Field Journal 2

On March 1st, 2020, at 12:30 pm I went out into the field for bird observations. It was a sunny but frigid afternoon, with the temperature at 18 degrees, and gusty wind at about 10 mph. This was an improvement from my last bird outing but still not ideal. My location was in Fairfield, Vermont in a close friend’s sugaring woods. The side I was exploring was a well-maintained wooded section of maples and other trees, with a hard edge and a low traveled dirt road nearby. On the other side of the road was higher in elevation and populated with hemlocks and other thick coniferous trees. The first bird sighting of the excursion was a group of two Black-capped Chickadees flying from the edge of the sugar woods, to a small brushier tree in the opening in which my car was parked and then disappeared. Because of the winter time I can predict that the Black-capped Chickadee in order to budget their energy and body heat they may fluff their feathers to save their body heat, but I did not witness it. The Black-capped Chickadees flight is fast, but I noticed a couple short pauses in their flight pattern from flapping their wings this could be a way for them to save energy. Because the Black-capped Chickadees were located in a smaller brushier tree that I was unable to identify this could seeds, insects or other invertebrates. In other seasons the Black-capped Chickadees diet may move more towards berries in the summer and spring, or more insects that are alive in the warmer months. The Black-capped Chickadee may overnight in the edge of the sugar woods that is more populated with thickets and brushier trees for protection instead of in the open woods.

After an uneventful excursion in the woods I was not able to ID or see any other birds. On my walk out at 2:00, I was able to spot a single American Crow pick up from a large hemlock tree across the road and fly off out of sight. For an American Crow to retain its body heat more efficiently I predicted from research after that the American Crow may shiver or commonly go into torpor although I did not see this myself. Because the American Crow glides when flying at this time this could be a way for it to preserve energy as well. As the American Crow is a scavenger it eats opportunistically in the winter, but as seasons change in the summer and spring months the American Crow may move towards consuming more insects, or smaller terrestrial invertebrates. Because this American Crow was alone a good place for it to nest for the night would be anywhere in the sugar woods with the large trees or in the large evergreen trees on the other side of the road where it was spotted so it could nest in a large group.

For the mini activity a total of two snags were present during my bird walk excursion. The first one had no cavities present and after watching it for a few minutes there were no birds around this area. The second snag was a still standing large oak tree with a large cavity opening about 5 feet up the tree. After slightly disturbing the open cavity in the second snag, there were no presence of any bird species during this time.

Posted on March 4, 2020 04:47 PM by ajchagnon