Field Journal #1 (Feb. 19th)

I left the dorms at 2:30 pm on February 16th, 2020. I decided to observe at the Redstone Green and around the Redstone dorms. There was a thick blanket of snow on the ground, except for paved walkways and roads. There was mild wind in the southern direct with periods of strong northern winds. It was sunny with a scattering of clouds. The area had a couple of brick buildings, an open field, a scattering of pine trees, and a small cluster of pine trees to the north.

As soon as I stepped out of the building, a Cooper's Hawk flew across the green to the east. I watched it for a while. I noticed that it was gliding very high in the air. It would flap once or twice and continue to glide in wide circles. It then flew far out of sight. I then focused on a small flock of American Robins. They were sitting in a tree. I was able to fill out their field marks in a sketch while they were sitting in the tree. The robins had black around their heads that faded to grey on their backs. Their breasts were a rusty-red color, and their beaks were yellow. They had a white wing bar and a small bit of white under their tails.

Soon after filling in a sketch of the robins' field marks, the Cooper's Hawk returned and headed for the flock of robins. The robins all left the tree and headed south, with the hawk following them. The robins and the hawk had very different flight patterns. The robins had very fast and frequent flaps until they landed, and did not fly for a long time. The hawk would glide for a long time, with large downstrokes every so often. Flight patterns are important to observe while observing birds because they can help you identify the species of bird that is flying. Observing flight patterns helped me identify the Cooper's Hawk. While outside, I wasn't sure which type of hawk it was, and couldn't get close enough to look for distinctive markings, like the eyes, so, I wrote some notes in my notebook about the flight pattern of the bird. When I returned inside, I was able to determine that the hawk was a Cooper's Hawk based on its size and flight pattern.

After the hawk and robins flew away, I walked around the building, in hopes of finding them. While walking, three American Crows flew overhead. They had very long and pronounced primary feathers. Their flight pattern was mostly even downstrokes with short gliding periods in between. They left as soon as they came, and disappeared over the Redstone Lofts, towards the gym. I also saw two Herring Gulls fly over the Redstone Green while waiting for the hawk to return. Their wings almost looked like they were curved like a bow.

Posted on February 18, 2020 08:29 PM by climpert