Wednesday Forest Birds May 20, 2020

Today Wednesday May 20th I went out into the field for observation in the morning. This birding adventure was focused on different forest birds. When I got into the field at 7:00 this morning the place of choosing was St. Albans Town Forest. When I arrived at this sight I recognized it was very noisy with construction going on nearby, so I decided to drive further up French Hill, and go into walking trails in the state land instead where it was quieter. When I arrived here and got into the field it was 7:15. In the duration I was in the field I was able to see and hear a variety of species. I tried to focus more on the sounds today because I was having a hard time seeing birds. The area I was in for observations was very mixed there were areas of deciduous, and coniferous forests in the trails that I was walking. There also was a large hay field that was in the entrance of the trail, with also a bordering rushing stream and waterfall that came from a large swamp. The rushing stream proved difficulty in hearing, along with the gusty winds. The weather was beautiful sunny and 50 degrees and climbing throughout the day.

When I entered the woods, I was overwhelmed with different songs. The first song I was able to pick apart and decipher was the American Redstart. I heard a continuous amount of the “Z-Z-Z-Z” songs as I moved through the forest and kept a tally of the amount of times I heard this song from different locations and ended with 11 but I was unable to see the individuals. Another sound ID I made in the deciduous part of the woods was the “squeaky wheel” of the Black-and-white Warbler. This song occurred 9 times in the duration I was in the field. Moving along the path I was able to ID 7 different Blue Jays by sight and sound. 3 of the seven were by sight flying through the coniferous woods, while the other 4 were by their alarm call of “Jay-Jay” throughout the morning. When I stopped along the path a recognized the extravagant song of the winter wren very close to me. Looking to my right I was able to see the Winter Wren along the ground by a downed log with its tail sticking up for a quick second before it disappeared. I also heard the song of two Northern Cardinals “machine gun” like song as I moved closer to where the opening was to the swamp and mouth of the river.

In the area close to the swamp I stayed under the coniferous trees for ID for a long period of time. I was able to see 4 different Red-winged Blackbirds and hear the song of 8 other Red-winged Blackbirds from across the pond. I was able to ID a single Eastern Kingbird with the grey back and white belly moving from branch to branch in a small tree. A total of four Song Sparrows were located in this area as well that I was able to ID by sight jumping from branch to branch in the understory of the coniferous trees.

Moving back out along a different path I saw a Ruffed Grouse cross the path up ahead and then moved out of sight very quickly. When I stopped to see if I could find the Ruffed Grouse in my binoculars I began hearing the “Here I am, Look At me, Here I am..” song of the Red-eyed Vireo, and as I moved along this path was able to ID 5 others of these songs. As I moved towards another swampy area with coniferous trees bordering it. I began hearing the “chebak-chebak-chebak” song as I moved. After hearing this call 8 different times in different but unable to see the bird I had trouble ID’ing but with research was able to determine it as the Least Flycatcher. During this time, I also was hearing the splurge of “reep-reep-reep” chattering calls of the Great Crested Flycatcher and was able to hear 5 different times. With the splurge of calls I was also able to pick of the “Teacher-teacher-teacher-teacher” song of the Ovenbird ID’ing by sound in 4 places along the way.

Moving back towards the entrance of the trail and large field, I came over a small hill and spooked a female Wild Turkey. The hen began putting and moved away quickly out of sight. When I got towards the field area I noticed movement in the trees and saw movement in the trees on the edge of an orange belly. I was able to see the orange belly and black back, to ID the single bird as a Baltimore Oriole. When I got to my car an American Crow was calling loudly from a tree further down the road. Along with two American Robin feeding on Worms in the on the opposite side of the road. I concluded my observation period at 11:00 and headed back home feeling happy and accomplished being able to ID new birds by sound.

Posted on May 20, 2020 07:26 PM by ajchagnon