tzumbo's Journal

Date: 5/2/2018
Time: 5-6pm
Weather: partly sunny, strong wind gusts, rough water
Location: Oakledge Park in Burlington, VT
Habitat: alongside rocky cliffs with majority coniferous forest types

Temperature: 55F
Weather: Sunny w/ slight wind

After a rainy morning, the weather decided to clear-up and therefore I decided to take an adventure down to the waterfront to find some bird. I've walked through Roundhouse Park before, but just had not taken proper birding equipment to record observations. During a Thursday afternoon the park and bike-trail were both quiet from human activity. I was hoping to get a glimpse of some unique waterfowl near shore, but unfortunately none were spotted (expect 2 Canadian Geese). The majority of individuals in the area were European Starling and Common Grackles. You could heard their distinct calling and imitations all throughout the line of coniferous trees lining the bike-path. This was the most condensed area of forest that I noted on the property. Many males were perched on subsequential trees next to each other, fluffing and voicing their song. I am unsure if these behaviors are for breeding, territory defense, or both. I saw multiple European Grackles finding human food from the park while foraging. This makes me believe that this is a very competitive spot for these species, and that territory defense is high. A Common Raven also flew into to the park to pick up human-like materials, probably to build a nest!

Before I left the park I noticed a beautiful purple Rock Pigeon that appeared to be frozen, laying in the grass. I approached and clearly the bird was scared, but was not able to physically right itself or fly away. The individual was also favoring it's left side while laying down. After some time the bird attempted to fly, still favoring the left side, and flew in a wide circular motion until it crashed back down into the grass. There were no apparent lesions on the bird, so I naturally thought of Listerosis aka "circling disease". I am also currently in Wildlife Disease this semester as well, and we have learned about multiple avian diseases. It was great to finally put that new knowledge to use!

The weather has been crappy for the past few weeks, but I figured today was as good as ever to venture down to Delta Park, right next to Champlain and the Winooski River branch-off. It was windy as ever on the waterfront at a temperature of 35 degrees (I'm sure the real-feel was much lower). The habitat is generally very flat wetlands with patches of residential streets nearby. The water flowing into the delta was moderately choppy due to the wind, so the only wading birds were only found more inland or near a land break.

To start I ventured into a pedestrian walk trail that led to waterfront. I did not stay long from the blustering winds, however I stayed to observe a flock of Ring-billed Gulls. They seemed to just be wading and hovering over each other, so I decided to move on. The bike path itself was fairly quiet from pedestrian visitors which gave me some great glimpses at wildlife. A mating pair of Wood Ducks slowly swam farther inland as I approached the trail. The male was absolutely stunning! Across the bridge I observed Robins chasing each other in a residential yard, and later some more individuals flying across the path. The biggest find of the day was an extremely quick glimpse of a Bald Eagle flying over-head! He was too fast for me to snap a photo.. Shortly after I began to hear a lot of strange "mimic-like" songs in the trees above me, and noticed a huge flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds. The computer dial-up noise was very extreme in this flock! On my frigid walk back home I didn't stop to observe much, however a male Red-winged Blackbird stopped me with his mating calls. He was highly perched in an habitat edge tree and calling repeatedly and loudly for a good period of time. Guess he was looking to find someone to take to formal!

Weather: 45 degrees and very windy
Habitat: rocky with minimal ground vegetation, trees leafless
Time: 5-6:30pm

This past Thursday I decided to venture alone for some birding at Ethan Allan Park in Colchester. I bundled up in many layers and headed out into the windy trail. Overall this was not a very active area of forest, but I still managed to spot some typical species of the area. Some year-round residential species that I observed were the Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, Tufted Titmouse, and a Hairy Wooodpecker. These species all adapted to harsh Vermont winters due to their food supply being readily available in this habitat and perhaps physiological changes in body temperature via "regulated hypothermia". I did not note any special migrants in this habitat, but both the Herring Gull and the Carolina Wren may be considered visitor species. A distinct "teakettle teakettle" call was heard, which I found unusual to hear while in VT. After looking at Cornell's All About Birds, I noticed that Carolina Wrens are not noted in Vermont on their map region, however eBird has published sightings from around the area recently. This makes me believe that the Wrens have moved Northern possibly due to human interference pressures or warmer temperatures that are arriving to Burlington for spring. The Herring is also a semi-migratory species that we comely see invading Burlington every spring. Once Lake Champlain thaws the Gulls have wider food resources here in Burlington, rather than in the winter months. Some other observation I made at the park was of a gorgeous, plump, Hairy Woodpecker that flew down in front of me mid-way. He was hammering away at the bark with his beak. However, I knew he was a Hairy rather than a Downey Woodpecker due to his sheer size and comma stripe! A House Finch was also expressing his lovely song to a female in a nearby pine. Love was in the air at Ethan Allan Park! Overall, the park was not a hotspot for many species. However, it was still good to explore the area and try somewhere new!

As a special Spring Break getaway, I had the privilege of joining Allan Strong and 10 other Rubenstien students on an ecology trip across the state of Florida. Although predominantly a birding excursion, some herps and mammals were spotted as well. A highlight of the trip was an early morning stop at Anhinga Trail; the first state park in Florida. The parking lot in particular is known for its mischievous Black Vulture population who enjoy pecking at car door insulation. Needless to say, visitors should need to put a tarp over their cars for protection! On the first leg of the walk we noticed a medium-sized Am. Alligator soaking up some sun on the water's edge. He didn't seem too bothered by any human visitors. Hence the name, Anhingas are the predominantly nesting species of the trail. Six nests were spotted in the mangroves trees, with two nests holding white-plumaged individuals. It was extremely exciting to not only see, but also hear the vocalizations the babies belted at their parents for food. The call was very simple and repetitive, which is characteristic for begging avian species. The juveniles also reached their necks and beaks towards their mothers in hope of a regurgitated meal.

The Purple Gallinule possessed one of the most striking, colorful plumage pattern of all species I observed on the trip. They have yellow legs, red beak, purple/blue underbelly, and green wings. In an evolutionary sense I can only guess that the species acquired this rainbow plumage to attract other mates and therefore increase fitness of it's population. The colorful feathers stick out like a sore thumb on top of lily pads, so I don't believe camouflage is it's first priority. On the other hand, Anhinga's plumage can be considered an evolutionary screw-up. This aquatic species spends most of its time foraging and diving under water. However, their uropygial gland is fairly inactive and does not secrete enough oils to waterproof their feathers. Individuals are therefore required to immediately sun their feathers for a long duration in order to dry them for flight. You would assume their feathers would have adapted to their lifestyle, but somehow they have not.

Phishing to flush birds was a technique that I learned from the almighty Allan Strong while on the trip. After hearing his vocalizations to attract birds I of course had to ask why he was making these funny sounds. Turns out that a phishing sounds simulates an alarm or scolding vocalization that some small avian species use to alert. We used this technique many a time on the trip, but on the Anhinga Trail in particular we attracted a Black-and-white Warbler to fly closer with this technique. The individual seemed very curious in the surrounding canopy area with excessive vocalizations from himself. Overall the trip was an overwhelming success, and I was so unbelievably grateful to learn under the majestic bird-nerd himself.

This past Tuesday was an exceptionally nice day in Burlington, and therefore I took advantage of the afternoon and visited Oakledge Park with my roommate to bird watch and enjoy the sunset. We arrived at the park at 4:00 pm and immediately noticed two Turkey Vultures circling near the parking entrance. Perhaps there was roadkill or another decomposing animal nearby. Although not specifically sought after, a Black-capped Chickadee bouncily flew past my roommate and I as we walked down to the water. There were multiple dogs visiting the lake with their owners, and therefore the chances of bird spotting were lowered. Using binoculars, I spotted multiple Common Goldeneyes glide into the water close to shore. I was not able to determine gender of the members of the flock, but they were enjoying the wide-open water and occasionally diving for food. Seagulls are a common sight to see at the waterfront, but due to our weekly bird quiz I was able to distinguish the presence of Ring-billed Gulls rather than Herring Gulls. These gulls had a distinct black marking on their bright yellow beak, and they also had darker yellow legs compared to the pale leg color of the Herring Gull. We finished the afternoon watching and photographing the colorful sunset across Lake Champlain. During this time, a pair of American Crows briefly perched on a tree close to us, and performed some cackling vocalizations before flying back into the sky. A very beautiful afternoon, to spot some stunning bird species.

Although we are approaching the upcoming Spring months, avian species are still using behavioral adaptations to survive in colder temperatures. The Black-capped Chickadee that was spotted clearly had extra winter weight that he was carrying around for energy storage. Another behavioral adaptation that I visually observed was the fluffing of feathers by the American Crow pair. The observation site that I chose did not provide many dead snags. I spent my time near the shore of the cliffs and did not venture further inland, where there is typically more forest cover. However, many avian species depends on dead snags for a safe habitat: owls, woodpeckers, and jays. Other species, such as hawks and eagles, use these snags strictly for hunting and perching positions.

I accompanied two TAs, Alex and Kevin, on the WFB 130 bird walk through Centennial Woods this past Monday afternoon. We left the Aiken solarium at 3:00pm in the afternoon and began our trek down to the UVM property. Before we entered the woods, we spotted a fairly large bird passing over at a high altitude. Even with the binoculars, we were not able to identify the species due to the distance it was from us. Kevin suspected it was a juvenile Peregrine Falcon, but from my previous experience with raptors I do not think it was a bird of prey. My reasoning stems from the type of flight pattern it was exhibiting. Raptors generally tend to soar without flapping in a high altitude range. This unidentified species used it's wings to flap fairly frequently in a "flap and glide" motion.

We noticed immediately upon entering the habitat that the woods were strangely silent that day. No spotting or vocalizations were heard until we descended the trail and reached the stream bridges. In this fairly open field, we heard a Black-capped Chickadee in a tree close to us chirping back in forth to another Chickadee individual across the way. We could not spot either individuals. As we progressed to the heavy canopy, pine tree section of the forest we came upon a much more investigative Black-capped Chickadee. Our group first heard it's iconic song and then later spotted a male in the pine tree above us. He changed his position onto an adjacent pine tree with a distinct "roller coaster" flight pattern for a short distance.

We continued onward on the trail and a flock of three American Crows flew over-head. Their flight pattern was very distinct with continual slow flaps in a straight line. There was not a moment of soaring observed, which helped identify this species as an American Crow instead of it's nearly identical sibling, the Common Raven. The American Crow's tail feathers form a fan-shape and their wing tips are more blunted in shape than the Raven's. This wing physiology alludes to a more repetitive flying motion, rather than soaring, We were also briefly visited by a female Northern Cardinal sitting in bush in the open field during our walk back. As we left the woods, we encounter a college couple blasting music relatively close to the park entrance, and therefore did not expect to see anymore species for the day.