Ημερολόγιο της/του kirsticarr

This morning I set out on a birding walk with Sean and some other members of our class. We left for Centennial Woods Natural Area at 7:30 AM and it was cold and cloudy. On our walk down, we saw a few crows all flying the same direction. Considering American Crows roost at night, it is possible that they were all heading towards a common food source. We also saw a few European Starlings, who flew in a very distinctive way, with their triangular body shape. Once at the entrance of the woods, a Downy Woodpecker flew in to the sound of its call, which Sean played on his phone. A few Black-capped Chickadees flew in, in what seemed to be in reaction to the woodpecker flying about coupled with the call that had repeated a few times. Once at a feeder, Sean again played the sound of birds mobbing in reaction to a screech owl. Multiple White-breasted Nuthatches, chickadees, as well as a Downy Woodpecker flew in and became very reactive to the call. A group of Tufted Titmice were perched in a pine nearby, watching the scene, but curiously they did not participate.

Upon leaving the woods, we saw a Cooper's hawk gliding over the trees, heading in the direction of the mobbing we had just witness. Walking to a different feeder, we saw a few Mallards and an American Black Duck in the wetland area on Carrigan Drive. At the next feeder, we saw a pair of Northern Cardinals in a thicket of staghorn sumac, and upon playing the mobbing sounds again, a group of American Goldfinches, a Downy Woodpecker, and some chickadees all flew in to the tree above the speaker. It was very interesting to witness the common characteristics among species.

At 12 pm yesterday I headed out on the Burlington Bike Path, next to Starr Farm Road. It was a bit overcast, very windy and around 25 degrees Fahrenheit. We didn't see many birds on the water, as the bay was frozen, however through my binoculars I could see the black and white markings of two Common Goldeneye bobbing on the water, and both disappeared into the water for a minute or so at a time before coming back up.

On the bike path we noticed one or two Black-capped Chickadees in the northern whitecedar on the side of the road, and we played a chickadee mobbing call in an attempt to get more to come out. The result was at least 10 chickadees flying back and forth across the path, calling and joining in the mobbing. Two Tufted Titmice also joined in, and after about five minutes some Red-breasted Nuthatches flew in. First they stayed farther away on the taller canopy trees, but after a bit they flew closer and joined the other birds in the shrub right next to the bike path. It was an exciting site to see, and I was able to distinguish each species' unique calls. Between the calls, the closeness of the birds and my binoculars I was completely confident in my identification of the species.

After leaving the bike path we drove further down to the Sewage Treatment Plant further down on North Ave, past Flynn Elementary. Michael had recommended the spot for waterfowl, however I misunderstood him and thought he meant the natural area behind the plant. We didn't see any bird species here, though we did stumble upon a very old, abandoned car that had some type of nest in what used to be the hood of the car. I didn't have a camera on me, so I couldn't take a picture. I'm hoping to revisit this site in the next week or so to take a picture of the nest to post on iNaturalist for identification, as well as to check out the ponds at the sewage treatment center, as when I clarified with Michael where he meant after our excursion, he pointed out the exact location on a map.

I was hoping to see more species in the two hours we were out, however I am looking forward to my next field experience, especially for seeing some more waterfowl.