leahcawthorn's Journal

On Thursday April 21st it was about 70 degrees and super sunny. We went out around 3 PM to the woods behind WDW dorm on Redstone near the golf course. I just got new binoculars, and I was excited to try them out. As soon as we walked outside we immediately heard a red-winged blackbird, but could not find it. We walked through the small path in the woods and immediately saw a white-crowned sparrow that was just walking on the path. It flew away as we got closer. We then got to the golf course and kept hearing a bird noise that I could not identify (and am still trying to figure out). Then I heard a black-capped chickadee in the distance and walked back into the woods. We stood on the path for a bit and saw a chickadee through the binoculars. Then we saw a robin on the path ahead of us and it was walking around. We kept standing on the path and a bird flew right by and I grabbed my binoculars to try and see it closer but it landed near and I could see it was a yellow warbler and it flew away very quickly. We then hear another chickadee and spotted another robin and decided to go sit on a rock and keep listening/looking. We saw two mallards come up the hill from the (really nasty) pond that is near redstone and waddle over to the tiny stream that was near us. There was one male and one female. They sat in the stream and seemed to be bathing or looking for food possibly. We spotted a bird on a tree kind of far away so I looked through my binoculars and saw it was a woodpecker. I determined it to be a downy woodpecker as it flew/walked on the tree and pecked at the tree a bit. It stayed on the tree for a long while. As we were about to leave we heard a common grackle in the distance but could not spot it. Throughout this entire time we either heard or saw ring-billed gulls flying in the distance. The mallards were still in the stream as we left. On the way out we heard another bird that I could not identify by sound and also could not spot. It was a beautiful day for birding and hopefully I can figure out with the two birds are that I heard!

We did this bird watch on the University of Vermont Green. We began around 4:15 PM and it was cold and windy, about 30 degrees and cloudy. On our walk over to the green, snow began to fall. We saw one Ring-billed Gull that was walking around picking up pieces of popcorn that someone had spilt. As we walked around the green we saw a few more Ring-billed Gulls, some on the ground and some flying over head. As we walked towards Waterman we saw five Cedar Waxwings flying in flock formation overhead. At this point it began to snow a bit harder and it didn't look as if we would see many birds but we stayed out and walked around a little as well as stood around to see if we could hear or see anything. We saw an American Crow fly overhead as well and land on the top of waterman. We continued walking around a bit and saw some more Ring-billed Gulls as well as one more American Crow. None of the Ring-billed Gulls were spotted together, each of them were in separate areas doing separate things, and none was too close to another. We continued to walk and spotted a birds nest (not sure what type) in a Red Maple, and then in another Red Maple next to that was another birds nest. After this point we waited outside for more birds until about 5:45 and at that point it was just more snowy and more windy and it didn't seem as if any more birds would come (or want to be in that weather), so we walked back. It was not the best weather to be outside birding in, but it was still fun to see the birds that we did see and next time we will pick a better day!

These observations were in West Hartford, Connecticut. They were done around 11 AM and it was a warm (60 degrees) and very sunny day with a light breeze. I was sitting at a bench in the park at first and two birds flew onto the tree right next to me and I observed them to be two White-breasted Nuthatches. They didn't stay there for long before they flew away. Around the bench there was plenty of Robins walking around and singing. I then got up to walk around the park. I walked passed a small pond and first saw two Canadian Geese standing next to it. They were walking and eating grass. In the pond there were two mallards that were swimming around. One was a male and the other was a female and they were swimming together. As I continued the walk through the little path, in the midst of trees I began hearing and seeing many other birds. There were plenty of Robins to see everywhere and then I heard a Blue Jay, but could not see it. I spotted two Northern Cardinals, both in flight with a bright red color. One landed on a branch in the woods. I also saw a Mourning Dove that was kind of in the brush standing on the ground. I did not hear it make any noise. I saw another Blue Jay that was flying through the woods as well. It was a very good day to see birds that I have not seen out in the field yet, and very exciting to finally be able to spot them.

I went on this bird walk beginning at 4 PM on February 18. The weather was cold, about 18 degrees and clear and sunny. The sun was kind of beginning to go down. Before we even parked to begin our walk, as we were driving we spotted a Red-tailed Hawk that was sitting on a branch on the road above us. We stopped to look at it and it just stared down at the truck and continued to sit there. We then parked and were able to begin our walk
The trail was super icy and there was snow on the ground through the trees. We walked all the way down to the bay. On the way down there we heard two crows on separate occasions and continued our walk. We tried to play some bird noises on the way but did not receive any responses. We got down to the bay and everything was frozen. We stayed there for a while, hopping to hear or see some birds, but all we could hear was the sound of the ice shifting/cracking in the bay.
On the walk back to the car we were able to hear two more crows and we spotted an American Robin on a fruit bearing tree as well as a bird's nest up in a tree. We did not spot much on this bird walk, maybe because of the time of day or possibly the cold, clear weather. We were really expecting to see the most birds near the bay and were very surprised when we heard nothing but that could be due to the fact that the bay is frozen, although last week at Shelburne pond we observed many more birds and that was also next to a frozen body of water.

These observations were made on February 4th, 2016. We went out to Shelburne Pond around 3 PM and walked around in the woods in the back. The weather was warm, about 45 degrees, and overcast. Almost immediately we saw a few American Crows flying overhead. Then as we walked back into the woods for awhile. We found a leopard frog trying to hop across the ice (struggling a little) before we found any more birds.
As we walked back towards a boggy like area, we began hearing some chickadees. We weren't sure how many so we started to go closer and then saw two chickadees. They were kind of flying together and flew over our heads, continuously whistling. One landed on a branch over head. We kept walking along the trail and thought maybe we heard the sound of a woodpecker. We waited still for awhile and then heard the whistle of a downy woodpecker but did not end up seeing it.
We walked back along the trail and heard and saw some more crows along the way. We would wait at some spots and listen for more birds but did not really here anymore. Then at an opening near the pond we heard some geese overhead and there was a flock of Canadian geese flying in a v-formation. There was forty four of them. After this we headed back to the car and stopped to look at the frog again.