Will's Field Journal #2

Today, February 21st 2021, I visited Saint Michael's College Natural Area, in Essex Junction, VT. I walked along the main trail from the entrance, through the oak and beech dominated hardwood forest along the Winooski River, up the ridge to the open field area, and then down the subsequent ridge through a patch of hardwood forest with younger trees overall, into a larger, open field habitat below the ridge. I walked around the perimeter of that field towards the composting area, at which point the trail took me through a forest patch dominated by cedars and other conifers, before finally reconnecting with the first section of the trail at the initial field. I started this walk at 11:23 am and returned to my car at 1:08 pm. The sky was sunny and close to cloudless. It was 27˚ F, E/SE winds of 5 mph.

On this walk, I was very happy to see a wide variety of species. A highlight was watching a flock of around forty Common Redpolls eating seeds in the lower field. I spent quite a while studying their behavior, and I noticed they're very small birds that, while feeding, typically fly short distances between bushels of grass with quick, fluttery wingbeats. They then perch, stripping seeds from grass stalks, chirping at regular intervals. When the flock becomes agitated, most if not all birds in the group will fly in tandem up to higher branches in a nearby tree, huddled fairly close, I assume in order to get a better vantage point to view potential danger below.

They were quite different from the group of American Robins I saw feeding by the higher field closer to the entrance. These birds were 3-4 times the size of the redpolls and had significantly longer wings and a longer bill. The robins fly with quick, strong wingbeats that are more spread out compared to the "fluttery" wingbeats of the redpoll. This difference might suggest that in general birds with longer wings take longer intervals between wingbeats than birds with smaller wings. The robins I saw were flipping leaves over on the ground using their long-ish beaks presumably to look for insects? I was a little confused by this behavior because I can't imagine it's late enough in the year for live worms to be crawling around under the snow, and I normally see robins focusing on berries during this time of year. It's possible that flight pattern and wing shape has something to do with their habitat niche, but I think it's more likely to be the difference in what foods they've evolved to be better suited to eating. The redpolls are small enough to hang on to the grass stalks and have beaks that are stubby enough to crush seeds, while robins would likely struggle with both of those things due to the largeness of their beaks and bodies.

I was quite happy with the amount of species I saw today, but I do think I could have seen a few more if I had arrived earlier in the day when songbirds tend to be more active with their vocalizations and movement.

Posted on February 21, 2021 11:54 PM by willbaxterbray