Observation 4 - April 3, 2016

Today Emily Feng and I went birding at Lone Rock Point in Burlington, VT. We started our walk at 1pm from North Beach and followed the trail around the property, ending up again at North Beach at 2:30pm. The temperature remained around 25F and it was very windy, with around 24MPH winds with gusts that felt like much more than that. Before we began walking on the trail we saw two Ring-billed Gulls and one Herring Gull onshore and just offshore from North Beach. As we started walking on the trail, we heard one Black-capped Chickadee call. Due to the very loud winds, we quickly realized that this may not have been the best day to hear bird calls!

Continuing on the trail, we came to an opening known as the Parade Grounds. Here we a few more Black-capped Chickadee calls as well as two White-breasted Nuthatch calls believed to be from different birds.

We continued along the trail to the many lookouts over the cliffs on the water's edge. It was extremely windy here, and I expected to see gulls using the wind to help them fly with minimal effort. However, we did not see or hear any birds in these very windy spots. Continuing on the trail along the waters edge, we eventually heard and then saw two Canada Geese flying low over the water below us.

Since it was a bit chilly and still very windy, I was happy to get away from the cliffs and back into the mixed hardwood forest (where we seemed to be encountering more birds anyway.) Coming back on the opposite side of the Parade Grounds, we heard one American Crow call, another White-breasted Nuthatch call, and 4-5 Black-capped Chickadees.

Upon returning to North Beach, we encountered two Ring-billed Gulls (possibly the same ones that we initially saw) and a female Mallard on the water that flew away as we got closer. A moment later we noticed a male and female Mallard pair on the beach, and they entered the water when we approached. An additional male Mallard flew in a minute or two later and joined the pair on the water. There were also four Canada Geese swimming just offshore in the same area.

Despite the high winds and cold weather, we were still able to hear and see some birds in the area. Next time I will definitely pick a less windy day so that I can hear more calls!

Publicado el 03 de abril de 2016 a las 08:39 PM por caitlindrasher