Field Journal #2
I went bird watching on two consecutive days in the same location because I was unsatisfied with my findings from the first day.
Day 1:
Date: February 20, 2021
Time: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Location: Intervale Path
Weather: Overcast, 27 deg. Fahrenheit, 12 mph NNW wind
Habitats: Tree stand, open field
Today I went to the Intervale near sunset to observe birds for my first field journal. I had been there before and I knew I was going to find a lot of birds, but I think the timing and the weather were a bad combination and I was dissapointed to find only American Robins and a Red-tailed Hawk.
The American Robins were flying between trees but mostly they were sitting in a stand of Staghorn Sumac and eating the berries. American Robins have short and point feathers and they fly with a few consecutive flaps, tucking their wings in for a moment, and repeating.
The Red-tailed Hawk was very far in the distance, but through my binoculars I was able to watch it flash it's underside at me and I saw it's orange-redish tail and belly band very clearly. It was practically hovering in one spot, I assume over a rising air column, and appeared to be hunting because it was over an open field.
Day 2:
Date: February 21, 2021
Time: 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Location: Intervale
Weather: Clear skies, 30 deg. Fahrenheit, 2 mph N wind
Habitats: Trees
Today I went to the Intervale again to find more birds that I hoped would be there. The day was relatively warm and skies were perfectly clear so I felt good about what I would find. Before I even reached the path I noticed a lot of House Sparrows and Crows bounding between trees and, as I approached the Intervale path, I saw a tree full of Black-Capped Chickadees, House Sparrows, and a Northern Cardinal pair (a male and a female). Standing at the beginning of the path and looking at all the birds I had already found, I looked up and saw sitting on the power lines above me a large group of Rock Pigeons. Additionally, I saw high up in a tree
All of the birds I saw today were relatively the same size and had similar wing shapes and flight patters. For the most part, they all had short, pointy wings and flew in the same pattern as the American Robins I saw yesterday (flapflapflap, tuck, repeat). The crows, however, had a different flight pattern and wing shape. Their wings were less clearly pointed and flapped more consistently and less frequently. The crows also were flying over much large expanses (as opposed to between nearby trees) or resting in large flocks at the tops of trees. Additionally, I saw what looked like a very large crow alone in a tree, but I'm not sure what it was so I didn't record it. I am guessing it might have been a Raven but I'm really not sure.
From these two days of observation, I noticed a clear distinction between the types of birds I saw. The small song birds I observed I found in trees and all had essentially the same flight patterns. The Red-tailed Hawk I saw, however, had a very distinctly different flight pattern. It clearly seemed to be surveying the land below it, which contrasted greatly with the song birds which were bounding between branches and eating the berries and seeds they could find. I can't say I can distinguish between the song birds by flight pattern, but I feel like I could distinguish between song birds, crows, and hawks based on the flight patterns I observed.
I think the weather and timing of the day are what caused me to see so few birds the first day, although I am not sure why. I don't really know why birds would choose to not be there because it's cloudy. The time of day may have had more of an impact, though. Perhaps they were there in the middle of the day but not there near sunset because that is when they are able to find food better, or perhaps they like the warmth the sun provides them in the middle of the day.
