bird2525's Journal

Time: 3:15 - 4:15 PM
Date: 4/7/24
Location: College Street and UVM Campus
Habitat: Developed/Urban
Weather: 51° F, Clear skies, moderate wind

I walked up College Street towards UVM, looking for Waxwings on the berry trees on the strip between the sidewalk and the road. I saw several Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings in one of these trees, eating the berries. On campus, I saw a few Ring-Billed Gulls flying around and also saw and heard a Common Raven, and saw two Turkey Vultures soaring overhead. On the way back, I stopped by the berry trees again, and the waxwings of both types were still there, and I also saw a Black-Capped Chickadee in the tree and an American Robin on the ground. I also saw some of the waxwings fly to a place on the ground where there was still a small patch of snow and eat the snow as a means of getting water.

Species list:

3 Ring-Billed Gull
2 Turkey Vulture
1 Common Raven
1 Black-Capped Chickadee
1 American Robin
3 Bohemian Waxwing
5 Cedar Waxwing

Time: 9:20 to 10:20 AM, 4/21/24
Location: Centennial Woods, Burlington, VT
Weather: Mostly Sunny, 46° F, Light wind
Habitat: Forest, Pine Forest, Marsh

For this journal entry I went to Centennial Woods. Near the entrance I saw there was a Downy Woodpecker and a Black-Capped Chickadee on a seed/suet feeder combo attached to a tree. The suet cage was empty, but the woodpecker was trying to snatch any small granules of suet that remained. I also saw and heard an American Crow fly overhead. As I moved into the pine forest, I saw several Tufted Titmice and Black-Capped Chickadees flying around.

As I reached the clearing, I could hear a Song Sparrow calling in from the reeds. For awhile, I looked for it but couldn't see it, but then I eventually did catch a glimpse of it. Meanwhile, I saw a crow mobbing a hawk that was soaring overhead. I was never quite sure of the identity of the crow or the hawk. While I did hear the crow, it sounded somewhat intermediate between the American and Fish crow calls, while also sounding more 'screamy'. I'm not sure if that was because it was particularly angry at the hawk and doing an uncommon alarm call, or if it was just a weird sounding individual, or perhaps even a hybrid. I noticed the hawk had a black-and-white striped tail, which signals it was either a Red-Shouldered or Broad-Winged Hawk. I'm leaning towards Broad-Winged because it seemed on the small side - around the size of the crow, but I'm not sure.

On the way back, I saw a few more - or perhaps the same - chickadees and titmice in the pine forest area, and then I saw a pair of American Robins in the parking lot across the street from the entrance to centennial.

Full Species List:
1 Red-Shouldered or Broad-Winged Hawk
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 American Crow
5 Black-capped Chickadee
2 Tufted Titmouse
2 American Robin
1 Song Sparrow

Heard only: Eastern Phoebe, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Cardinal, Common Raven

Time: 8 AM to 11:20 AM, 4/27/24
Location: Green Mountain Audubon Center, Huntington, VT
Weather: 55° F, mostly sunny, light wind
Habitat: Forest, field, marsh

On Saturday, I went on the bird banding trip with the UVM birding club. We got to see 4 birds being banded - 2 Black-capped Chickadees, a Hermit Thrush, and a Pine Warbler. We learned about how they band the birds, what measurements they take, and how they try to determine the age and sex of the bird. We waited in the area by the headquarters for awhile to see if more birds would fly into the mist nets, but none did. We did however see a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker drilling on a tree, a Broad-winged Hawk flying overhead, an Eastern Phoebe, an Eastern Bluebird, some Ruby-crowned Kinglets singing and flitting around, and a Blue-headed Vireo that someone in the group identified by call, that we then saw a glimpse of when it flew.
Later in the morning, we went on a walk around the trails. Here we saw another Bluebird, an American Robin, and a Tree Swallow in the field, some Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows in the brush, Red-winged Blackbirds in the marsh, and a Brown Creeper in the forest. We also heard some Song Sparrows in the marsh and a Winter Wren in the forest. In a pond in the marsh, we saw a group of Common Mergansers, as well as some Canada Geese.
One of the geese decided to follow us, and it ended up following us for around a quarter to half a mile. Along the way, it scared up an American Woodcock, which was suprising to see in broad daylight. Also, we saw a Spotted Sandpiper fly along a river and land on a rock in the middle of it.

Total Species List:
4 Canada Goose
4 Common Merganser
1 American Woodcock
1 Spotted Sandpiper
1 Broad-winged Hawk
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
1 Eastern Phoebe
1 Blue-headed Vireo
3 Black-capped Chickadee
2 Tree Swallow
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Brown Creeper
2 Eastern Bluebird
1 Hermit Thrush
1 American Robin
4 Dark-eyed Junco
2 White-throated Sparrow
3 Red-winged Blackbird
1 Pine Warbler
Heard only: Song Sparrow, Winter Wren