Field Journal 4

Date: 3/25/2024
Start Time: 1:00pm
End Time: 2:31 pm
Location: Waterfront Park, Downtown Burlington
Weather: Sunny, 42 degrees, windy, a couple of inches of snow still on the ground
Habitat: An urban environment surrounds the park that overlooks Lake Champlain. Large maple and oak trees can be found in the area, as well as hawthorns, eastern white pines, American elms, and Green Ash trees. There are a lot of wide open spaces and the trees are spread out.
The first bird I saw was a Dark-eyed Junco, it was rummaging around in the snow probably for something to eat. In Vermont, Dark-eyed Juncos do not migrate south for the winter, if there is any movement at all they will migrate to lower elevations for warmth, but they remain near their original territory. Migration takes up a lot of energy and can be a very risky tactic for survival, so Dark-eyed Junco may decide to stay in Vermont in order to save their energy and focus it on other survival needs like finding food, reproducing, and then raising their offspring. To survive the winter Dark-eyed Juncos often nest in dense pine foliage that protects them from some of the wind and harsh weather. Their dark feathers also absorb whatever small amount of sunlight the Vermont winter provides which can help them stay warmer.
The second bird I noticed was a Ring-billed Gull. They are migratory birds who fly to warmer areas for the winter. They prefer to stay along coast lines or near water, so it is likely the Ring-billed gull I saw had just recently returned here after migrating from a more southern state like North Carolina. It is likely they traveled North and stayed close to the Hudson river until reaching Lake Champlain. Since moving to Vermont I have noticed that the Ring-billed gulls return to Burlington every March and it seems to always be the sign that spring (and the warmer weather) is coming soon. I would imagine that Ring-billed Gulls spend the winter in a warmer area because food would be more prevalent, the return to Burlington is to reproduce since they seem to prefer nesting and breeding near freshwater and away from the ocean.
Ring-billed Gulls have been known to return to the same nesting/breeding location that they were born at every year, and they often go to the same place to over-winter every year as well. However, they would not be considered obligate migrants, because they do not always migrate at the exact same time every year. Their migration is for survival, when it gets too cold they leave, this makes them facultative migrants instead of obligate. My rough estimate for how far a Ring-billed gull would travel during their migration is about 217 miles one way from Burlington to Norfolk, North Carolina.

Posted on March 25, 2024 08:58 PM by grace723