thoyt's Journal
April 27, 2023 – 10am to 11am
Graveyard and surrounding area on Pomeroy St.
Open habitat with trees and bushes
Sunny, sightly cold but warmer at the end
Observed:
House Finch
Gray Catbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Dark-eyed Junco
Blue Jay
American Robin
Hairy Woodpecker
Heard:
Black-capped Chickadee
Northern Cardinal
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Time: 4:10pm
Date: 4/17/23
Location: University Green to Mansfield Ave, Burlington
Weather: Cloudy, raining on-and-off
Habitat: Urban-ish, trees and bushes along the road
I've been seeing a lot of Canada Geese lately, which makes sense because they usually migrate from the south to the north around springtime for breeding purposes. I've only seen them in the air, in their characteristic V-formation. I've also seen two Northern Cardinals, a Downy Woodpecker, an American Robin, a Blue Jay, and heard Mourning Doves on my walks home from school (N Prospect St).
Looking up these birds' migration patterns, I learned:
Northern Cardinals are year-round residents.
Downy Woodpeckers are year-round residents.
American Robins are year-round residents in Vermont, but those who live higher, like in Canada, migrate to the southern US in the fall for winter months.
Blue Jays are year-round residents.
Mourning Doves, similar to American Robins, are year-round residents in Vermont, but those native to Canada migrate south in for the winter.
Since I’ve been sick all week with Covid, I decided to do my first bird walk around the two cemeteries at the ends of my street, Germain. At the start of my walk, around 4 in the afternoon, I saw what I believed to be a Dark-eyed Junco sitting in a shrub along the fence enclosing the cemetery. It was producing a high-pitched trill that was intercut with some whistles and warbles. Walking through the cemetery, I could hear a distinct whistle of “pew pew” starting high and sloping down in pitch. Unfortunately I didn’t recognize the song and upon looking at the birds we’ve studied, I couldn’t place one species that I thought it might be. I couldn’t see them very well, but they appeared to be somewhat small birds, around the size of an American Robin, perched far out on the branches of the tree they were in. I came across another tree that had a group of small birds far out on the branches that were making a sound consisting of squeaky chirps, whistles, and tweets. Once again, I couldn’t tell what kind they were visually, but they appeared even smaller than the previous birds I had seen. I could tell they had very short, small beaks, and thin, short tails that stuck out about half the length of the body. When I came home and looked up some of the calls of the species we had studied, the House Finch seems to have the most similar call and visually similar as well. As I was finishing up my walk at around 5pm, I watched American Crows begin to congregate in the tree tops surrounding my street, a sound and sight that my roommates and I have gotten used to over the last few months.
I've been seeing a lot of Canada Geese lately, which makes sense because they usually migrate from the south to the north around springtime for breeding purposes. I've only seen them in the air, in their characteristic V-formation. I've also seen two Northern Cardinals, a Downy Woodpecker, an American Robin, a Blue Jay, and heard Mourning Doves on my walks home from school (N Prospect St).
Looking up these birds' migration patterns, I learned:
Northern Cardinals are year-round residents.
Downy Woodpeckers are year-round residents.
American Robins are year-round residents in Vermont, but those who live higher, like in Canada, migrate to the southern US in the fall for winter months.
Blue Jays are year-round residents.
Mourning Doves, similar to American Robins, are year-round residents in Vermont, but those native to Canada migrate south in for the winter.
Since I’ve been sick all week with Covid, I decided to do my first bird walk around the two cemeteries at the ends of my street, Germain. At the start of my walk, around 4 in the afternoon, I saw what I believed to be a Dark-eyed Junco sitting in a shrub along the fence enclosing the cemetery. It was producing a high-pitched trill that was intercut with some whistles and warbles. Walking through the cemetery, I could hear a distinct whistle of “pew pew” starting high and sloping down in pitch. Unfortunately I didn’t recognize the song and upon looking at the birds we’ve studied, I couldn’t place one species that I thought it might be. I couldn’t see them very well, but they appeared to be somewhat small birds, around the size of an American Robin, perched far out on the branches of the tree they were in. I came across another tree that had a group of small birds far out on the branches that were making a sound consisting of squeaky chirps, whistles, and tweets. Once again, I couldn’t tell what kind they were visually, but they appeared even smaller than the previous birds I had seen. I could tell they had very short, small beaks, and thin, short tails that stuck out about half the length of the body. When I came home and looked up some of the calls of the species we had studied, the House Finch seems to have the most similar call and visually similar as well. As I was finishing up my walk at around 5pm, I watched American Crows begin to congregate in the tree tops surrounding my street, a sound and sight that my roommates and I have gotten used to over the last few months.
