Bird Watching #2

Location: 137 Bryant Rd, Manchester VT, my mom's friends house.
Time:12:00-1:30
Weather: Windy and 19 degrees F
Looking out of the back door at the bird feeders, it was clear that the birds knew about this spot. Many of the birds perch in the two white birch trees right next to the feeders and take turns letting other groups of birds in while some rest in the tree. Tufted Titmouses wait as the chickadee's chirp on the perch of the green feeder. As the chickadees fly to the trees, the blue jay swept in with its sleek body in the winter time, preying on efficient forms of food: fat and berries. It ate the suet with swift pecks and dislodged pieces of the block to take out of the cages. Blue jays do not look like they could survive the winter in the skinny windbreaker they have, and they must eat a lot to stay warm.

I was outside watching the birds on a feeder when a white and orange snow bunting was chirping on the roof of the barn. In my picture, it is visibly larger than any chickadee or sparrow around and was so round I doubt it could have flown with the puffed out feathers. The bird was sitting on the bard for about ten minutes, chirping to no one but himself. The snow buntings have very large feathers to keep them warm far up into Canada for the entire winter, and when in warm Vermont they have it easier. They are adapted to harsher weather and are not shy of negative temperatures. With the temperature being higher, they have time to rest and get warm instead of feeding constantly.

Comparing the Snow Bunting to the Pine Grosbeak, the bunting has much more time to relax. The Pine Grosbeak are known to eat entire trees of cherries and fly awkwardly in the trees to get the berries they see as efficient to eat as possible. Grosbeaks are bulky birds all year round, and stock up in the winter although the weight of the bird is miniscule. Grosbeaks are high energy birds, and love berries for the fermented taste and alcohol in the berries. The bird appeared to be a cedar waxwing, and after multiple viewpoints I decided it was most likely a Pine Grosbeak.

Posted on March 11, 2019 12:33 AM by