Journal archives for February 2021

February 22, 2021

FJ #2

Start time: 1:30
End time: 3:00
Date: 2.22.21
Location: Leddy Beach and Macrae Farm Park

Leddy Park: Weather: 28 degree F, strong southern and eastern winds coming off the lake.
Habitat: Mix of deciduous and coniferous trees, on the coast of the lake, large trees with a pretty open wood. Not much wind shelter. Spent 1 hour here.

Macrae Farm Park: Weather: 28 degrees F, much weaker eastern winds.
Habitat: Deciduous trees outnumbering conifers, with lots of open brushy fields. Spent 30 minutes here.

Species list:
Gull (unspecified) X2
Black-capped Chickadee X2
Raccoon X1
link to media: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L_E3uMEwzmeMp1JsNClMDLeo-njzX8mu/view?usp=sharing

I started off at Leddy Park, where I saw two birds fly overhead--with the lighting, I couldn't make out any coloring, just the silhouettes, one of which is drawn at the top of the page (1). I would hazard a guess and say they looked like gulls, with similar wing shapes. The flight pattern was mainly gliding, with minimal flapping, and mostly tilting to compensate for the strong winds--maintained a fairly straight path along the coast.
There was a lot of woodpecker sign, like old and fresh holes in tree trucks (2), with many trees having some wood dust at the base. After an hour, I didn't see any actual woodpeckers, though.
There were also around 7 of these strange balls or nests of dried leaves, very high up in the small branches of some trees, and I also attempted to draw these (3).
As I left Leddy prematurely, hoping to avoid losing my toes in the face of the wind-chill, I did happen to spot a raccoon (4), munching on some goodies at the base of a tree.
I spent the last 30 minutes of ornitherapy at Macrae Farm Park, which was blessedly further inland from the lake and much less windy. I observed two Black-capped Chickadees high in the branches of a very tall tree. Their calls varied from the twee-twee to a caw-like sound. When that pair flew off, they made many quick little flaps before taking a short glide, and repeating the quick wing flaps (5). They didn't following a straight path in the sky. At Macrae, I also happened to spot a cross-country skiier in their natural habitat. Unfortunately, they did take a tumble once they reached the car, but after asking they said they were a-ok.

Posted on February 22, 2021 11:53 PM by avi_ avi_ | 2 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

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