Field Journal Entry #1

Date: February 22, 2021
Start time: 12:58 pm
End time: 2:30 pm
Location: Centennial Woods (Burlington, VT)
Weather: Snowy & windy
Habitat: Wetland, multi-aged pine stand

For today’s birding excursion I spent the afternoon in Centennial Woods. The weather was pretty rough, including: strong winds and on and off snowstorms. I started my walk in a multi-aged pine stand for about the first thirty minutes. I did not see anything besides a couple American crows. It was very frustrating for me because I could hear birds but was struggling to find them visually or identify them through just the call. I migrated towards the wetlands in the north-west portion of the park, assuming this would have more activity I’d have an easier time seeing (which proved to be true). I was also frustrated while trying to take a photo; as a forestry student I will say trees are much easier to photograph than birds flying from branch to branch.
The only two species I saw fly (in enough detail to fully observe) were American Crow and Black-capped Chickadee. These two flight patterns were very easy for me to distinguish between. The American Crows I observed were mainly in the canopy of larger pine trees and flew in more of a gliding manor with wider wings. The Black-capped Chickadees were very close to the ground and were hopping from branch to branch in smaller, shrubbier species. I think that because these birds have such different habitat niches their wing appearance and flight patterns varied heavily. The American Crow had broader more powerful flaps of their wings, it reminded me of powerful strokes a professional swimmer would take. The Black-capped Chickadee had more rapid flaps which made it easier for them to control landing on a smaller branch. I don’t know if I could ever full identify a bird based off of just wing flaps; but I do think I could narrow it down. I think that the flaps allow you to determine the size of the bird and the lifestyle/preferred habitat they have.
For the mini activity I chose to sketch the Cedar Waxwing because I think that this bird is beautiful. However, I did not see any of these during my time in Centennial. I am not sure if it was because of the weather or just poor timing. I also had my dog (Rex) with me and I was wondering if I that might affect the number of birds I was able to see? He definitely scared away a bunch that I was trying to photograph; but I’m not sure if the jingling of his collar was an alarm to them before we even got close enough to see them.

Posted on February 22, 2021 08:50 PM by erbryson74 erbryson74

Observations

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

Observer

erbryson74

Date

February 22, 2021

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Observer

erbryson74

Date

February 22, 2021

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Observer

erbryson74

Date

February 22, 2021

Photos / Sounds

What

Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus)

Observer

erbryson74

Date

February 22, 2021

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