Field Journal #3
Date: March 7, 2021
Start Time: 1:03 pm
End Time: 2:33 pm
Location: South Burlington Rec Path
Weather: 27 deg F, 7 mph wind, sunny, no precipitation
Habitat(s): bushes, trail, lines of trees, small, wooded areas.
I chose yesterday to be my birding day, because I enjoy sunny days and it was extremely needed to take some time outside. While walking along the bike path, I slowly walked and kept my eyes peeled to the area around me. I had signs of life about 5 minutes in, where I saw a singular Blue Jay hanging out in a tree as I was entering the rec path (tree was what I suspect to be either a green or white ash). Once into the path, I walked for a few minutes and came across a group of 6 Black-capped Chickadees all sat near each other in an area covered in bushes/brush. I stayed still (which corrected me from my mistake of making too much noise when birding for FJ2) and observed their movements. I noticed that they were not sitting still, which could be due to wanting to stay warm. I noticed a few shivers coming from a few that would stop moving around, but as soon as there was a shiver, I noticed them continuing to hop around.
Continuing to walk, I heard some American Robin calls, which had me excited because I hadn’t been able to identify those calls before learning it in class is past week. I had some binoculars with me, so trying to figure out where the noise was coming from was the biggest challenge for me yesterday. I ended up seeing the American Robins pretty far away, on the floor of a small, wooded area along the trail. I assume they were searching for food by the way they were hopping around on the floor. Thinking about how the season affects diet in birds is quite a complex thing. I think the American Robin’s diet definitely lacks in the winter compared to the summer/springtime due to lack of insects that comprise most of American Robin diet. In the winter, it is pretty obvious that berries are their main source of food, which makes sense because they were on the floor of the wooded area pretty much scavenging.
The reason I think bird diet is so complex is because of how everything is changing around us, and it is interesting to think that they have to go with the flow of what is happening climate wise which can fully affect how food is produced naturally.
Regarding the mini activity provided for this field journal, I did notice that there were a decent number of dead snags (number wise I would say I witnessed 4 wooded areas and about 3-4 dead snags in each. I did notice that most of my observations for this field journal were within close proximity of the snags, which could possibly consist of their habitats for this season. I could see some old leaves within some cavities, which is why I feel further convinced they are homes for some species. Snags are very important for either being a home/safe space for birds, as well as a place where there is shade, which allows for birds to cool down. I think the species that are most likely able to utilize dead snags as homes are Black-capped Chickadees, simply because of what I noticed yesterday and how there were a lot of these birds surrounding these types of areas and how I saw once hanging out in one, while their buddies probably scavenged for food.
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