lydiathibault's Journal

Date: April 28, 2024
Start time: 12:40pm
End time: 1:40pm
Location: Battery Park in Burlington, VT
Weather: cloudy, 65F, drizzling at some points, still air
Habitat: open park near the lake, a few big trees, open grass

Northern Cardinal
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
House Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
European Starling
Ring-billed Gull

Date: April 22, 2024
Start time: 11:50am
End time: 12:50pm
Location: Adsit Ct. Burlington, VT
Weather: sunny, slightly windy, 42℉
Habitat: open habitat in a neighborhood, bushy edge habitat, a few large trees

Species:
Black-capped Chickadee
Cedar Waxwing
Ring-billed Gull
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Cardinal

For this field journal, I decided to stay close to home and observe the migrant birds that have started arriving in the areas around my house off campus. I saw a lot of the same species that I have been observing all semester such as the Black-capped Chickadee and the Tufted Titmouse, but there were definitely some newer arrivals that I was very excited to see (and just hear in some cases). A new species that I observed this time was the Cedar Waxwing. I saw about 4 or 5 of them in a bush next to my house and then they spread out to the surrounding trees when they noticed me. There is also a Blue Jay that has appeared recently and is always flying in and out of a certain bush on the edge of the yard. I assume it is building some sort of nest in the bush as it is constantly gathering materials from the yard before disappearing into the bush. I also heard a Northern Cardinal singing up in one of the trees, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint its location. There was a Ring-billed Gull flying overhead as well at one point. And as always, I noticed a bunch of Black-capped Chickadees all around the yard and surrounding trees.
As for behaviors related to mate, nest or territory selection, I may not have picked the best location to observe them, but I did notice a few things. I already mentioned the Blue Jay that was bouncing back and forth between the yard and a bush that seemed to be collecting twigs, grass blades, leaves, bark shreds and other small things to build its nest. This Blue Jay may have picked this bush as its nesting spot because it is hidden and protected from the elements and potential predators. Other species may need larger spots up in tree branches or even spots on the ground such as the Ovenbird that we learned about in class recently.
I also observed a number of Cedar Waxwings during this birding expedition. Cedar Waxwings are usually found in open woodland habitats and they usually nest in trees. The area that I was in is probably a pretty good territory to nest in as there are a number of large and protected trees for nesting, as well as fruit bearing bushes around the yards in the neighborhood. It didn’t seem as though any of these Cedar Waxwings were defending their territory yet. They may have still been scoping out the area and deciding where the best place to claim would be, but I can imagine when they do decide to defend this territory I will hear a lot more of their singing when other things get too close for comfort. I’m sure there are better and worse places within Burlington for these birds to claim as their territory which probably means that these individuals are in the middle of the pack in terms of fitness. The most fit birds would be claiming the prime territory probably closer to a woodland area (but still open enough) and the less fit birds will just claim territory wherever they can without having to fend off other birds of the same species or other species.

Date: April 6, 2024
Start time: 5:00pm
End time: 6:00pm
Location: Mont-Tremblant Village, Quebec, Canada
Weather: warm, sunny, light breeze
Habitat: open habitat surrounded by woods

Species:
Black-capped Chickadee
Common Grackle
Pine Siskin
Wild Turkey
Blue Jay
Red-winged Blackbird

Date: March 23, 2024
Start time: 9:00 am
End time: 10:00am
Location: West Windsor, VT
Weather: snowing, cold and cloudy
Habitat: edge near a hilly forest, BIRD FEEDER

Species:
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Dark-eyed Junco
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
American Goldfinch
House Finch
American Robin
Northern Cardinal

For this field journal assignment, I decided to watch birds at a bird feeder outside my friend’s house in West Windsor, VT. It had snowed 12 inches overnight and was continuing to snow throughout my entire time birding. The bird feeder was full of small mixed bird seed and was hanging right next to the garage away from the main house. The birds were extremely active at the feeder on this morning. It was very hard to keep track of how many of each species were present as I couldn’t tell if it was the same individuals returning to the feeder each time so I estimated numbers for the iNaturalist entries. There were a lot of Dark-eyed Juncos on the ground surrounding the feeder and the nearby bushes. The rest of the birds came and went from the feeder constantly. I noticed that only 1 to 3 birds would be at the feeder at a time and as soon as one bird left another bird joined in. There was one feisty American Goldfinch that seemed to be fighting off other birds from the feeder whenever it was there. There was a female Downy Woodpecker and what I identified as a male Hairy Woodpecker that would return to the feeder occasionally. Other birds tended to stay away when the woodpeckers occupied the feeder. Overall, the morning was filled with a wide variety of bird songs and a constant rotation of Vermont resident birds fueling up for the cold and snowy day ahead.
Many of these species are year-round residents of Vermont. These species are able to endure the cold and harsh winters of Vermont due to their physiological and behavioral adaptations that they have accumulated over time such as the ability to go into facultative hypothermia during cold nights in order to preserve energy. Many of these species also spend a lot of their waking hours foraging for food in order to be able to keep their metabolism high and their body temp at an appropriate level during cold days. Some of these species such as the Dark-eyed Junco also have dark coloring that helps them absorb and maintain heat.
The American Robin can be considered a facultative migrant that can survive in the majority of the Continental United States year round, but some of this species spends winters in northern Mexico and southern Florida due to unpredictable food sources and weather. Facultative migrants are birds that migrate irregularly due to varying and unpredictable food sources and weather in their home areas. Although this specific day was not the ideal day to observe facultative migrants as we were experiencing the biggest storm of the season, it is still interesting to think about the timing of such migrations and how the weather can still be unpredictable once these migrants arrive. Facultative migrants start to arrive in the early spring as the weather starts to get warmer and the snow starts to clear from the grounds. These birds are then able to find food and build nests in order to prepare for breeding season.

Frequent Flyer Activity:
American Robin: Northern Mexico to Vermont ~ 1600 miles
American Goldfinch: Southern US to Vermont ~ 1000 miles

Total: 2600 miles!!!

Date: March 8, 2024
Start time: 5:58 am
End time: 6:55am
Location: Leddy Park Beach Burlington, VT
Weather: cold (28F), sunrise at 6:19am, clear skies, cool breeze off the lake
Habitat: sparse edge habitat along the lake

For this birding expedition, I spent time at Leddy Park Beach on Lake Champlain in Burlington, VT. After some relatively unsuccessful birding expeditions during the middle of the day in Centennial Woods, I decided to try observing earlier in the morning in order to attempt to catch birds as they wake up and start to move around and forage in the morning. I arrived about 20 minutes before sunrise as the sky was just starting to lighten up and as the sun started to rise, so did the birds. The first sounds that I heard were the fee-bee calls of the Black-capped Chickadees. I couldn’t see them in the trees, but I heard two individuals calling back and forth to each other as if they were saying “good morning” and discussing where and when to start foraging for the morning. The sound recording that I included for this assignment was that of a Northern Cardinal song somewhere up in the trees perching on a branch. I also heard a few Canada Geese flying and squawking around the bay. They took off across the water and flew out of sight. A woodpecker of some type was pecking away in the middle of the woods. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to locate and identify the specific species which was unfortunate. I also saw some sort of water birds out on the lake, but they were too far away to even identify with my binoculars. I did notice that there were two of them swimming and floating together and when they took off, they took off in unison and flew just above the surface of the water. Towards the end of my time out in the field, more birds started to become active and the songs of different species filled the space. It was hard to tell who was communicating with who, but I assume all of the birds were waking up from their slumber and saying ‘good morning’.
One species that I’ve seen a lot of during these birding expeditions is the Black-capped Chickadee. The chickadee has a white belly, with yellowish sides, gray back and wings and a black capped head. This neutral coloring may help them blend in their forest habitat. From above, the dark head and gray back may help them blend into the trees. The chickadees I have seen have also seemed fluffier on the stomach which may help retain heat in the cold winter months in Vermont. The Tufted Titmouse which has also been common in the field recently. This bird also has a white and yellowish belly with a gray/blue back, but its distinguishing factor is the tuft on top of its head. These birds also seem to be fluffy on the stomach for similar reasons as the chickadee. These two birds have similar habitats and lifestyles so it makes sense that their plumages may be so similar.
Although I heard quite a few birds on this morning, I didn’t actually locate and observe many of them. I imagine this is because many of the birds were just waking up from the night and were still in or near their cavities hidden among the trees. In class, we learned about some types of birds going into facultative hypothermia and because it had been such a cold night the night before I would guess that some of the smaller birds were coming out of this facultative hypothermia and warming up before they could start to forage and get their metabolism back up to the normal rate. The water birds that I saw floating in the lake were moving slow which made me think that they were also trying to conserve energy in the cool morning.
Finally, I tried the pshh pshh tactic and it seemed to quiet all the small birds in the area. The loud sound early in the morning may have spooked them as they woke up and started to start moving away. If their metabolism was still low from the cold night, they may want to avoid being noticed by certain predators as they are not at their full ability yet.

Date: 2/22/24
Start Time: 9:54 am
End Time: 11:00am
Location: Centennial Woods
Weather: windy, cloudy, 36℉, sun peeked through near the end of the hour
Habitats: open wooded areas, dense wooded areas, edge habitats

American Crow: 3
Black-capped Chickadee: 10
Pine Siskin: 1

For this field journal, I decided to go back to Centennial Woods at an earlier point in the day in hopes of finding more bird activity, but I was in fact very unsuccessful and I believe I need to go much earlier in the day or on a day with better weather conditions if I really want a chance to observe birds during a Vermont winter. I assume that many of the Vermont native birds were busy nesting up somewhere to preserve their energy and heat since it was the middle of a quite chilly and windy day. Hopefully, as the weather starts to warm up (and as I get better at budgeting my time and choosing when to bird), I will be able to observe more birds and their activities in this area.
During my hour out in the field, I saw one Pine Siskin that I was only able to identify by sound using the Merlin app, 3 American Crows flying above the tree canopy and a handful of Black-capped Chickadees, but only after the sun came out from behind the clouds near the end of my time.
Birds have evolved throughout time to be able to survive in some of the most extreme environments including cold winters in Vermont. One major adaptation that has helped with insulation and maintaining body temperature since birds are endothermic is their feathers. Feathers are able to keep heat out during hot days as well as keep heat in during cold winters and nights. Many Vermont natives have a winter coat that can improve this insulation, camouflage and other aspects of the bird’s life.
The Chickadees that I observed became much more active when the sun started to shine which made me think that they were bundled up in snags, cavities and nests before in order to maintain their body heat. When they were active, it seemed like they were pecking away at bark presumably looking for small fruit, seeds and insects to eat. In other seasons, I assume that the birds’ diets adapt to what is most abundant and available at the time such as switching to insect larvae or other types of seeds as they start to emerge in the spring and summer.
In the winter, it seems like many of the birds that can be observed around here spend a decent amount of time resting, sleeping and maintaining their body temperature and coming out to eat occasionally when the sun is out to fuel up. I believe that many of these birds will devote more time to breeding and other activities once it starts to warm up a bit and they don’t have to devote so much of their energy to maintaining their body heat.
In Centennial Woods, there are a lot of dead snags with cavities hollowed out in them for the birds to rest in and spend their nights. While walking through the woods, I noticed a number of cavities of varying sizes in many of the snags. As I expected, there were more and bigger cavities in the bigger snags, but some of the largest snags didn’t have any cavities. I’m assuming this is because they were too big for some of the smaller birds to peck through and build a cavity in. Snags are so important in providing habitat for so many species of birds. I didn’t get a chance to tap on any of the snags to see what birds may have been residing in them unfortunately.

Date: 2/7/24
Start Time: 12:55 p.m.
End Time: 1:56 p.m.
Location: Centennial Woods
Weather: cloudy, dry air, 33℉, no wind
Habitat(s): edge habitat with old trees and small dry shrubs
central forest habitat with old and dead trees, maples, pines, smaller growth, frozen river

For this first field journal, I decided to walk through Centennial Woods to observe birds in a slightly quieter environment away from the bustle of campus and downtown Burlington. I did go in the middle of the day which is far from the ideal time for birding so I wasn’t expecting much activity. It was also very cloudy and cold so this also led to decreased bird activity. I would have had better luck if I had gone first thing in the morning when the birds are considerably more active or maybe on a day when the sun was shining.
Overall, there were the most Black-capped Chickadees throughout Centennial Woods. It was hard to keep track of how many individuals I observed due to their quick movements and potential overlap of individuals who would fly away and then return. The chickadees have very quick wing flaps that help them ‘jump’ and maneuver stealthily from branch to branch and through tight spaces within trees. They have short and rounded wings that as we discussed in class are useful for quick maneuvers. This is common in small birds that fly quickly through the brush. I also saw a similar flight pattern with the Tufted Titmouse that I observed in a similar habitat as the Chickadees.
I compared this flight and wing flap pattern to that of an American Crow that I observed flying above the tree canopy. The American Crow has slotted high lift wings that are made for soaring. Their wing flaps seemed a tad slower and more controlled. In class, we learned about 4 different types of wing shapes. The slotted high lift wings as mentioned are used for soaring which can easily help identify a bird in this way. Long and thin high aspect ratio wings are present in birds such as gulls and albatross. High speed low aspect ratio wings allow for more thrust and allow for birds to hunt animals that are relatively fast. Finally, elliptical low aspect ratio wings are used for higher wing loading and maneuvering quickly. It is useful to know these flight patterns and wing shapes to help narrow down and identify the bird you are observing.
At the end of my birding time, I heard the alarm call of an American Robin and sure enough when I looked up to where the sound was coming from, there was a plump robin sitting on a small branch sounding its call for others to hear.