Field Journal 2
Date: 02/23/2024
Start time: 4:07 PM
End time: 5:15 PM
Location: Centennial Woods
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation): 40°F, 5mph wind, mixed clouds, precipitation from yesterday
Habitat(s): Forest edge, suburban developments, coniferous forest, deciduous forest, mixed forest, wetlands
Today I returned to Centennial Woods to complete the second field journal. The weather was unusually warm, with partial cloud cover and a light breeze. Due to the rain from the day before, the trek through Centennial Woods was very slippery and I did not stay for too long. However, I still found a decent variety of birds. Once again, Black-capped Chickadees were the most common find. It looked like the chickadees would occasionally fluff up their feathers while perched for a while. I know from having pet parakeets that a bird fluffing its feathers can be done to trap more heat, which would be beneficial for these birds during the winter.
I think I was a little too early in the evening to see any periods of notable activity in the resident birds. I would guess that the times of day when most birds are out and feeding are likely shorter during the colder months or perhaps adjusted to occur when it is closer to midday for more warmth. I suspect that the crows I saw in the woods were getting ready to find more crows for forming a flock to stay with overnight. By all crowding into a tree, the crows can use their numbers to keep each other warm. The diet of omnivorous birds probably shifts away from plants during the winter due to them. Instead, they may rely more heavily on animals like insects. I was curious about if nuthatches change their diet over the seasons and was surprised to see that they tend to eat more nuts and seeds in the winter and insects in the summer! Perhaps my theory was far off.
I tried to keep an eye out for snags, but most of my attention was devoted towards keeping my footing on muddy and icy trails. I did notice that different sections of Centennial Woods tended to have different abundances of snags, with a lot of them being towards the Northwest end of the forest from what I saw. I did not make it far enough off the trail to bang on any snags with a stick, but did not see too many cavities in the first place. I wonder if other animals in Centennial Woods besides birds can create similar cavities in snags or if every other tree dweller waits to move into a pre-dug one. I expected to see some woodpeckers while focusing on the snags, but only saw the White-breasted Nuthatches get too close to any of the cavities.
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