Field Journal 4

Sunday March 21, 2021 at 9:32am I started birding along the bike path. It was about 40 F very sunny with clear quiet skies. I was observing the edge of a freshwater lake and the land that created an edge against it. This habitat consisted of cottonwoods, trees that produced berries, tall clumps of grass, and other shrubs. However, this was also along the bike path so there was a decent amount of human activity including the skate park, bikers, joggers, and people roller blading.

When I first started birding I saw six ring-billed gulls sitting on the ice that had frozen over the lake. They were in three groups of two with a good amount of distance between the groups. In two of the groups, both birds stayed close to one another, in the other group one of the birds began wondering across the ice while the other gull it was initially with stayed put. It seemed to be wondering and eating something off of the ice. I stayed there for a while and for the most part the birds were just huddled closer together. However, at 9:47, in one of the pairs a gull turned to the other and began squawking and bobbing its head up and down at the other. This seemed most similar to a young bird wanting to be fed by a parent, although they seemed to be about the same age. During this time I also saw a flock of at least 12 geese flying over. They were honking and reshaping their V flight pattern, maybe the honking was key to maintaining the V flight pattern. At 9:49 I noticed five rock pigeons walking at the base of the platform in the rocks. They seemed to be gathering small sticks and other materials before flying up below the deck. It didn't look like they were helping or hindering each other, just all doing the same task. 9:51 a crow flew overhead. At 9:52 I followed the sound of a northern cardinal and found it higher up in a tree. I also noticed that there was a call and response between it and another cardinal, I think it was either attracting a mate or establishing territory. At 10:09 I saw three European starlings flying by, I think it might have been two males possibly pursuing the same female. 10:15 I noticed a Cedar Waxwing in a tree eating berries and eventually noticed three more with it. The birds were each involved in their own task of eating the berries but I think the presence of at least one of them attracted more cedar waxwings. I tried making the "shppsh" noise and I think it attracted more cedar waxwings over, because then I counted a total of 9. I think this could be the case because it could be an encouraging sound of safety or food maybe? It is possible that this sounds like coaxing calls of other birds? 10:25 I saw a robin walking near mud, potentially looking for insects to eat. 10:26 I heard a bunch of blue jays calling and one that flew towards the sound, I think it is possible that this was attracting more blue jays since I saw one fly towards the sound rather than distancing which could indicate establishing territory. The At 10:31 I also observed a male and female cardinal on a telephone wire. The male was making calls and and slowly moving closer to the female before she eventually flew away and he pursued. 10:42 I saw a merganser swimming relatively close to shore where the ice had melted and by the shore I saw two pairs of a male and female mallard. They were dabbling and eating food from the mud. The merganser seemed to just be treading water.

The ring-billed gulls are covered with mostly white, grey, and black feathers while the male cardinal is covered in red feathers. The gull benefits from these melanin colors as they increase the structural integrity of the wings, especially the black feathers at the tips of the wings that I think would face the most friction against water. The Cardinal contrastingly benefits from carotenoid colors because these pigments increase with a rich diet like berries. Therefore, when a male cardinal has an impressive plumage it indicates that that male is healthy and adequate at being able to survive.

The first Cedar waxwing that I saw was intent on continuing to eat the berries in the tree. While these birds can live in Vermont year round, this could work with the circannual rhythm with when birds would be traveling north. Due to migration being a high cost activity, feeding can be key to maintaining energy. It also makes sense that this bird was feeding and active at this time since it was about 10:00am and the sun had been up for a few hours indicating that it was time to be awake and active.

Posted on March 22, 2021 08:33 PM by maliabertelsen