Journal archives for March 2019

March 8, 2019

Field Identification #2 March 8,2019

On this field observation trip, I journeyed to Wheeler Nature Park in South Burlington. I decided this would be a great spot to go birding because I previously went to this spot in my Vermont History course. We were tracking during that lab which meant following the footsteps of the wildlife that roamed that land. We saw a lot of rabbit evidence whether it be there prints or the pellets, there were an abundance of eastern cottontail. Today, it is shining bright and around 20 degrees fahrenheit. It is March 8th and just around 11:30. I make my way across the little wooden walkway over to a strip of wooded area adjacent to a fallen tree which I will investigate later. I must add, I have been noticing a few Northern Cardinals in my backyard the past few days. When I go let my pup out they’re singing like nobody's business. This Friday morning in particular I saw them chasing around each other trying to figure out what they were trying to accomplish. We’ll get into that a little more in the next section. The last time I was at Wheeler Park I noticed some Pileated Woodpecker markings on a tree when deep in the forest. They were rings around the tree that went down about four or five times spotted with the peckings of the Pileated Woodpecker. I also just assumed it was a Pileated Woodpecker due to the amount of “wuk wuk wuk” songs I was hearing.
Since it is still quite frigid outside, I always wondered how these small species kept warm or what they even did with their lives since all the ground was covered with snow. We learned in class that species will begin to cluster to make a circle of heat, for instance the American Crow. Other possibilities that birds are doing is quite literally shivering, this creates a source of heat as well that will keep the bird alive during most frigid temperatures. Due to the ground not being available to keep an abundance of food sources, birds usually accumulate an amount of food before these winter months. Buckthorn berries are still available for bird species yet doesn’t sit well in their cycle ultimately passing through quickly and not giving up a lot of nutrients, also turning the species droppings blue. A large amount of time is spent resting or sleeping with the group to stay warm and pass the cold days. Staying warm, keeping food abundance and finding a mate are all things that these species are looking for. The ability to reproduce is what drives these birds to do their everyday activities like such. Worms, insects, seeds are not as abundant in the colder months due to inability to access them through amounts of snow. Sticking to what they have accumulated or the leftover berries of trees and other species hiding holes, those are their main source of nutrients. When it comes to sleeping, species during the cold months often huddle in a more closed off space. For instance if there was a large bush in your backyard, you might find a variety of species in it taking cover for overnight snowstorms and winds. Soon species will migrate back to Vermont and grounds will be thawed and the ecosystem will be replenished once again.
Through my walk into wheeler park I noticed quite a few snags where there could be any species from gray squirrel to rabbit to owl taking refuge in it. One thing I’ve noticed is the larger the snag, the larger the cavity, which ultimately makes since. When it eventually hollows out, there is a better chance to find larger animals taking over that space as their new habitat. Since I am journeying through the day and not at night, I do not suspect to see a large abundance of bird species because they are out trying to gather nutrients for the day or trying to connect with others. While trying to tap around cavities in snags, I was honestly a little scared of what might pop out. After trying on about three different cavities finding that no one was home, I went a little further into the woods. I saw some more rings of holes down trees and kept my eye out for a Pileated Woodpecker. I waited around for about another 30 minutes where I was able to hear surrounding species and one call of a Pileated woodpecker but nothing seemed to want to connect with me today. I retreat back to the previous cavities I looked at to see if I was missing anything but again, nothing. Maybe I’ll come back later in the day to see if I can find more species. Species like Pileated Woodpecker or Owl are the most common species I would assume to find in cavities of snags. Snags are so important for our ecosystem to thrive. Providing a safe habitat for species to rest or nest brings peace to the species in order to keep reproducing. Back to the Northern Cardinals I saw in my backyard these past few morning, noticing that there were only three male Northern Cardinals made me wonder. Were they chasing around each other in order to mark the territory? Were they simply assuming themselves in chasing each other around? Is this apart of a territory ritual of some kind? After I watched these birds follow each other and sing to each other I assumed they were just apart of the group they must have formed for over the winter. Maybe I’ll see more accumulate over the days, maybe not.

Posted on March 8, 2019 04:57 PM by chey_conn chey_conn | 1 observation | 0 comments | Leave a comment

March 25, 2019

Field Identification #3 March 25, 2019

Cheyanne Connelly
Social Behavior&Phenology
WFB 130
3-25-19

Today is Monday, March 25th, 2019 in good ol’ Burlington, VT. The time is 9:45am, a beautiful blue sky day with some chilly winds hitting my face. I’d guess that the temperature was about 20 degrees fahrenheit, better than these past few weeks of 9 degrees. Today’s location is the Champlain waterfront near the boathouse next to ECHO. All the times I’ve been down this way there has been a plethora of bird activity so why not give it a try today.
Upon my arrival, I kept an eye out for nearby chickadee to try out the “psssh” technique. I went towards dense bush areas of the park nearby to see if I could get any small species to come see what’s up. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to contact anyone except a squirrel that jumped out at me, an interesting experience. After trying to get my heart rate down from the squirrel adventure, I kept trying for about 25 to 30 minutes to see if there was any small birds that would take up my sounds. I feel the pish sound is close to the birds pitch where they may recognize the frequency but not necessarily the song, ultimately making them want to come check it out. For me, I might have had some small birds that heard me yet were too unsure to come check to see what the sound was. While researching exactly what pishing is and how it affects small birds, I realized it's more of a warning call making the flock come together incase of a predator. So a possible reason for the lack of response from my pishing was that in fact, I was the predator.
I began to pay attention to the interactions of other birds I saw while going on the docks. Above I saw one seagull, unsure if it was a ring-billed gull or a herring gull. He/She was letting out one single “sqauh” that sounded either like it was searching for another. The gull continued to do this while circling the waterfront which again, makes me think it was looking for another gull. I wasn’t able to get any good photos of this but I continued to walk around to find some perching birds. As I reached a pier on the waterfront I noticed two rock pigeons on the edge of the concrete. They flew over together yet stood a few feet apart. I’ve attached a couple photos that show the distance they were standing apart. I began to walk slowly and quietly towards them to get a better look at them and their plumage. I spooked the what it appeared to be, the female mate yet the male pigeon stuck around until I was in his face taking photos. The classic metallic green and purple shined in the sun when he turned his back to me. I compare this plumage with the bright white of the gull. Obviously the reasoning behind the vast difference of the gull having a bright white color compared to the gray/iridescent color of rock pigeon, their ancestors have a large effect on what we see today. For gulls, their habits are to be near water where it is receiving a lot of light, thus the light coloration allows body temperature to be more regulated. Their colors are also how they may attract a mate. Other than the calls I have talked about previously, these colors make the male interesting to the female to which they may decide to reproduce. The rock pigeons that I examined did not communicate in call, they simply were standing near each other until my presence disturbed what they might have been doing. Since I went pretty early in the morning, the rock pigeons circannual rhythm meant they were in the most alert stage of the day. While the one pigeon flew away, the other stuck it’s ground looking at me every once in awhile to see if I was truly a threat. I feel as though it is very hard to tell what the animal is truly intending. Their nature is fascinating along with their evolutionary advancements.

Posted on March 25, 2019 04:29 PM by chey_conn chey_conn | 3 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

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