avi_'s Journal

Start time : 8:00 am
End time : 9:30 am
Date : 04/05/2021
Location: Winooski River Walk
Weather: temp hung steady at a cool 39 to 41 degrees F, with pretty full sun! wind was whipping around at a whooping 15 mph, at least, blowing in from the north and a little bit west, but mostly north.
Habitat: Wooded area along Winooski river: the woods are primarily deciduous trees, with a few small stands of young coniferous trees. There was a lot of forest debris like fallen snags, stumps, dead leaves, and branches. There wasn't any visible greenery on the forest floor or with any buds on the trees, but closer to the banks of the river and some offshoots there was some budding happening, and the grassy open areas had that young green grass going on. In addition to the wooded area, there were a few open-air fields in woods--one was a regular field, grassy and such, but the other was more of a marsh--offshoots from the river feed into this cattail marsh. The marsh was still yellowed and blown over some.

The birdsong was just as loud as it was last time I was in this area, and given how tall the trees are, it's my primary source for most bird IDs. Going in, I saw just a ton of Ring-billed Gulls hanging out on the rocks in the Winooski river, upstream of the bridge you'd cross to get to the Winooski circle. I also saw most of the Canada Geese in this area, and did almost get got by one near a picnic bench. See: the photo that goes along with that observation. The rest of the birds I identified were spotted / heard in the woods near the field or on the edge of the woods and still water or a small creek moment. Except for the mallards, who flew over my head and scared the living daylights out of me.

I observed mainly year-round residents: considering the Blue Jay, for example, one adaptation they have to best survive in the harsh climate is their strong social bonds, as they gather in larger groups. They also have a strong love for acorns, which are definitely available year-round, and while that may not be an adaptation, it is certainly cute. They also tend to forage on the ground, finding seeds, fruits, nuts, that kind of thing, and if they do that in a group it makes it easier to find those piles of seeds. The crop can be considered a physiological adaptation that will help them in this-they can carry nuts, like acorns, in that crop when they do find an abundance of food. I think they also take the food they've set aside in the crop and cache in various places later, which is another way of ensuring a food source over the harsh winter.

For facultative migrants, I'm thinking of the American Goldfinch, and I think it would be coming from the Southern U.S., not too far from us, and would be heading up into Canada if it wasn't staying with us, maybe in the southern half of the Quebec province. I don't specifically know what happened in the southern U.S.. I would guess with the winter we had, perhaps there is too much competition for seeds in the south, but regardless, whatever it was, it affected seed availability to such an extent that the birds were no longer able to glean what they needed from the open woodlands of the Southern U.S., and had to migrate northwards for the boom of food coming as springtime heads our way. The obligate migrant I did hear, the Chimney Swift, has a great advantage with again, that springtime availability of food reaching us--they do have to compete with the year-round residents for that food, and the high risks of death while migrating, due to high energy demand or bad weather, are a definite downside to that migration.

Mini activity: I got to around 2,500 miles, courtesy of the Chimney Swift and the Mallard pretty exclusively! Thanks, All About Birds.

Date: 4/19/2021
Start time - 7:45 am
End time - 9:15 am
Location - Winooski River Walk
Weather (great) - started out at around 45 degrees with some partial clouds and even a spot of rain later on, but as the sun started to really get going it got up to around 50 degrees by 9. There was minimal if any wind.
Habitat(s) - Wooded area along Winooski river: the woods are primarily deciduous trees, with a few small stands of young coniferous trees. There was a lot of forest debris like fallen snags, stumps, dead leaves, and branches. Now, there is a lot more greenery on the trees but still not a lot--I can see the tiny green buds up in the branches, though, and there's a lot more grass and plant life pushing through the detritus in the forested sections. The banks next to the river and the offshoots are much greener now, but that main marsh bit is still stubbornly yellowed and blown over. The grassier, open areas were definitely more grown than last time.

Date - 4/26/21
Start time - 7:45 am
End time - 9:15 am
Location - Winooski River Walk (ended at my house)
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - Overcast, cloudy and cold morning. Around 37 deg F when I started out, but it warmed up slightly. It was kind of windy, and the weather channel said the southern winds reached close to 18 mph. It wasn't raining, and I didn't even get much of a drizzle moment despite the clouds.
Habitat(s) - Cattail marsh, finally coming up a little bit green in some spots. The marsh is in a forested area, and while there are some open grass moments, it's primarily a deciduous forest, with some small stands of young coniferous trees. It's right next to the Winooski river, so there are some smaller offshoots of creeks and brooks, with some very still pools that border the marshy section.

I tried to get a good picture of it, but the photo of the Canada Goose from the Observations is from what looks like their nest. The picture's kind of blurry, but I didn't want to get got by a goose. Specifically, the nest site is on a little patch of land in the middle of a wide brook that feeds into the Winooski river, with lots of brush, fallen branches, and tons of overgrown foliage that's starting to kick back into gear. It's a well-concealed nest, with lots of groundcover from the overgrown vegetation and fallen branches, and it's close to the water.
Another bird I observed was the European Starling. Technically not on my walk, but as I arrived home I noticed that there was a nest in the ceiling of my apartment building's porch. The starling evidently hollowed out a cavity in the insulation, because there are bits of insulation fuzz just falling from the ceiling. The rest of the nest materials look like some drying scraggly plants, but its hard to get a good look. The male starling wouldn't have had to go far for these materials, as the insulation was already there, and there is plenty of free-growing weeds in a nearby cemetery.
There is also a House Finch nest in the siding of the building, and this one is visible by the twigs or dried plant stems poking out of the siding where it peels up.
As far as territories go, at first I was hesitant to call this an ideal one--there's not exactly an abundance of nature in the old north end. However, there are some bushes immediately nearby, and a graveyard that never gets mowed, and plenty of tree growth, so their diet could be sustainable here. I would hazard that the male house finch is defending a mediocre territory, but it does it well. I've just watched it chase away at least 2 other birds, so he's doing a good job if nothing else.