maryrosek's Journal

On Monday, February 17, 2020, I went to Wheeler Nature Park in South Burlington, VT to conduct my birding walk. It was cold and windy (27 degrees Fahrenheit and wind 10 mph) but there were still some birds out and about in the sunshine. I started the walk at 2:50 pm. I was anticipating not seeing too many birds because usually they are more active around dawn and dusk when they go looking for food.
At Wheeler Nature Park, there is a good variety of different vegetation types throughout the park. I began walking from the parking lot and followed the path that heads towards the tree line. This area is very open and broken up by some patches of trees and shrubs in a few spots. As you continue down from the field along the path, the vegetation becomes thicker and there are more dense patches of vegetation. In this area there is a mix of older and younger trees that diversifies the structure of the woods. During this time, I could hear the call of a Black-capped Chickadee. I could tell by the "chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee" call exactly what species I was listening to. I tried to find the bird with my binoculars but I wasn't able to locate it. I listened for a few minutes to see if I could distinguish if there were one or two birds, but I concluded there was only one because I only heard one call.
I was continuing along the path and getting closer to the woods and more dense vegetation when I heard the sound of a Blue Jay, which sounds very distinctive to me. I think it sounds very loud and dominating and almost mean. I only heard it one time and I stood there for a few minutes waiting for it to call again but I didn't hear anything. As I turned to continue up the path into the woods, I see the Blue Jay in the understory. It was hopping from branch to branch on a white pine tree. I watched it with my binoculars for a few moments and was surprised by the size of this bird. It did not look like it had any trouble fattening up for the winter. I think that this one might have been a male because it was so big and the males are generally larger than the females.
I did not see too many more birds when I was in the woods. I think that it might have been because I was there in the middle of the day and the birds might have been resting and staying warm between their meals. As I was finishing up, I saw a group of American Robins sitting in a tree together. I could see their rusty red chests and white underbellies. They tended to stay close to each other, but we not too cautious of me once I was there for a few minutes. I saw an American Robin eating some berries on the top of a bush but I am not sure what kind of bush it was on. I saw the American Robins more in the edge habitat that surrounded the field, which made me think they might like the areas where they can easily hide but also see what is around them and if there is danger coming.
The flight pattern of the American Robin looked like very strong and swift and powerful. They use one or two flaps to propel themselves where they want to go. They have rounded wings that carry them up and down easily. I mostly observed these birds flying short distances from tree to tree.
The Blue Jay I observed hopped more than it flew, but when it did fly, it was calm and strong. It has similarly shaped wings to the American Robin, but a much larger tail. I imagine the tail helps propel them off the ground when beginning flight because the Blue Jay is bigger than the American Robin. The flying style of both of these birds was similar but I think this is because they are both songbirds around the same size. They may have similar predators they must escape from or competitors to fight over food with. The rounded wings allow them to do a variety of motions, like short flights through a field, to twisting flights through the woods, and agile movements to get to those limited food supplies.