Field Journal Entry #4
Date: March 21, 2021
Start time: 3:00pm
End time: 4:30pm
Location: Lone Rock Point, Burlington VT
Weather: Sunny, High fifties, Light breeze
Habitat: Lakeside, Pine stand, Small woody riparian species near shore
This journal entry was done at Lone Rock Point right along the water and into the first little bit of the forest. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and a warm temperature; however the water was still very cold. There was not much of a breeze despite being right along the lake. I spent a majority of my time watching the Mallards interacting with each other and the American Crows. The Mallards swam somewhat close together (in a small group of about 2-4 at a time) and were repeatedly dunking their heads into the water. However, a few times the Mallards being squawking at each other and aggressively flapping their wings and beating them against the water while flying/gliding away on the water. This action seemed to always be a warning/aggressive way to tell other birds to back off, or maybe to show dominance. This tended to happen after the birds were together for an extended period of time and one bird had already given out some low squawk or attempted to distance themselves.
The American Crows were not as comfortable being in a group or with other birds as the Mallards appeared to be. There were a couple of instances where two Crows were on the same tree; however, there were always a decent distance from each other and never got as close as the Mallards did. There were also a decent number of squawks coming from Crows in treetops from neighboring trees. It did not really seem like they were intentionally trying to communicate to each other, I thought it seemed to be a general call to keep track of nearby birds. The Mallards seemed to be foraging more than the Crows. The Crows tended to be sitting in treetops and watching while the mallards were swimming close by the shore and dunking their heads in the water looking for food. Black-capped Chickadees in the smaller trees nearby were feeding as well; however they seemed to be looking for seeds and were hopping from branch to branch close to the ground.
There was a blue/green iridescent color in the male Mallard plumage on the neck and head. This could be potentially beneficial for courtship and for asserting dominance/reproductive fitness to mates. The iridescence color also seems to mimic the reflection of the water in the sun, making this potentially beneficial to camouflage from predators/prey. I tried to make a spishing call when I was close to some chickadees but I do not think I did it correctly. I got a couple of individuals close by on a branch but that was the best I could do. I think that it might be a comforting sound to them because it sounds similarly to some vocalizations of small birds to me. I will continue to try this when I’m out in the woods and see how close/how many birds I can attract.
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