היומן של isabellecollum

Date: 5/9/23
Start time: 11:00 am
End time: 12:00 pm
Location: Fairfax, VT
Weather: Sunny, slight breeze, 57 degrees F
Habitat: Open grassy spaces near houses and some tree stands

Heard a Barred Owl!!!

Date: 4/17/23
Start time: 11:00 am
End time: 12:00 pm
Location: Redstone Campus, UVM
Weather: Rainy, overcast, 58 degrees F
Habitat: Urban campus, parking lots, a few green spaces with trees

Date: 3/27/23
Start time: 9:55 am
End time: 11:00 am
Location: Outback Road, Fairfax, VT
Weather: Sunny, 40°F, light breeze
Habitat: Mixed coniferous-deciduous forest and open area swamp/brook

Black-capped Chickadees and Northern Cardinals are definitely some of the first species that come to mind when I think of birds that are always here year-round. These species can survive the cold winters we have up here by holing up in trees and can rely on seeds, nuts, and winter berries to survive. Northern Cardinals actually haven’t always been year-long residents except in the past century or so due mainly to people putting out bird feeders, which I found interesting. Species that rely on insects or nectar or do not have heavy insulation like chickadees will have to go further south to find food.

When I checked All About Birds, I learned that most of the species I saw in this area are here year-round. However, I definitely feel like some species come out in the spring or at least are more visible, such as the American Robin. I feel like this bird is like the poster child for spring starting.

I was lucky to hear and see off in the distance a Red-shouldered Hawk. I’ll admit I thought it was a Cooper’s Hawk based on the tail silhouette until I used the Merlin app to identify it. I researched this species a bit and learned that these are facultative migrants; some will go south for the winter and some won’t leave at all. This specific hawk was circling and calling out non-stop for the whole hour I was birdwatching over the marshy river area in the distance. I learned they eat fish and amphibians as well as small mammals, so now that the water is thawing and the ground is warming up, more food is becoming readily available. They are some of the first hawk species to return in the spring, and their mating season typically starts in April, which means this is a great time for this species to return up north.

Mini Activity (miles traveled from wintering location):

American Robin: 0 (Year-round)
Downy Woodpecker: 0 (Year-round)
Canada Goose: 0 (Year-round)
Dark-eyed Junco: 0 (Year-round)
Red-breasted Nuthatch: 0 (Year-round)
White-breasted Nuthatch: 0 (Year-round)
Song Sparrow: 0 (Year-round)
Black-capped Chickadee: 0 (Year-round)
Red-shouldered Hawk: 163 miles
Red-winged Blackbird: 43 miles
Northern Cardinal: 0 (Year-round)
Blue Jay: 0 (Year-round)
American Crow: 120 miles

Total: About 326 total miles. These are the shortest distances from their year-round or wintering location to my location.

Date: 3/24/23
Start time: 11:00 am
End time: 12:00 pm
Location: Derway Cove, Burlington, VT
Weather: Overcast, 40°F
Habitat: Marsh, woods by water

I had an awesome time birding this morning. There were so many species, including both songbirds and waterfowl and it was such a great spot.

My birds were very talkative today. Every time I moved or another bird flew too close to his tree, this Blue Jay would start the warning calls. There were a number of Ring-billed Gulls that he wasn’t a fan of, and they were very loud as well. When I first arrived, there was a lone Canada Goose hanging out on a patch of ice, but after about 45 minutes, multiple groups of geese flew overhead, making loud calls and almost cooing to each other. However, this lone goose decided to stick around with me and the group of male Common Mergansers that were floating around him. I didn’t hear them make a single noise. There were two pairs of Mallards that I saw as well, not leaving each other's sides.

The female Mallard is much less showy than the male, and she blended in well with the marsh grasses behind her. I imagine this is helpful for blending in during nesting and evolution-wise, the harder it is to see them sitting on eggs, the easier they (and the eggs) will survive. The Northern Cardinals were also chatting away, with the clear cheer, cheer between quite a few of them in the background consistently. The males were very easy to spot amongst the browns and grays of the grass and icy water. The bright red of their plumage is not only really stunning to us but to the females as well. This color is a social cue, and while researching I learned that redder males statistically have more offspring, are better at foraging and making it through winter, and ultimately survive longer. I imagine there were female cardinals amongst them somewhere but I didn’t see any.

I watched a Ring-billed Gull for a while. This one in particular was swooping up and down over the water, while calling out. Every once in a while, it would stop to rest on the shore. I believe it was searching for food, although it never touched the surface of the water or dove down at anything (that I could notice). The gull’s circadian system is synchronized to environmental light levels, which is why it was out while it was daytime. It also tells them when to sleep, migrate, look for a mate, etc. It was overcast and chilly, so the seagull may have been taking breaks to conserve energy and warm up.

Mini Activity: I know that spishing is meant to sound like an alarm call for smaller birds. This could make some birds fly away to protect themselves or come in closer to investigate and help out. I made this sound around a group of Tufted Titmice and they all flew closer from another tree closer to me. I’m not sure if this means they are foolish or brave, but either way it was interesting to see it working. Alternatively, the Northern Cardinals and Black-capped Chickadees seemed to find it irritating or it just worked to drive them away.

Date: 3/4/23
Start time: 8:30 am
End time: 10:00 am
Location: Fairfax, VT
Weather: Snowing, windy, and foggy
Habitat: Mixed coniferous-deciduous forest and open area swamp/brook

I started out this walk with not much luck. I was home for the weekend and due to the
snow didn’t have anywhere to go but the backyard. Thankfully, it’s rural and once you walk into
the woods for a bit, there isn’t much human distraction. I walked for about 30 minutes hearing
only a few Black-capped chickadees and not seeing anything. Due to the snow, wind, and fog I
figured they were holed up somewhere. I took note of six large snags with cavities but after
tapping on them, nothing stirred. I took note of three nests in some shrubs/small trees but they
were probably from the summer as they seemed old. I know that snags are really important for
nesting, feeding, shelter, and launching (for species like owls or kingfishers). Just because I
didn’t see any in use doesn’t mean they weren’t being used. I’ve seen owls in snags in my
backyard before, so I know they’re here and using them.
After not having much luck, I left the woods and headed over to the brook/swamp area. I
saw and heard three American crows; they were easy to identify as they were doing the classic
caws. I sat down for a while, as I thought my presence might have been too obvious for the birds
to come out, but after about 30 minutes, no luck beyond some more puffed up Black-capped
Chickadees. They were chattering back and forth quite a bit and it got to the point where it was
hard to tell if there were more than I thought, or just a couple were following me around. I
figured that due to the weather, most birds were conserving energy and staying warm by not
venturing out. Even though it had now been an hour, I decided to stop by the birdfeeder by my
house because I knew there would be some there. I had wanted to stick to a more ‘natural’
environment but knew that the birds would likely be focusing on getting food and staying warm
right now, and I knew where the food was.
Another half hour by the bird feeder passed and while I was there, I saw some more
Black-capped chickadees (or maybe the same ones), a Northern Cardinal couple (male and
female), a White-breasted nuthatch, and both a male Downy Woodpecker and a male Hairy
Woodpecker. It was really cool to see the differences between the woodpeckers in person. What
stood out the most to me were the body and beak sizes. The White-breasted Nuthatch calls were really interesting but unfortunately neither the iNaturalist or Merlin apps could pick up on the sound over the
wind. Speaking of the wind, it was very interesting how every time it blew, the birds disappeared
and after it stopped for a while, they came right back out. They seemed pretty reliant on the bird
feeder that has various nuts, fruits, seeds, and suet and kept making return trips to stock up.
When it stops snowing, they should be able to find their own food a lot easier, including wild
nuts, seeds, berries, etc.
I’m excited to do another bird walk here another time, especially when it’s a little bit
warmer and maybe during dusk. I’ve seen and heard owls and whip-poor-wills in the evenings
and would love to record or get photos of some.