Diario de mfeng

This early morning bird walk was at my friend’s house in Sharon, VT. It is a fairly vast piece of land that climbs in elevation on the side of a mountain rise. It includes a small pond and wet land area at the lowest valley that climbs into a hardwood and Eastern white pine forest. Mixed within the wooded area is their barn and sheep pasture, house, and a small open field. The walk began at 8:00 am and lasted until 9:30 am. The temperature started at 34 degrees F, but climbed into the mid 40’s by the end. There was minimal wind and it was sunny. Beginning at the pond, I heard an overwhelming number of birds calling and singing. These included Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Tufted Titmice, Black-capped Chickadees, Eastern Phoebe, Northern Cardinal, American Robin, and a distance woodpecker pecking. European Starlings were flying back and forth from an adjacent field to an abandoned shed by the pond. A Red-wing Blackbird was pin pointed to its call, perched upon the top most branches of a cottonwood. A Song Sparrow sang loudly in the underbrush of the wetland area and Black-capped Chickadees were seen flitting all throughout the scene. The Eastern Phoebe calls were mainly heard from the surrounding woods.
Climbing up the long, winding, and extremely steep driveway path, I continued to hear Eastern Phoebe calls, this time spotting some birds to the sounds. Now within the shelter of the woods, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, House Finches, Tufted Titmice, Blue Jays, American Robins, and a Pileated Woodpecker were heard and seen. A flock of Wild Turkeys, evenly divided in sexes, was strolling across the small field clearing before flying into the woods, a large flock of Dark-eyed Juncos was feeding on the spilled chicken feed outside the barn, and the bird feeder by the house was attracting female American Goldfinches, more Chickadees, and Blue Jays. A woodpecker was spotted to the source of the pecking, but a Hairy Woodpecker was a shaky guess based on its size and proportion of it's beak.
This walk had some of the most bird activity that I have seen this semester and also the greatest species variety. I was impressed with my growing ability to identify calls.

We began our bird walk on this very windy and cold April day with the goal of exploring the natural area of Lone Rock Point in Burlington, VT. Lone Rock Point is a small peninsula along the shoreline of Lake Champlain. The temperature stayed consistent around 28 degrees F from the start of our walk at 1:00 until 2:30. There were sunny skies and blistering wind gusts at 25 mph, which got progressively more violent at the cliff points towards the tip of the peninsula.
Starting along the shoreline of North Beach, the wind was partially blocked by the peninsula to the north, creating a calm area for waterfowl to move freely. We spotted small groups of Ring-billed Gulls and Herring Gulls surveying the shoreline and shallow waters for food. There were also Canada Geese a bit further away from the shore. Mallards began to fly back and forth from the forested areas adjacent to the beach and stopped in the same shoreline area. It was a mixed male and female group.
We continued along the shoreline until we reached the base of the peninsula and began climbing the rocky incline and followed a path that lead around the outside parameter of the peninsula. The inland base this natural area contained hardwoods, Eastern hemlocks, and Eastern white pines with a small open field in the center. There were abundant shrubs in the understory, providing good potential cover. In this area we heard Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, and American Crows.
The cliffs at the tip of the peninsula were abandoned of any birds on land or off the shore. The wind was almost enough to knock us over. There were a couple of Canada Geese spotted gliding close to the water’s surface at a brief moment, but that was the extent of our observations in this area.
We did take note of a couple cedar snags with large (slightly more than a fist size), rectangular woodpecker holes in them. We assumed these to be evidence of Pileated Woodpeckers because of their shape and size.
There were a lack of actual sightings on this trip, but considering the wind factor it is a possibility that most of the birds we heard were taking shelter rather than making extraneous movements.

We set out for Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge early in the morning, eager to find some coastal waterfowl. The refuge is located in Middletown, RI and is a peninsula in the Rhode Island Sound. It consists of three major habitat types, a shrubland with thorny brambles, native grassy fields, and low lying shrub, sandy coastlines, and the rocky intertidal zone which is divided between the rough, wind exposed waters and the wind protected side of the peninsula where calmer waters are found. Observations began at around 10:48 am and continued until 1:00 pm. It was 53 degrees F, 80% humidity, and sunny with slight southerly winds.
The walk began on the south west side of the peninsula, facing the wind and rougher tides. Common Goldeneye, Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Common Eiders, and Black Scoters were seen in groups of four to nine individuals just off the rocky coast, diving and dabbling for food. Great Black-backed Gulls were circling above in the skies. Inland on the peninsula, there were mostly Song Sparrows perched within the bramble singing and calling. One Northern Cardinal and four American Crows were also spotted in this habitat type. As we crossed the outer most tip and on to the opposing side of the peninsula, there was less wind, calmer waters, and more shallow, rocky tide pools and out crops with many periwinkle snails and blankets of seaweed. This was the habitat type with the largest concentration of birds. Common Eiders were foraging for food and seemed to be nesting on the rocks in mating pairs. A large flock of Harlequin Ducks were diving for food farther away from the coast line. Surf Scoters and Double-crested Cormorants were standing on the edges of rocks. Groups of mixed Black Ducks, American Black DuckxMallard hybrids, and Common Mergansers were foraging for food closer to the shore. Finally, the Northeastern side of the peninsula turned to calm sandy beaches, where a large flock of mixed gulls all seemed to be foraging along the shore.

These field observations were taken mid morning from 10:20 am to approximately 11:40 am. It was 11 degrees F and sunny with winds at 9 miles per hour. The wind was barely noticeable at the bottom of the cliff by the pond side. The location of the bird sightings was by the Donahue Sea Caves in Burlington, VT. A main road stretches along the edge of a rocky cliff which leads down to a flat area containing a large pond. Another road is on the other side of the pond. The wooded area stretching down the sides of the cliff contains hardwoods such as white ash and yellow, white, and black birch. The rocky cliff edges support tall Eastern hemlocks and white cedar. The transition into the flat lower ground had boxelders and low lying shrubs that led into patches of cattails and then a pond. The pond was frozen solid and there was about an inch of snow covering the ground.

Anticipating little activity due to the cold, it was a pleasant surprise to find quite a few birds braving the cold. At first only calls and songs were heard. White-breasted Nuthatches were heard calling from presumably the area of hemlocks, but were never actually observed and not recorded. Little to no activity was seen in the cattails, but the surrounding shrubs and boxelders were filled with a mix of House Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, and Northern Cardinals. The Northern Cardinals were also seen flying into the hardwoods on the cliff sides, where some Tufted Titmice were also spotted. These birds didn't have any observable activity patterns and just flew from perch to perch. The Cardinals and Chickadees were especially vocal, breaking into song and calls.

A flock of American Goldfinches were fluttering about in the branches of some birches on the cliff side further up in elevation. They seemed to be feeding on catkins. Unable to clearly see black marks on their foreheads, their yellow tinted breasts and white wing stripes could have been all females or some males with winter plumage. Continuing up to the top of the cliff in the hardwood stand, Mourning Doves were seen perched mid way up a tree close together. Chickadees and Goldfinches were flocked and flying from branch to branch. Loud calls and flashes of red led us to spot a few Hairy Wood peckers flying between the trees as well. This identification was a bit uncertain, as they seemed to also have a slightly yellow tinted belly. However context wise, Hairy Woodpeckers seemed to be the closest fit due to the size, and position of the red head tuft.

The bird walk began at 2:00 pm on 2/2/16 and lasted until 3:30 pm. The location of observation was UVM's Centennial Woods. The woods were typical of a northern hardwood forest type. We walked through an Eastern white pine stand, an Eastern hemlock grove, a young hardwood stand with a lack of any ground cover or under story. There were many edges and gaps that were buffered with brambles and shrubs and filled with tall grassy fields. It was sunny and slightly windy outside the woods, but the forest interior was quiet with not even a breeze. The temperature was approximately 38 degrees F.

We were able to hear songs and calls from several birds, but were unable to locate them and fully identify them. One was assumed to be a Hairy Woodpecker by the volume of its call. The birds seen in flocks were Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, Tufted Titmice, and American Robins. These were all found in species specific flocks, but also in mixed flocks around the feeders. Black-capped Chickadees were the most abundant species found and were seen across multiple habitats throughout the woods such as the pine stand, hardwood stand, and hemlock grove. The American Robins were not actually spotted in the woods, but the crab apple trees planted along the side walks outside the natural area seemed to be enticing them.

The birds seen in threes, pairs, or alone were Hairy Woodpeckers, Mallards, Mourning Doves, White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, European Starlings, American Crows, and Northern Cardinals. Of these species, the Mallards and Hairy Woodpeckers had identifiable male and female individuals, perhaps indicating mates.