ארכיון יומן של מרץ 2023

מרץ 4, 2023

Field Journal 3/3/2023

I went to the Burlington Waterfront on Friday, March 3, from 3:30 to 5:00pm. The temperature was 31ºF with low wind. The weather was calm and slightly overcast. The habitat was open water (Lake Champlain), and also the parking lot near the Echo Leahy Center, where eight Ring-billed Gulls were circling and vocalizing.
I walked south along the bike path to a green space a little past Perkins Pier. I saw a Common Loon in winter plumage, as well as five or six Common Goldeneyes and another four or five Common Mergansers. I also saw a pair of Mallards at the edge of the lake and a group of about eight European Starlings in a tree a little ways up the hill. It’s interesting how waterbirds form large groups in winter, probably because of limited open water and safety in numbers? Of course, waterbirds are well adapted to icy water and cold temperatures. Many of the birds I saw today were diving underwater to forage, which makes me wonder what they are eating at this time of year. I suppose there are still fish for the divers to eat, but what about dabbling ducks like Mallards? While many of the birds were feeding, one of the female Common Mergansers was sitting preening on a rock near the edge of the lake. One of the males was swimming near her. None of the ducks showed signs of moving to another place to spend the night, but I did not stay till full dusk to find out (the days are getting longer!).
The only snag I observed was a thick maple trunk at the edge of the water. It did not appear to have any large cavities, just a few small woodpecker holes. There was a noticeable lack of snags in the well-maintained parks of downtown Burlington. The lack of cavity-nesting space and foraging space that snags provide probably affects which species are able to live in Burlington. I imagine there are fewer woodpeckers in downtown Burlington, for example, than in neighboring forest.

הועלה ב-מרץ 4, 2023 04:43 לפנה"צ על ידי catrionagoering catrionagoering | 4 תצפיות | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

מרץ 24, 2023

Field Journal 3/18/2023

On Saturday, March 18, I spent a couple of hours at The Desert Conservation Area near the border of Marlborough and Sudbury, MA. It was sunny, about 50 degrees F, and there was enough wind that I could hear it blowing in the pine trees. The Desert is a 615-acre pitch pine/scrub oak community, which is fairly rare in Central Mass. I’ve been visiting The Desert for most of my life, and I remember when the Conservation Commission did a prescribed burn about 10 years ago to stop eastern white pine from becoming dominant. The soil is sandy, with lots of small, steep ridges and valleys carved by glaciers. There is also a systems of wetlands, which is where I went on Saturday from 12-2pm.
The first thing I noticed was all the signs of spring, like skunk cabbage and rows of painted turtles sunning themselves on logs. There was still ice in parts of the wetlands, but I heard a few wood frogs calling. I didn’t see any egg masses yet, but it won’t be long. I heard lots of birds, including Northern Cardinals, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Song Sparrows, and Red-winged Blackbirds. I know the birds are establishing territories this time of year. There was a Song Sparrow perched right next to the railroad bridge where I was sitting who sang the same song over and over the whole time I was there, and I heard a second one farther away. They were probably telling each other to stay away. I saw several Black-capped Chickadees tearing apart cattail heads, probably for food? They didn’t seem to be carrying away any of the material. I’m sure such a little bird has to spend a large percentage of its day foraging.
I think it’s pretty clear that the Song Sparrow’s streaky brown plumage acts as camouflage in shrubs and forests. I’m interested by the Black-capped Chickadee’s plumage, though. Maybe it’s general enough that it provides some level of camouflage in a lot of different habitat types? Maybe it blends in with the sky? As instructed, I tried pishing at some Black-capped Chickadees, and one of them got very agitated and flew right over to me. Maybe they think it sounds like the alarm call of a squirrel? I only did it once because it seems unkind to bother them. I noticed how big the buds were on all the plants and shrubs at the edge of the trail, and how high the water level was compared to last summer. There must be so much snow melt right now. I saw fairly fresh beaver activity on a stump at the edge of the water, but it didn’t look like anyone had worked on the dam recently.

הועלה ב-מרץ 24, 2023 10:48 אחה"צ על ידי catrionagoering catrionagoering | 5 תצפיות | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

מרץ 29, 2023

Field Journal 3/28/2023

On Tuesday, March 28, I visited Delta Park from 3:00-4:30pm. It was sunny, 40 degrees F, with 8mph wind from the north. The habitat was mixed forest, open water, and wetlands surrounding the point at which the Winooski River meets Lake Champlain.
As I was parking, I noticed a Bald Eagle flying overhead roughly in the direction of the lake. It was gone before I could take a photo, but the bird was huge and had unmistakable coloring. I imagine Bald Eagles like Delta Park because of the access to water where they can hunt for fish.
The next bird I saw was a Barred Owl roosting about six feet off the ground in a tree about 25 feet away from the bike path. It was definitely watching as people walked past, but it appeared unconcerned. It seemed smaller than some of the other Barred Owls I’ve seen, so maybe it was a male? The Barred Owl is an example of a bird that doesn’t migrate. Barred Owls are large, fluffy, and carnivorous, factors which probably help them survive cold winters. They can find a sheltered place to roost and fluff out their feathers to trap insulative air. Additionally, eating meat probably allows them to consume large amounts of energy efficiently.

As I walked along the bike path I could hear Red-winged Blackbirds calling “conk-la-ree” in the wetlands on either side. Red-winged Blackbirds are migratory, and I’ve just started seeing them again in Vermont. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Red-winged Blackbirds spend the winter in large flocks throughout much of the United States and parts of Central America. Vermont is not part of the winter range, so the birds I saw today could have migrated from as nearby as New York (~12 mi) to as far away as approximately Guatemala (>3,000 mi). An advantage to arriving in Vermont early in the Spring is first dibs on the best nesting locations. A disadvantage is that the average temperatures are still fairly cold, which means food sources might not yet be consistent.
I saw three American Robins and a Common Grackle foraging at the edge of the flooded forest floor, as well as a male and female Downy Woodpecker foraging in the trees along the path. I sat for a while at the main bridge, watching as three Canada geese bathed and a male Common Merganser splash-landed on the river side of the bridge. I could see two Turkey Vultures circling in the distance, possibly above some neighborhoods. The Barred Owl was still roosting when I finally walked back to my car.

הועלה ב-מרץ 29, 2023 03:34 לפנה"צ על ידי catrionagoering catrionagoering | 4 תצפיות | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

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