aharjala808's Journal

Date: April 6, 2024
Time: 4:40-5:40pm
Location: Red Rocks Park
Weather: 41 degrees and cloudy, feels like 33 from 25 mph wind gusts
Habitat: This area had a fairly even distribution of coniferous and deciduous trees overall, but the ratios would vary depending on where I was walking in the park. There were a lot of dead trees on the ground as well as snags.

Today’s observation was not a hugely plentiful turnout, for the time of day and the not-so-great weather definitely caused a lot of bird inactivity. However, throughout my hour-long walk of Red Rocks Park, I did hear and see a couple different interactions of birds regardless.
For the first half of my excursion, I heard almost no sound at all, which was a little bit eerie even. The entire forest was silent; there was a pleasant peacefulness to it as well though. As I was walking, I started to hear a faint noise and followed the sound until I reached a Tufted Titmouse. Whenever I come across a Tufted Titmouse, it is always when I hear them sing “peter-peter-peter”, but this time it was calling! The call was very repetitive: this bird kept doing It for such a long period of time. It was interesting to me because I did not hear any other birds around, let alone another Tufted Titmouse. It was alone, so my thoughts are that there was a predator nearby and it was calling an alarm response. The bird did seem a little frantic, bustling/looking around and never staying in one spot very long. It was not foraging for food, either, for the bird was high in a tree and did not appear to be pecking at or eating anything. Eventually, I left the Tufted Titmouse and it continued to call until I was out of range to hear it.
At the end of my walk, I heard a Northern Cardinal and Hairy Woodpecker on the outer edges of the park. The Northern Cardinal’s call rang through the trees; it was not densely vegetated and there was much more open area between trees, so the sound really carried throughout. I did not ever spot them, unfortunately. Overall, the walk-through Red Rocks was nice and, rather than track down a ton of birds singing/calling, it was nice to observe everything else around me. I noticed way more tree cavities than I usually do; there were trees filled top to bottom with excavations from woodpeckers and I am sure many birds were sheltering from the poor weather in them.

Date: April 21, 2024
Time: 11 AM – 12 PM
Location: Muddy Brook Wetland Reserve
Weather: The weather today was 45 degrees Fahrenheit and fully cloudy: there was a slight chilly breeze and 9 mph winds.
Habitat: Muddy Brook is a wetland nature reserve that consists of open grassland, marsh/wetland, and conifers. There was a pond in the center of where I was observing, and the paths surrounding were very muddy from a previous rain. Smaller bushes lined the sides of the walking path where the conifers were located.

Prompt:

Today was a wonderful birding turnout! There were tons of active birds during my observations, and it was hard to keep track of them all, for the noise surrounded me on all sides. The noisiest bird of all today was the Red-winged Blackbird; there were many calling and singing simultaneously. Most of the time, these birds were perched on a branch of a bush or tree, looking out over the wetland. There was rarely multiple in one spot at a time, so it appeared to me that they were each trying to defend their territory; when there were two together, they would bicker. They kept on making a repetitive alarm-sounding call to keep others away (it definitely seemed to have worked). Red-winged Blackbirds prefer to nest lower to the ground near the marshy waters, so the more successful of these birds had claimed territory/nesting sites right near the pond. The blackbirds were much chattier located near the pond than those in the hidden, grassy parts of the wetland, meaning competition is more competitive here in this prime habitat. To build their nests, these birds use stringy plants and weave them with wet vegetation/leaves, decayed wood, and mud, which all can be found easily in this wetland area. Dry grasses are also used as a finishing touch, which can typically be found nearby.

While Red-winged Blackbirds prefer nesting near the ground of marshy wetland, the Ruby-crowned Kinglets prefer to nest high up in the safety of tree canopy above. To build nests, these birds use grasses, feathers, fur, plant material, etc., which would be found on the forest floor. Using these materials requires regular nest maintenance so the nest remains intact; this is much different than the solidified muddy nest of a Red-winged Blackbird. When I observed the Ruby-crowned Kinglets lower towards the ground, darting about in the little bushes, they would only make small chatters. They were very skittish and constantly on the move. However, these birds sang beautifully when they were up higher in the conifers of Muddy Brook; it appears that they were singing to defend territory, hence why I only heard their song from up high above rather than low in the bushes. There were a couple instances where I heard two singing simultaneously, meaning a quarrel between two males was likely amidst.

A favorite find of mine from today’s observation was a solo Belted Kingfisher! I have never seen one before in real life and I first identified it through its familiar chatter. They are much larger than I ever anticipated so I really had to do a double take when I actually saw it. After further research regarding nesting, I discovered that Belted Kingfishers like to make burrows in banks near water. This Kingfisher was continuously flying in circles around the pond, landing on branches of trees and then taking off again, constantly chattering throughout. I never did see it land on the ground, so I am not sure where the nest is located or where the potential mate is. I read that they mate in April-May, so there is the possibility that this Belted Kingfisher has not found a mate yet or began to build the nest. It appears that this bird was likely establishing its territory around the little pond and warning off others with its continuous calling and circling.

Date: April 26th, 2024
Time: 3:00-4:00 pm
Location: East Woods Trail, South Burlington Vermont
Weather: The weather today was 57 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny/mainly blue skies. There was a slight breeze, but it was fairly calm out.
Habitat: East Woods Area is a small, hilly, loop trail with a mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees. There are many snags and decomposing trees on the ground. New growth of young trees is also present under the canopy. Some areas are more dense and other areas are more open depending on where you are along the trail.
Species Observed: Black-capped Chickadee, Chipping Sparrow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Pileated Woodpecker (I heard its call several times because it rang through the area, but never got it on recording unfortunately).

I spent a great deal of time today watching two Black-capped Chickadees—they had to have been mates—scurry around to build their nest! The two birds repetitively took turns eyeing this one little tree, going inside through a small cavity, and coming out carrying woody debris! It was so entertaining to watch them; they were completely unfazed that I was there, for the tree they kept going inside was right along the trail. They would continuously go in, grab out material, fly across the trail to this certain little tree, stay there a second, and then fly away elsewhere to discard the woody extract. I read that these birds excavate cavities to build their nest in, so that was exactly what I was witnessing. Every now and then they would sing or call and it was really great to watch/listen.