May 28, 2021

WFB 131 Field Journal 5: General

Date - 5/28/21
Start time - 6:49 am
End time - 11:58 pm
Location - Macrae Farm Park, Colchester, Vermont
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - start: 59 F, 7 mph NW, overcast; end: 59 F, 5 mph NW, mostly cloudy
Habitat(s) - I started out in a grassy area next to the wetlands and saw Mallards, American Goldfinches, Canada Geese, Mourning Doves, Song Sparrows, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, a Double-crested Cormorant, a Belted Kingfisher, and Ring-billed Gulls. Most of these seemed to live in or around the tall grasses next to the wetland. From here, I moved down the main trail through a more densely wooded area with some shrubby spots. Here I found American Crows, Common Grackles, Yellow Warblers, Brown-headed Cowbirds, American Robins, many Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Yellowthroat, and a Gray Catbird. At the end of this trail, I came to a couple large open fields that had just been mown, so most of the birds were hanging out at the edge of the forest. Here I found House Wrens, Cedar Waxwings, a Black-capped Chickadee, and Northern Cardinals.

Posted on May 28, 2021 11:36 PM by emma2forsythe emma2forsythe | 22 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 27, 2021

WFB 131 Field Journal 4: General

Date - 5/27/21
Start time - 7:04 am
End time - 12:14 pm
Location - Geprags Community Park
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - start: 57 F, 20 mph NNW, cloudy/overcast; end: 58 F, 22 mph NW, mostly cloudy
Habitat(s) - Just from the parking lot, which was surrounded by tall grasses and some shrubs next to the road, I found Ring-billed Gulls, Eastern Kinglets, and Eastern Towhees. I started walking down the main trail along the large main field under the power lines and saw and heard Field Sparrows, a Northern Harrier, Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Turkey Vultures, and American Crows. In the small wetland area around the stream under the power lines I found Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, and Red-winged Blackbirds. I turned back down the trail and started in the other direction from the parking lot through denser shrubs and woods. Here I saw American Goldfinches, Red-eyed Vireos, Brown Thrashers, and Tufted Titmice. Eventually I came to the barn, which was surrounded by tall grasses mixed with spots of shrubs. In this area I saw Gray Catbirds, Chestnut-sided Warblers, Eastern Phoebes, Black-capped Chickadees, and Barn Swallows.

Posted on May 27, 2021 11:25 PM by emma2forsythe emma2forsythe | 21 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 26, 2021

WFB 131 Field Journal 3: Forests

Date - 5/26/21
Start time - 7:14 am
End time - 12:02 pm
Location - Camel's Hump State Park
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - start: 72 F, 16 mph S, mostly sunny; end: 73 F, 15 mph S, mostly sunny
Habitat(s) - Starting out in the parking lot, I didn't see very many species but heard Black-capped Chickadees, Eastern Phoebes, and American Robins. As I moved up in altitude through the deciduous forest, I saw and heard Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Black-throated Green Warblers, Ovenbirds, Black-tailed Blue Warblers, Scarlet Tanagers, Red-eyed Vireos, and Blackburnian Warblers. I got closer to the alpine vegetation zone, with mixed hemlocks and birch trees, I found Hermit Thrushes, Wood Thrushes, and possibly a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. In the alpine zone I found Pine Warblers and a Blue Jay.

Posted on May 26, 2021 10:36 PM by emma2forsythe emma2forsythe | 15 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 25, 2021

WFB 131 Field Journal 2: Grass/Shrublands

Date - 5/25/21
Start time - 7:35 am
End time - 12:16 pm
Location - Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - start: 59 F, 18 mph S, sunny with some clouds; end: 70 F, 18 mph S, mostly cloudy
Habitat(s) - I started out in a pretty dense wooded area with mostly hardwood deciduous trees and saw and heard Common Grackles, Common Yellowthroats, Brown Thrashers, American Robins, a Downy Woodpecker, and Northern Cardinals. As I continued down the main trail, the woods thinned out a bit and had occasional open spots. Here I found American Crows, Song Sparrows, Wood Thrushes, American Redstarts, and Gray Catbirds. Eventually I sat down at a bench in a large open clearing and found Black-capped Chickadees, Brown-headed Cowbirds, American Goldfinches, House Sparrows, and Red-winged Blackbirds. Eventually I came to a couple of very large open grassy fields, with a trail and small shrubby island between them. Here I saw and heard Northern Mockingbirds, a Red-tailed Hawk, Tufted Titmice, Turkey Vultures, a Field Sparrow, and Bobolinks.
A Fun Story: While I was sitting on a log in one of these open spots, I heard an American Redstart and decided to try to record it. As I was doing this, I happened to look down and hanging out next to me on the log was a redbelly snake. So now I have a very funny but very useless recording of me cursing and squealing as I run away. Obviously, I am not a huge snake fan (sorry Jim).

Posted on May 25, 2021 10:08 PM by emma2forsythe emma2forsythe | 25 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 24, 2021

WFB 131 Field Journal 1: Wetlands

Date - 5/24/2021
Start time - 7:14 am
End time - 12:12 pm
Location - Delta Park, Colchester, VT
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - start: 48 F, 2 mph WNW, sunny, no clouds; end: 63 F, 7 mph WSW, sunny, no clouds
Habitat(s) - started off on a boardwalk going through a wooded area with mostly songbirds, then came to a bridge over more open water with the lake to the West and the river to the East with a marshy area. I stayed in a grassy shaded area on the water for a while and saw mostly waterbirds and blackbirds, then continued down the bike path, which was surrounded by more wooded area and songbirds. After heading back down the bike path and across the bridge, I went down the shoreline path and saw more waterbirds and blackbirds.

Posted on May 24, 2021 10:16 PM by emma2forsythe emma2forsythe | 27 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 9, 2021

Field Journal 8: Field Observation

Date - 5/9/21
Start time - 9:01 am
End time - 10:35 am
Location - UVM Centennial Woods
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - 50 F, 8 mph SW wind, mostly sunny
Habitat(s) - mostly pine stands, some wetland and flooded areas with shrubby trees

Posted on May 9, 2021 06:45 PM by emma2forsythe emma2forsythe | 13 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

Extra Credit Field Journal Entry

Date - 5/8/21
Start time - 9:12 am
End time - 11:07 am
Location - North Waterfront Park, Burlington, VT
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - 54 F, 100% cloud cover, no wind, some rain towards the end of the trip
Habitat(s) - open park next to lake, bike path with dense shrubby trees

Posted on May 9, 2021 06:17 PM by emma2forsythe emma2forsythe | 15 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 26, 2021

Field Journal 7: Reproductive Ecology and Evolution

Date - 4/24/21
Start time - 9:03
End time - 10:57
Location - UVM Campus
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - 54 F, 11 mph SE wind, mostly cloudy at beginning of trip but sunny by the end
Habitat(s) - college campus/residential area, retention pond, open field

One of the first examples of territory selection I saw on this trip was an American Crow chasing off a Red-tailed Hawk from its area above campus. This was surprising to me because normally I would think of a hawk being more aggressive than a crow, since it's a raptor, but I guess in this case it didn't matter. When looking for any birds nesting, specifically American Robins in yew and other shrubby bushes, it was pretty difficult to find anything until we found a robin nest in a small tree of of Spear St. This was especially weird because it was a bare hardwood tree relatively close to a busy road that didn't really offer any protection for the nest. Maybe there was a scarcity in good nest habitat for that individuals territory. This nesting habitat is very different from Red-winged Blackbirds. We saw a few of these by the retention pond behind Redstone campus, where there are plenty of grasses and cattails that blackbirds like to nest in.
Speaking of these Red-winged Blackbirds, I think we saw some kind of territorial or mating display at the retention pond. On one side there was a male singing continually while at the other side was a female and another male. I couldn't tell if the singing male was singing to protect his territory from the couple or if he was trying to get the attention of the female, but my guess is the first option since this was a prime nesting habitat. This most likely indicates that he is more fit compared to the other male since he is defending a territory that he already possess from another male.
Another species we saw on this trip was the Turkey Vulture. Because Turkey Vultures are so large, I would imagine they have to find large trees or hollowed out snags to nest in. They would also need to find large sticks instead of the small twigs that most smaller birds use for their nests. Vultures could probably find this kind of material in old hardwood or pine stands where there would be enough old trees or snags to take sticks from.

Posted on April 26, 2021 08:02 PM by emma2forsythe emma2forsythe | 17 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 17, 2021

Field Journal 6: Field Observation

Date - 4/17/21
Start time - 9:05 am
End time - 10:53 am
Location - UVM Centennial Woods
Weather - cloudy, overcast, 43 degrees F, 10 mph NNW
Habitat(s) - residential neighborhood to dense forest, mostly pine stands and some shrubby species

Posted on April 17, 2021 08:42 PM by emma2forsythe emma2forsythe | 17 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 5, 2021

Field Journal 5: Migration

Date - 4/3/21
Start time - 9:15 am
End time - 10:51 am
Location - UVM Campus and Burlington Country Club
Weather - sunny, no clouds, 32 degrees F, 2mph NW wind
Habitat(s) - marshy retention ponds with phragmites and staghorn sumac, Eastern white pine stand, grassy mown fields

Many of the year-round Vermont residents we spotted on the field trip, like Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, have adapted for the harsher winter conditions. They are able to find food here in the winter, either from feeders or nuts and fruit in the trees. Some have also adapted to go in to torpor or regulated hypothermia to survive the night temperatures below freezing and conserve energy. This is a useful alternative to the energy expensive migration to the southern US or Mexico and South America.

Facultative migrants have started to reappear in Burlington. One specific example we saw on this trip was the Canada Goose. Most geese fly to the southern US for the winter, if their ponds and lakes up here freeze over, and come back up north for breeding. We saw an example of this cycle when we were out and found a male and female goose with a nest and eggs. As temperatures have gotten consistently warmer the past few weeks, water sources have thawed and geese have been able to settle in to their breeding grounds. We did spot one obligate migrant, the Eastern Phoebe. They come up from the south early on, possibly to get a jump on other spring migrants and have their pick of insects as they come out with the warm weather. One disadvantage to migrating this early might be that the warmer temperatures that drive the birds to migrate back north could be a fluke. Temperatures may drop back down to freezing and the birds might not be able to handle it.

Many of the migrant birds we saw here have travelled over a thousand miles between their farthest non-breeding ground and Burlington, including the Phoebe and the American Goldfinch, the farthest ones going all the way down to southern Florida. Other birds, like the Red-wing Blackbird, went relatively shorter distances, going about 750 to 800 miles south. Totaling all these numbers up, these birds travelled more than 10,000 miles.

Posted on April 5, 2021 07:50 PM by emma2forsythe emma2forsythe | 15 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

Archives