Observation 5 - April 22, 2016

Today I went to Woodside Natural Area in Essex, VT. When I got to the natural area at 11:30am, it was 66F, and when I left at 1pm it was 72F. It remained mostly cloudy the entire time I was there, and felt very humid with no noticeable wind.

During this visit to Woodside I was overwhelmed with the amount of bird calls that I heard! There were many calls that I wasn't familiar with, but those that I could identify include American Robin, Canada Goose, White-breasted Nuthatch, Belted Kingfisher (possibly), Red-winged Blackbird, Mourning Dove, Cedar Waxwing, Black-capped Chickadee, American Crow, and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

As I started walking down the trail from the parking lot, I quickly noticed a flash of yellow going from a tree to the ground. Upon closer examination I realized that it was a male American Goldfinch, and it wasn't the only one. There was another male American Goldfinch in a boxelder tree, and a female in a red maple sapling that appeared to have wet feathers. In the same general area, I noticed a Hairy Woodpecker to the northeast side of the trail on the base of a tree. On the opposite side of the trail, there was another Hairy Woodpecker at the top of a tree. A moment later, a pair of Canada Geese flew overhead, calling.

Continuing down the trail towards the river, I heard a Song Sparrow call from the northeast side of the trail. Sure enough, there was a Song Sparrow sitting on a twig of a boxelder tree. There was also an American Robin hopping on the trail in front of me.

Down by the river, I saw three Canada Geese swimming in the water. I also saw a garter snake in the grass by the edge of the clearing!

Just off of the trail to the south of the beaver wetland, I saw two House Sparrows in some brush. In this area, I started to hear some Red-winged Blackbird calls coming from the wetland. I was able to see one in the grass at the edge of the wetland from this south side, as well as a Common Grackle. This was just a preview of what was to come, as I saw at least four individual Red-winged Blackbirds (all males) and six individual Common Grackles from the lookout at the north side of the wetland. They were all perched on small trees or more hidden in the cattails. I didn't hear any Common Grackles calling, but the Red-winged Blackbirds were quite vocal.

Continuing on the trail headed back toward the parking area, I spooked two Northern Flickers that flew away toward the wetland. I also spooked a Mourning Dove that took off in the same direction. Nearby, I saw a Downy Woodpecker high up in a tree, which then led me to see a group of seven Cedar Waxwings at the top of a hackberry tree (I had also previously seen three Cedar Waxwings on the northeast side of the wetland.)

For the grand finale, I saw a Red-shouldered Hawk flying overhead that was being dive-bombed by an American Crow.

Publicado el 22 de abril de 2016 a las 08:16 PM por caitlindrasher