Field Journal 2 (2/22)
My roommate and I arrived at Mt. Philo State Park at 3:14, it was a clear blue bird day, about 28 F with a slight breeze. Majority of the area we were hiking through was dense deciduous vegetation with a solid layer of snow on the ground. The parking lot was full and walking up to the trail we saw a lot of people sledding, later we also saw lots of snowmobiles going up and down the roads, this could be why we didn't see many birds.
At 3:30 we saw two crows fly over, first one and then the other. We were able to identify them as crows due to their black feathers and rounded rather than diamond shaped tale feathers, that would otherwise be indicative of a raven. When they flew over this first time their flight pattern seemed continuous spending equal times flapping their wings and gliding. The second time they flew over I heard them before I saw them, with a consistent whooshing sound one crow flew overhead and then the other one followed with something in its beak. Maybe this was a pair that is building a nest?
At about 3:50 as we were getting up to the tree line I saw five crows flying together in what looked like a line from my planar perspective. They appeared to be mostly gliding making me think that maybe they were playing in the air? Due to the gliding nature I observed in the birds while they were flying, I think it would make the most sense to classify their wings as passive soaring. I think these wings give the crow greater ability in hunting as it increases observation which is key in dense vegetation like Mt. Philo.
Unfortunately as I didn't see any song birds so I was unable to fill in my drawing.
