Assignment 3: Social Behavior and Phenology

On Saturday, March 24th, at about 10:00 am, I trekked into the dense woods behind the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds. I've explored this location many many times over the years I've lived in Essex, because my neighborhood lies right next to the fairgrounds. It was very sunny, and the forest was pleasantly cool since it wasn't very windy.

First thing I noticed right off the bat how many black-capped chickadees reside in the surrounding wood of my neighborhood. They're easy to spot because they never perch in one spot for too long before they fly off to sit somewhere else. I was able to get a really nice recording of them all singing back and forth to each other, and an American Crow even called out at the end, which made it easy for me to spot him sitting in a tree about ten yards behind me.

During this bird walk, I was trying to focus on how the birds interacted with one another. I noticed at some points, the chickadees all let each other take turns singing, and then other times they would all lapse over one another. They also made lots of different sounds, ranging from the two-toned whistle to the louder chattering noises. I'm not sure what they were trying to say to one another, but it was such a nice day outside and I'm sure they were nice and warm in the sunshine, they were probably all just happy birds.

I always think about how nice it would be to set up some bird feeders in my backyard, because my neighborhood is SO full of birds that I know it would be a good way to see them out in the open. However, I have two outdoor cats who are very avid hunters, and so I feel it would be irresponsible of me to lure these poor birds into my backyard just to make my cats' hunting trips a little easier.

Posted on March 26, 2018 05:49 PM by jnpearce