Field Ornithology: Day 4
When I got to Macrae Farm Park today it was about 57°F out and when I left it was about 63°F so it was a chilly start to the morning. It was also very windy and there were lots of jets and planes flying overhead so I knew that it was going to be a hard recording and identification day. When I got there there wasn’t many calls or sounds however when you start to walk around you could hear all of the different birds that were calling, they were just quiet and distant at first. I found a Baltimore Oriole first thing as well as a bunch of Mallards and Geese and they’re Goslings. As I kept walking, more and more songs, calls, and birds started to appear because at the beginning of the trail at Macrae Farm Park it is a few trees but mostly tall grass and shrubs. Then, as you keep walking it turns into trees and understory, however you were walking alongside a river so you have a mixture of forest and shore birds. It was neat to see a mix of all the birds because on one side you had the Yellow Warbler, a Black and White Warbler, a Veery, a bunch of Red-winged Blackbirds and Starling. Then on the other side of the trail you had a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron, Mallards, Geese, a Belted Kingfisher, and so much more. I kept trying to listen for Baltimore Orioles and locate them but as soon as I did they would fly to the other side of the river. I was proud of myself for identifying a Veery, American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat by sound. I also located an Eastern Kingbird and followed it all the way to the edge of the river, then it flew off to the other side, but I heard a screech and looked above me and there was an immature Osprey sitting above me eating something furry, so I backed away and kept looking a him and a bunch of Bank Swallows for a while which was pretty cool to watch. Overall it was a very successful day, it just got hard at times because of the wind, lack of visuals, the planes and jets, and just the overwhelming sounds of so many songs and calls. Especially since I was in a generic area with everything, grassland, shrubland, shore, marsh area, deciduous forest habitat, it was hard to tell what song was what and what bird it could have been coming from since there were so many options.
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