aromano17's Journal

Hinesburg Forest; 3/7/19; 11:30-4; overcast w/ patches of sun, slightly breezy; neighborhood forest intertwined with mtn. biking and XC-ski trails

When walking through Hinesburg Forest, I stumbled across three species: a Downy Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal and a European Starling.
Now Downy's are non-migratory; however, they are widely dispersed according to Birds of North America. Now migration alludes to a movement that eventually returns home; but these woodpeckers don't do that, they simply wander in some cases. Research points to them moving in tangent with species that do migrate. In this situation, lack of resources happens to be the reason due to less shelter and more or even less food distribution depending on the season. However, Downy Woodpeckers have adapted to harsh winters. Due to their ability to bore holes in trees, they live in these cavities sheltering from the weather eating insects living within the bark of these trees.
European Starling are different, because they are mostly migratory with records of them traveling from New Brunswick, Canada to southern Texas, stopping in the mid-West for a trip of about 3000 miles. (Birds of North America). The other side of this species is that they don't migrate large distance, but rather moving South a few miles or a few dozen. It should be noted that younger individuals do migrate farther than their older counterparts, and change as they mature. An observation of this species notes that migrating over land results in more accurate navigation than over water and that they flock in groups ranging from a few individuals to thousands. This behavior stands out as it can follow the Group Flock Theory, which results in higher flock densities causing more conflict between individuals because more individuals means more foraging––>less food. This can be a disadvantage, but larger numbers also means less threat from predators, which of course is beneficial.
The migrants are here, let's go find them!

3/22/2019; 11:30-5:30pm; 60ºF w/ slight wind and sunny; Centennial Woods Natural Area; protected forest with wetlands, fields, and marsh areas

The last species that I saw today was a pair of Black-capped Chickadees that appeared to have nested in this snag near the northwestern part of Centennial Woods. I didn't realize the cavity in the tree until I started calling the pair with the Audubon app and after they both flew away–I saw one of them dive down and go in headfirst into the hole. I did my best to be able to get up and look down, and listened closely–I didn't tread any close to the snag out of fear that I would possibly scare the duo off–however, I wasn't able to see if there was a nest or any nestlings in there. There was a possibility due to my observation that the parents didn't fly off immediately when I initially approached.
I did some Google searching and confirmed my suspicion that a cavity such as the one I found would provide a perfect house to raise young chickadees. It's out of way of foot traffic, close to a water source, and the environment is wide open to check for predators; but at the same time provided enough cover if something should happen. Another thing I noticed in behavior was the curiosity of one the chickadees that has not happened before. When I called them, one individual came flying out the trees, landing no more than 5 feet on a branch to look at me. Now from what I've experienced with chickadees, is that they like to watch you, but at a distance, never this close. Perhaps it was because I was close to his/her possible nest and I was using a call of another chickadee (they might see this as a rival chickadee).
This behavior differs from, say a Canada goose mother, who lays here eggs near a water's edge. There is one mother on Redstone who nested on an island in the runoff pool between the apartments and main dorms. Mostly an aquatic habitat, she surrounded herself with tall reeds in an area that is very accessible to predators from the air, but not from land(unless they can swim), and can see much of what's around.

Last journal, but definitely not the last outing.

Till next time....