aalderman's Journal

On April 8th, 2020 between the times 1800-1930 I went to Ethan Allen Park in the North End of Burlington, Vermont. The weather was mostly cloudy, with a slight northward wind of 7mph. It was 49 degrees Fahrenheit. The surrounding habitat was tall oak, maple, etc. trees and a few red or white pines with not much of an under story. It was very rocky with a large rock cliff on the hill. There is a road on either side of this location and a park in the front. There was a lot of human noise pollution. Mostly people talking loudly on their porches and lots of cars driving by. There were only a few people walking along the trails in the park.

For the first 45 minutes I did not see any birds, but could hear them in the distance. I decided to move to a different location within the park in hopes of better luck.

At my new spot there wasn't a ton of bird activity, but I did see a few. The first bird I saw was a small bird, quickly flying past me, not giving me any chance of identifying it. Shortly after I saw two American Robins very briefly, they seemed to be just browsing around. American Robins are found year round in this area, so I am assuming they are facultative migrants? If they even migrate? I'm not sure. According to an online source, some American Robins migrate between 310-933 miles. If these Robins did migrate I think they came from the south (Virginia area maybe?) and are arriving in Burlington for the beginning of spring. Maybe they want to claim their territory before other birds start to migrate back?

Next, I heard a flock of Canadian geese and looked up to spot (my best guess) about 15-25 of them. They were flying north following North Ave, towards the islands in Lake Champlain or Canada. The All About Birds website tells me that some geese could be in this area year round, or they could be returning from the south to breed in northern Canada. I assume most Canadian geese are obligate migrants, except the ones that live in an area that do not require migration. I could not find information regarding typical flock size during migration. Since this flock seemed relatively small compared to others I have seen in my life, I am making the assumption that these specific geese were either not migrating or only migrating a short distance. It makes sense to me that geese who migrate do so in larger flocks. I read that Canadian geese typically migrate between 2,000-3,000 miles.

Lastly, I saw two American crows fly over my head. I do not think these birds were migrating since Burlington is within their year round range.

The total miles traveled by the birds I observed today the miles traveled for migration range between 2,310 and 3,933. That is if the birds I saw were actually migrating. Unfortunately, of all the birds I saw, they were close enough to identify but too far away to take an image or audio recording on my phone. That is why my observations do not have media. On an interesting note, I heard a bird behind me that would not stop calling for twenty minutes straight with VERY little time between calls, I was getting slightly annoyed. It wasn't until I stood up to walk to my car that the bird finally stopped calling (of course). This trip wasn't as successful as I was hoping. I'm starting to think I either pick terrible spots or birds know I'm watching them and laugh as they fly away.

On April 15th, 2020 I went to Centennial Woods to observe birds. I was there from 5:15-6:40pm. It was around 40 degrees Fahrenheit and a moderate breeze. The habitat was surrounded by tall pine trees, and I sat in a little opening with some small bushy trees surrounding the opening.

At first, I was curious to try and use a recording of a chickadee to see if they would come to me. It worked! Two came flying over and one of them started calling back. I felt bad and turned off the sound. The chickadee kept calling out to the non-existent chickadee and I got sad. Next I saw one Canadian goose fly above me. I saw/heard a woodpecker but was too far away to specify which species of woodpecker it was. I heard a lot of crows flying in the distance. I also heard some other bird calls but wasn't able to identify what species of birds the call belonged to.

On Wednesday, April 23rd I went to Oakledge Park to observe birds. I went from 3:35pm-5:05pm. It was very sunny, blue sky and no clouds. It was a whopping 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Only a slight breeze every now and again. I walked through the paths to the right of the building and sat a little off the trail. The habitat is not fragmented but there are a lot of trails and human interruptions.

As far as nesting, I think I saw a nest in a tall pine tree. I'm thinking a bird would choose that spot because it gives them the ability to overlook the area without other trees in the way to watch for predators. I also observed some dead trees with little hollow holes in them. I think that smaller birds choose to nest in these. It provides protection from weather and larger predators. But may also be a nest for chipmunks or squirrels. I did not see many birds (but I could hear them, so frustrating) so I did not observe much behavior. I think birds nesting around Oakledge Park will use small twigs and leaves to build a nest. There is a lot of debris on the forest floor.

I was able to hear a woodpecker twice, I am not sure if it was the same one both times I heard it. I saw a single Herring Gull flying in a large circle every twenty minutes. I think this is either because it was bored or it was to protect a nest/look for resources. Then I saw one Black-capped Chickadee hopping around on a few branches before it flew away out of sight. I observed two birds flying quickly between the trees, too quick for my beginner eye. A few minutes before I left I spotted two Canadian geese flying together over the water.

I heard many loud and aggressive calls throughout my time, but also heard many soft and sweet little chirps. I think the loud calls may have to do with territorial actions, but also could be to attract a mate that may not be close. It is hard to diagnose this because I could not see the birds, so I wasn't able to look at their behavior. I think that the soft little chirps may have been a playful thing, like a bird version of hide-and-seek.

I enjoyed doing the sound map. I had to chuckle at myself a few times trying to draw squiggles that described what I was hearing. A lot harder than I anticipated. I was surrounded by birds, they were just out of sight. It is hard for my untrained eye to spot birds, even though I hear where they are.

On April 29th, 2020 I went to Rock Point to watch birds (and enjoy the excellent weather). I was there from about 12:15-1:45pm. It was sunny with a slight breeze. The habitat was mostly wooded, with the foot trails not too far from me. I sat past the main point on Rock Point. I was next to the edge so I was able to observe birds in the water and in the woods.

While I was out I saw 2x House Sparrows playing around in a tree that had fallen over. I saw and heard quite a few Black-capped Chickadees. I was able to hear a woodpecker in the distance but could not visually locate it. I also heard two very loud Canadian geese next to me, I couldn't see them for a few seconds but then they zoomed past me, above the water, flying at the same elevation as the land. I heard many other birds but I do not remember what bird calls come from which bird, so I'm not even going to try and identify those.