jbalionis's Journal

Date: Thursday, April 7th
Time: 2:30pm-4:00pm, 1.5 hours
Location: Rock Point trails, Burlington VT
Distance: ~1.5 miles trail, adventuring
Partner: Olivia Baronas (other ENVS student)
Weather: 40 degrees, fair
Bird species and total count: Black-capped Chickadee (5+), American Crow (1), Pileated Woodpecker (possibly 1), Ring-billed Gull (2), American Robin (8-10), Northern Cardinal (2), Turkey Vulture (1), Tufted Titmouse (2), European Starling (10-15), Canada Goose (unknown)

On Thursday April 7th, my other bird buddy Olivia joined me on a bird walk through Rock Point trails. She's from my ENVS 295 class which is also a class designed around ornithology and birding. We met up at Burlington high school and walked down towards the Rock Point trails. The weather was 40F and fair, increasing slowly with a slight wind.

As we walked along the road up towards the school, we could hear a bunch of Starlings chirping/singing and we spotted them perched in a nearby tree. There was at least 10 of them. Further along the road, more towards the bike path, we heard a House Finch singing and spotted it - it was a male finch with a red capped head.

Once we got into the wooded area, Black-capped Chickadees were dominant in abundance. At least one or two would be flying or chirping within a 10 foot radius from us. We walked down to the beach area where we saw a few gulls flying overhead. As we walked back into the wooded area, we overheard a large commotion of Chickadees with more "dees" to their call - indicating a high alert. Soon after, a large crow flew overhead. Olivia thought it was a hawk but it looked too big and black to me.

Canada geese were heard along the shoreline but were not spotted. On the way back to our cars, we stopped and watched two cardinals fly in and out of brush. American Robins were scavenging in a nearby chicken coop area as well as the freshly turned up soil from the farmer/owner who lives on the Rock Point property.

Closer to the school on our way back, we heard a drumming of a woodpecker. It was thick-sounding and steady, we assumed it was a Pileated. A Turkey Vulture soared above the garden plots and towards the forest near the shoreline.

It was a very successful bird walk, had we had more time we would have ventured off and tried to pinpoint the location of the woodpecker. Otherwise it was very successful and easy to translate the bird calls. It was exciting to see a male house finch. I had brought binoculars and it was nice to be able to confirm the Turkey Vulture since sometimes they look like American Crows from a distance.

Date: Friday, March 11th
Time: 12:30pm-2:00pm, 1.5 hours
Location: Jericho Research Forest, Underhill VT
Distance: ~1.5 miles trail
Partner: Morgan Summers
Weather: 40 degrees, fair
Fauna: English Setter mix (dog), Catahoula Leopard mix (dog), Black-capped Chickadee, American Crow, Pileated Woodpecker, Grey Squirrel, Homo sapiens
Flora: White Pine, Silver Maple, Eastern Hemlock, Red Oak, Sugar Maple, Red Maple

On Friday March 11th, Morgan Summers and I went on a bird walk through the Jericho Research Forest. We started our walk around 12:30pm. The weather was fair and with a temperature of about 40 degrees. The dirt road and majority of the trail was icy but beginning to melt, we had one pair of cramp-ons so walking was arduous and difficult - we spent a lot of time focusing on not slipping and not enough time paying attention to our surroundings. Due to our cumbersome walk, we did not use our full senses to find as many birds as we had hoped to see.

In addition, we passed a few other students with dogs, perhaps adding to the lack of birds. There were a handful of American Crows circling around the tree tops. Along the path, Black-capped Chickadees dipped in and out of the White Pines and the other Eastern Hemlock patches. At one intersection, I had spotted a large flapping movement on a Silver Maple, I whipped out my binoculars to stop and see. It was a Pileated Woodpecker moving up and around the base of the Maple. Morgan did not bring binoculars so she was unable to see the full body of it - only the red crested head of it. It flew off to a patch of White Pines as we approached closer.

We used our bird walk to also find a hunting cam that Morgan had set up for another class. I used my binoculars to search for birds while Morgan walked along to search for her hunting cam. It was hard to "kill two birds with one stone" because of the icy conditions distracting our senses, as well as the dogs (perhaps) scaring off the birds.

Due to the weather, we had hoped to see more birds. With the ice melting and the forest slowly defrosting, we had hoped to see American Robins or Tufted Titmouses. The commotion of a handful of students walking around the woods as well as the dogs running in and out of the brush, the bird population seemed to be low given the perfect weather for bird activity. We hope to go back sometime soon when the weather is even warmer and hopefully when the ice is completely thawed - or perhaps with two pairs of cramp-ons rather than one. We totally misjudged the amount of focus needed to bird watch.

Went on a long walk with Flynn Elementary afterschool program to Derway Island. Walked from Flynn to Derway via Island Line Trail. Children spotted Bald Eagle in tree near one of the beaches. We stopped and watched it for a while and it flew away after 20 minutes of watching it. Walk started at 3pm and continued until 5pm. Eagle took off and flew north.