity to do a guided bird walk at the Intervale Center here in Burlington. This was really helpful as I had an expert with me to ensure I was identifying the birds correctly. Unfortunately, we didn’t see very many birds during this 1 hour long guided tour. In total, I saw 3 White-breasted Nuthatches, 3 Black-capped Chickadees, and 1 Tufted Titmouse.
As we began our walk, we quickly heard the Nuthatches calling to each other from the trees. From what we could tell there were at least 3 individuals calling back and forth to each other. Nuthatches have a very distinct call so it was easy to tell. I guess that they could have been communicated our presence to each other as they were being quite loud. They could have also been communicating the locations of food as it seemed that one of the individuals might have been eating some seeds inside of a bush.
We also saw the Tufted Titmouse and a group of Black-capped Chickadees closer inland along the path. The plumage of the Tufted Titmouse is a soft gray body with a rusty color on the flanks with more feathers on the head, while the Black-capped Chickadee has a black head with white cheeks and underparts. Both blend in with their habitats, but the Tufted Titmouse's colors may offer better camouflage in dense foliage during the spring/summer. Additionally, the Black-capped Chickadee's colors could aid in species recognition and communication within its social groups, whereas the Tufted Titmouse's plumage looks like it could provide better insulation and protection against environmental elements.
The three Chickadees were flying quickly in and out of the trees presumably to forage for food or maybe they were just scared of us as they were quite close to the path. This seems pretty normal for these birds. I assume that most of their day in the winter is spent foraging or running from predators as long as it's somewhat warm out. During the night, we learned that they don’t move much and can enter a hypothermic state. These are very active birds so I assume that by not moving during the night they can expend more energy during the day.
Our birding guide tried some phishing while we were walking back from our walk. This ended up scaring away all of the birds in the area rather than luring them in. My guess about phishing is that it mimics the sounds of angry small birds, which could lure more in to help in the fight or scare them away from potential danger.

Date – 03/15/24
Start time – 9:00 am
End time – 10:00 pm
Location – 148 Flynn Road Lunenburg MA
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) – About 50 degrees, low/no wind speed, sunny
Habitat(s) – Developed suburban lakeside coniferous forest

I took the time over this spring break to get outside and observe some birds in my home state of Massachusetts. My house sits on a lake surrounded by a mostly coniferous old-growth forest. This environment is amazing for birds. It also helps that the neighbors have multiple bird feeders.

Of the birds I observed, I saw many species that are year-round residents of both Massachusetts and Vermont, namely a Black-capped Chickadee, a Downy Woodpecker, three Blue Jays, a Tufted Titmouse, and a couple of Northern Cardinals. The majority of these species forego migration as their food sources remain somewhat constant during the winter months. They are able to remain warm due to highly insulated feathers which some of these species are able to fluff up. I recently learned that species like the Black-capped Chickadee are able to lower their body temperature during the night to conserve energy.

During observation, I also saw two mourning doves building a nest. This behavior is a clear indication of the onset of the breeding season in the area. As temperatures rise and daylight hours lengthen, these mourning doves, likely migrants from southern regions, have migrated northward to take advantage of the nesting opportunities and food sources available. I can only assume the same will be happening in Burlington very soon.

I unfortunately did not observe any obligate migrants.

Mini Activity:
Blue Jay: Facultative migrant, with potential long-distance migrations ~ 500 miles
Mourning Dove: Facultative migrant, typically undertaking short-distance migrations ~ 200 miles
Canada Goose: Long-distance migrations ~ 1,000 miles

The rough total miles traveled by the species observed in Massachusetts, considering only one representative of each species, would be approximately 1,700 miles.