jnorris2's Journal

Near Farrell Park in Burlington Vermont, a path winds from soccer field, along farm fields, and through the woods. A detour off the trail to the right after crossing the bridge, leads to the UVM ropes course where I spent some time exploring. It was a very chilly morning with a fresh coating of April snow on the ground at about 11:00 am. I saw the regular year-round residents because they are the easiest for me to identify after a winter of listening to them regularly. These birds included American Crows, Blue Jays, a Black-capped Chickadee, a Brown Creeper, and a Tufted Titmouse.

These birds don’t need to leave this area in the cold months because food does not limit them. They have adapted to stay here where it is is uncrowded and forage for the remaining foods, thus their diet is not as specific and limited as those that left for the winter. Crows and jays are known to forage for a wide range of foods and are generalists which help in surviving the winter. In urban areas like here, they are able to find foods near people’s homes and substantial amounts of roadkill. Other birds that stay will eat remaining nuts and seeds larva of insects particularly in tree-bark and rotted wood.

Staying warm and conserving energy is essential for overwintering here so these birds will add on extra weight in down feathers that will insulate them. Additionally, birds such as the Black-capped Chickadee will overnight in tree cavities for warmth and insulation. These birds might excavate their own cavities or use a preexisting one.

While I have not seen this bird since December, I have heard rumor that the much sought Snowy Owls in Burlington have begun to migrate back north. This year they had an interruption and came down this south because they had a large population in the Arctic so they are in VT seeking food. Now that the temperatures are beginning to rise I speculate that they would be able to return to the Arctic for a better food supply. Unlike other birds, surviving the harsh cold temperature is not a driving force for these birds. While daylight might assist in reminding this bird to return north, ultimate factors of food abundance and weather are what will drive these birds back north.

An obligate species that has a regular and strict migration cycle that would primarily be driven by daylight, might arrive at this time in April and struggle with the lingering winter weather, snow, and cold temperatures. These species may have a difficult few weeks back in VT until the temperatures are consistently above freezing and the insects come out.

Because I found no migratory birds that don’t live year-round in north-western Vermont, I choose to look at the breeding ground of the Red-wingged Blackbird. These bird’s year-round habitat ends around Lake Chaplain so it is not unreasonable that they are here. I calculated the distance they might have traveled from central NY which is about 250-300 miles. Of course, they could migrate from anywhere in the US where they are year round residents but it seems unlikely they would go so far to Vermont. I have recently been seeing and hearing the Red-wingged Blackbird in centennial woods and along roadsides where their are open marshy areas.

Near Farrell Park in Burlington Vermont, a path winds from soccer field, along farm fields, and through the woods. A detour off the trail to the right after crossing the bridge, leads to the UVM ropes course where I spent some time exploring. It was a very chilly morning with a fresh coating of April snow on the ground at about 11:00 am. I saw the regular year-round residents because they are the easiest for me to identify after a winter of listening to them regularly. These birds included American Crows, Blue Jays, a Black-capped Chickadee, a Brown Creeper, and a Tufted Titmouse.

These birds don’t need to leave this area in the cold months because food does not limit them. They have adapted to stay here where it is is uncrowded and forage for the remaining foods, thus their diet is not as specific and limited as those that left for the winter. Crows and jays are known to forage for a wide range of foods and are generalists which help in surviving the winter. In urban areas like here, they are able to find foods near people’s homes and substantial amounts of roadkill. Other birds that stay will eat remaining nuts and seeds larva of insects particularly in tree-bark and rotted wood.

Staying warm and conserving energy is essential for overwintering here so these birds will add on extra weight in down feathers that will insulate them. Additionally, birds such as the Black-capped Chickadee will overnight in tree cavities for warmth and insulation. These birds might excavate their own cavities or use a preexisting one.

While I have not seen this bird since December, I have heard rumor that the much sought Snowy Owls in Burlington have begun to migrate back north. This year they had an interruption and came down this south because they had a large population in the Arctic so they are in VT seeking food. Now that the temperatures are beginning to rise I speculate that they would be able to return to the Arctic for a better food supply. Unlike other birds, surviving the harsh cold temperature is not a driving force for these birds. While daylight might assist in reminding this bird to return north, ultimate factors of food abundance and weather are what will drive these birds back north.

An obligate species that has a regular and strict migration cycle that would primarily be driven by daylight, might arrive at this time in April and struggle with the lingering winter weather, snow, and cold temperatures. These species may have a difficult few weeks back in VT until the temperatures are consistently above freezing and the insects come out.

Because I found no migratory birds that don’t live year-round in north-western Vermont, I choose to look at the breeding ground of the Red-wingged Blackbird. These bird’s year-round habitat ends around Lake Chaplain so it is not unreasonable that they are here. I calculated the distance they might have traveled from central NY which is about 250-300 miles. Of course, they could migrate from anywhere in the US where they are year round residents but it seems unlikely they would go so far to Vermont. I have recently been seeing and hearing the Red-wingged Blackbird in centennial woods and along roadsides where their are open marshy areas.

Today's sightings at Shelburne Farms were filled with some great birds of prey and of particular interest was the possible Northern Harrier. The crows as always are around the prey birds, mobbing, calling, and watching them. An exciting part of my bird walk was identifying my first song sparrow by sound in the wild and after hearing that unique song once, I will never forget it. Additionally, the activities of the tree swallows in the distance were exciting. The weather was high 40˚F with no wind. It was overcast and the ground fully saturated with water from the snowmelt and recent storms. Most of my time was spent along the sugarbush and farm field ecotone which proved to be a great place to see the birds in the open and hear the forest dwelling species.

Yesterday, in between two storm fronts that rolled over the lake, I got out kayaking to listen to the birds at the ecotone of the Winooski river by Derway park. It was about 55-60˚F, and overcast at first then very sunny. The wind was calm along the river but breezy on the lake.

In the flooded marsh of Derway, I saw a male Hooded Merganser preforming his courtship dance to a female sitting on a log. He bobbed his head backwards, tucking it to his back in quick motions. He swam around her continuing this behavior despite my presence. After some time flew off and so did she, potentially he had convinced her to follow him? Additionally, my kayak birding partner pointed out a cavity in a tree where he saw an unidentified bird disappear. Nearby was a House Sparrow calling out so potentially it was another sparrow that had disappeared. All along the floodplain were snags with fantastic cavities in them, some new and some old. The larger ones would provide an excellent place for wood ducks to nest if they are near the water but not right on the water. Falling apart bird boxes were also nailed to the trees but had no signs of recent bird activity. Other old woven nests higher up might be good for birds like phoebes, grackles, or cardinals. In the marchers where the red-winged blackbirds were singing would be an excellent place for a female to hid her nest. Her nest would be woven of grasses and reeds and held to gather with bits of mud. The reeds could be easily collected form dead matter from the year before and the mud could be gathered from the riverbank.

As we drove back to campus we saw a European Starling gathering up a beak-full of grasses and flew off to the eves of a building possibly to build a nest. This bird could easily gather it’s materials in any urban area and as seen by their presence near campus buildings, they live well on man-made structures. This is quite different from the red-winged blackbird that very specifically requires a thick marshy area. The Northern Cardinal I saw was perched high up in bushes near the boat launch with it’s crown raised, singing loudly. While I did not see a female around, it is very likely that this bird was protecting his territory with his song. I suspect this area is quite good as it is near a protected delta with plenty of wild foods and not far from houses that have sufficient shrubs and bird feeders.

When we returned to the parking lot I sat for a few minutes listening to the birdsongs. It was more challenging now with the commotion from the cars pulling in. When I was at Derway the red-winged blackbirds were loud and clear but were equally competing for the grackles for airspace. Now the chickadees, cardinals, song sparrows, robins, and other songbirds sound more jumbled.