Thursday May 21, 2020

Today Thursday, May 21st I went out into the field for observations. With no specific target species for the day I set goals to focus on some of the birds I have not been able to ID yet and to focus on hearing instead of seeing. I arrived at my field sight at 7:20 am this morning at Mud Creek in Alburg, VT. Today the weather was beautiful sunny and 50 degrees and climbing into the 70’s throughout the morning. The wind was gusty and light throughout the morning and the birds were very lively. The habitat in this area was mixed with many large swamps, wetlands, and deciduous forests.

In the duration I was in the field I was able to ID numerous amounts of bird species. I was able to see 4 different Great Blue Herons while in the field at all separate times. One of them was flying, while the other 3 were standing in the shallow water in the wetlands. In the beginning of the trail by the parking area I saw a total of 3 Common Grackles on the way in and out of the field. The bird that dominated this area the most this morning was the Red-winged Blackbird. Their calls were booming throughout the wetlands and it was hard to hear the other calls over the top of them. I was able to visually ID 23 of them and heard countless songs. A single male Mallard flew above the swamp and out of sight when I was standing there looking over the swamp. A total of 18 Canada Geese were seen throughout the morning flying and in the swamps. I was able to recognize he songs of the Red-eyed Vireo of “here I am look at me, here I am…” in 5 different locations along the trails. A single Song Sparrow was ID’d in a smaller shrubby tree by itself. Not surprisingly there was 7 different American Robins I was able to ID both by sight and sound. While watching an American Robin in the distance a Hairy Woodpecker began drumming near me and then I was able to find it by sight as well. In a cornfield bordering the trails, 5 American Crows were in the field feeding on something that I was unable to see. In the cornfield on the opposite side I got a quick glimpse of a female Wild Turkey moving into the woods. A total of 2 Turkey Vultures were seen circling above at different ends of the trail as well. While continuing down the trail two tree swallows caught my eye chasing each other around. I was able to ID a total of 9 tree swallows 7 by sight and 2 more by song.

A single Downy Woodpecker was heard drumming and I was able to find it towards the top of a dead tree in a swamp. While moving along I was able to ID 5 Black-capped Chickadees throughout the management area by their two noted song of a high and low note. In the deciduous part of the management area I recognized the song of an Eastern Phoebe of “phee-bee.” In this area I was also able to ID 3 Blue Jays by sound from their “Jay-Jay-Jay” call. Along the path a single Veery was moving across the side. The songs of two Northern Cardinals were recognized in the deciduous part of the management area as well with the “gun” like ending. The “teacher-teacher-teacher-teacher” song of the Ovenbird cut through the deciduous forest as well allowing me to ID the Ovenbird in two different places. I was able to ID it with its brown back white belly and slight brown spots on the chest. One of the more exciting parts today was seeing an abundance of Yellow Warblers, this was the first time I have been able to ID them in the field. A total of 17 were ID through both sight and their song of “sweet-sweet-sweet I’m so sweet.” After a successful day of birding I completed my observation period in Alburg, VT at 11:45 and headed back home.

Posted on May 21, 2020 07:08 PM by ajchagnon