Migration Field Journal

Today I went to Farrell Park in South Burlington to see what birds I could observe. I started at 5:05 pm and finished around 6:30. The weather was a nice change from my recent posts, it was a warm 51 degrees with a gentle breeze. The sky was cloudy but there were times where the sun shone through. I walked to a field in the park and sat down at the edge of the field. The habitat was open in front of me and wooded behind me. The main species here were birch and oak trees and the field I was sitting at was just turf grass. This park is close to the road so I could hear some cars going by. I sat at the edge of the field for about thirty minutes. I wanted the birds to get used to my presence so I might be able to observe them more. The first bird I saw was a Ring-billed Gull that was soaring up above. I noticed a few of these as I was sitting here but they never landed in the park. There were some shrubby plants behind me that the Black-capped Chickadees found to be interesting. I made some noise to attract them and they came closer to me. I sat and listened to all the sounds around me. I could hear woodpeckers pecking on trees in opposite sides of the park. Eventually one of them came closer to me and I was able to get a good look at it through my binoculars. I eventually moved from this spot because I got frustrated that I kept hearing this bird that sounded so close but I couldn't see it anywhere. I looked through my app on my phone trying to figure out what species might be making this constant "chip" call. Finally, I stood up and realized that the noise was actually coming from a chipmunk. After that, I walked around the perimeter of the field and through some of the paths in the park. I noticed a nest that was hanging from a tree. It looked like it could have been a Baltimore Oriole nest left from last year.
I noticed that there were some insects out now that it is warming up and the snow has all melted. This could be one reason that birds might start to return from migration soon. They might be depleting food there now and need a new food source. Another motivation would be that coming back early gives you access to the best places to set up a nest or places with the best food availability because there are not established territories yet. The American Robins I saw probably don't need to migrate because they survive the winter by eating fruit and they can switch right over to worms once it warms up outside. They have all the resources they need here in Vermont so they have no reason to expend energy on a migration.
As for the min-activity, I did not see any migratory species on this walk. I did, however, talk to my Dad who is in CT. He told me that there was a Northern Flicker pecking at our gutter the other day. The Northern Flicker only migrates down to the southern part of the U.S., so probably about a thousand miles.

Posted on April 8, 2020 11:29 PM by maryrosek