juliadigiovanni's Journal

Start time - 1:50 pm
End time - 2:50 pm
Location - Bradley Palmer State Park
Weather - 39° F, clear sky, wind 14 mph
Habitat(s) - A variety of older trees with a relatively dense understory. Also a river with some smaller streams and a large clearing/field.

Similar to my last field journal, I had a bit of a hard time finding/hearing birds. It was pretty windy and colder than the last few days so this could be why. I mainly heard Blue Jay's, Black-capped Chickadees, and even some Canada Goose, but I only actually saw a couple of birds which were too high up for me to identify. The ones I did see seemed to be foraging which makes sense for the time of day. Especially during the winter, they need to spend a lot of time during the day foraging to keep up with their fast metabolisms and keep themselves warm.

Birds make a lot of different sounds, both songs and calls, depending on what is going on around them. Black-capped chickadees make their famous "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" call when they are alarmed or think they might be in danger of a predator. Because of this, they probably make this call more often when people are around. I would guess that making a "spishing" sound mimics the sound of leaves moving and they might interpret this as a predator approaching, so they would make more of these calls.

I decided to compare the plumage of Black-capped Chickadees and Blue Jays, because they are very different in appearance, but both could be used as a form of camouflage. Chickadees do not have very "showy" colors, and their black, white, and grey feathers help them to blend into their surrounding environment. The vibrant color of Blue Jays could help them to blend into a blue sky during flight or when perched in a tree. Another advantage of their unique plumage is for attracting mates.

Start time - 5:35 pm
End time - 6:35 pm
Location - Centennial Woods
Weather - 35° F, clear sky, wind 7 mph, a lot of snow on the ground
Habitat(s) - Mixed deciduous and coniferous trees including Sugar Maple, American Beech, Eastern Hemlock, Eastern White Pine, etc.

In my hour in Centennial, all of the species I observed are year-round Vermont residents. I was hoping to see some migratory species but didn't, possibly because of the recent snow. There are many adaptations that allow non-migratory species to survive and thrive during Vermont winters. First, as we have talked about in class, Black-capped Chickadees can enter a state of "regulated hypothermia" on colder nights to conserve energy by slowing the metabolism/need for food. Along with Blue Jays, they are also known for caching food to utilize when food as scarce. Crows do particularly well in the winter because of their opportunistic, omnivorous diet. They eat a very wide range of food and are able to find pretty easily throughout all seasons, so they don't have a need to migrate. This is similar to Northern Cardinals who eat a lot of insects, and in addition, Northern Cardinals are especially territorial, which can help ensure the availability of food and safe habitat year-round.

An example of a facultative migrant that I did not witness this day, but have in previous field journals, is the American Robin. They choose to migrate depending on food/habitat availability, meaning they might migrate south for the winter as berries and seeds become scarcer, and return for the spring.