Diario de kbrown48

40 degrees fahrenheit
2:00-2:30 pm
2/23

I did my second field journal in my backyard on University terrace. The weather was incredibly nice today so I thought that it would be nice to spend some time in my backyard since I'm not able to very often. The temperature today was 40 degrees fahrenheit at 2:00 pm. The trees that are on my street have many branches and thin trunks. The trees were about 40-50 feet tall, some with leaves hanging on, but mostly scarce of leaves. The trees had branches falling down and I could see decay within the trunks of the various trees. I heard the scurrying of small animals like squirrels running over the leaves and up the trees. My street seems to be overrun with squirrels and chipmunks so I saw at least 10 of them over the period of 40 minutes that I was outside. I didn't really see any birds in my area.
I saw a house finch or two fluttering between trees, but didn't hear any bird calls. The only chatter that I heard was from the squirrels in the tree. The birds that I saw were just flying back and forth between the trees in my backyard, most likely finding safety from the sun in the tree. My backyard is right next to Athletic campus so there were a lot of people which could've caused the lack of birds in my area. I could smell mulch and wet decaying leaves due to the rain that we've been getting. I did run into this issue last time when there was a sunny day, it seems like when there's not a lot of coverage from sunlight, birds don't hang out in the area.

Mini activity:
Snags are important because they provide birds and other animals with shelter to raise their young, for nesting, or for food
Birds such as woodpeckers or nuthatches depend on snags as a source of food
Animals such as racoons and squirrels use snags as a place for shelter or food storage

Species List
Chipmunks (10+)
Squirrels (4+)

Date: 4/29/24
Time: 7:00-7:40pm
Location: University Terrace, on the street, smaller trees, thin branches, not many leaves, some hustle and bustle from people and cars but mostly a quiet location
Weather: Humid, 45 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly cloudy

Species list:
American Robin(4+)
American crow (1)
House finch (1)
Blue Jay (2)
Northern Cardinal (1)

Katie Brown
4/22/24

Weather: 42 degrees Fahrenheit, wind of 11 mph, humidity of 53%, sunny with scattered clouds
Time: 5:00am-5:30am
Location: University Terrace, scattered trees, skinnier trees on the sidewalk near the road, large trees in the backyards, closer together, larger trunks and branches

The clearest bird call that I heard during this observation was a Black-capped Chickadee, the more alarmed they get the higher pitched their call gets as well as increasing numbers of dee notes in their call. I only really heard one or two of these birds during the span of my observation. The other bird that I could identify most clearly and got on a recording would be the American Robin, there were a couple calling back and forth to each other. Visually I noticed a male Blue Jay chasing another male Blue Jay through the trees, even though there wasn’t a lot of light out it was very easy to identify the distinct colors and shape of the bird. I was also impressed at their agility, how the male birds quickly shifted directions with the utmost ease was very entertaining to watch. These birds tend to be extremely territorial of their areas that they inhabit, tending to be aggressive when it comes to food sources as well such as bird feeders. They kept flying into the backyard, where there are a lot of thick, sturdy, tall trees with lots of branches. Blue Jays are commonly found near forest edges, and prefer Oak trees, of which there are plenty in the backyards of University Terrace. Blue Jay build their nests in the crotch or thick outer branches of a deciduous or coniferous tree, 10-25 ft above the ground, both male and females collect materials for nests, female tends to do more building and the male tends to do more gathering. These birds were defending a prime territory compared to other members of its species, this means that the bird most likely has a higher level of fitness, as well as its bright colors and loud call showing indication of that as well. Black-capped Chickadees tend to excavate in dead snags or rotten branches, often alder or birch, they choose next boxes, small natural cavities, or abandoned Downy Woodpecker cavities. These spots are typically selected by the female, once the nest chamber is hollowed out, the female then builds a cup-shaped nest within. They use moss and other coarse material for the foundation of the nest, then line it with softer material such as rabbit fur. There is a ton of moss on the base of the trees in the backyards on University Terrace, so they would have easy access to that, there are a bunch of small critters such as skunks, chipmunks, squirrels, fluffy dogs walking down the street and the occasional outdoor cat. Something interesting I learned while researching the Black-capped Chickadee is that most birds that live around areas that Black-capped Chickadees to, or associate with their flocks respond to chickadee alarm calls, even when their own species don’t have a similar call.

Species list:
Black-capped Chickadee (2+)
Tufted Titmouse (2+)
Blue Jay (2)
American Robin (3+)
Northern Cardinal (2+)

Date: 4/4/24
Time: 10:15-10:45
Weather: heavy snowfall, 32℉, wind of 10 mph
Location : Outside of the Davis center, along near the trees lining the walkway
I was surprised to see this many gulls out in such cold weather, especially with the amount of heavy snowfall that was occurring. I noticed that these gulls were like this throughout the entire day and I could hear their calls continue much later into the day as well. It made me wonder why they were showing this kind of behavior.

Species list:
Ring-billed Gulls (6+)
Rock Pigeon (1)

Katie Brown
Field Journal #4
3/25/24

Weather:
45 degrees fahrenheit
Wind: 10 mph
Slightly windy
Clear Skies with a few clouds
Location: University Terrace, Burlington
Start time: 6:30 pm
End time: 7:15 pm

The area that I chose to conduct this field journal from is a quiet road, with not much movement from cars or people. I saw a few chipmunks and squirrels here and there but no other animals of note other than birds. The only birds that I saw or heard during this field journal were American Crows. There were a couple of large groups that kept passing by, definitely over 100+ in total in about groups of 10 or 15. They flew in a slight V formation, which I’ve only really seen with water birds such as geese, so that was an interesting thing to view. The crows were all flying in a Southeast direction, i.e. towards Athletic campus coming from the downtown area. Also when seeing crows in the Burlington area I tend to only see them “circling” the area that I was observing from, never all flying in one direction. This makes me wonder why this behavior was occurring. As the weather, supposedly, gets warmer, birds such as ducks(Mallards) and geese(Canada Geese) start to make their way back north, as long as there is open water accessible for these species, which there is plenty of in Burlington, VT. Canada Geese can migrate from the southern US to as far as Northern Alaska or even the Arctic. Canada Geese migrate north in the spring because it is the best place for them to have and raise their offspring.
Birds such as American Crows are able to withstand the cold temperatures in harsh environments such as Burlington, VT due to some special features that they possess. Bird feathers have the ability to repel water which keeps them dry as well as helps them stay warm. Underneath the visible plumage, there is a layer of downy feathers which helps to trap body heat, i.e. keeping the birds warm when the temperature in their habitat is not. Birds that habituate these colder areas tend to have more/thicker layers of plumage which helps them retain more heat.
Crows also do something together to keep their body temperatures up called roosting. This is a behavior that we very often see on campus. I've seen it most often in front of the bus stop at L and L. It is essentially a large gathering of a species, crows are particularly social birds so they tend to travel and gather in groups, they huddle and share body heat in order to stay warm as a whole, they help each other out. American Crows are actually a particularly interesting species because they are considered partially migratory. This means that some populations migrate, some are year round residents, and in other populations only a part of the total population migrates. Crows that are more towards the south tend to migrate the least.

100+ American Crows
1 or two chipmunk and squirrels
No other types of birds heard or seen on this field journal

Date: 3/8/24
Location: Dunedin, Florida
Weather: 7 mph winds, 84 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, no clouds
Start time: 2:10
End time: 5:00 pm
Habitat: Suburban area right on the ocean, some palm trees within the apartment complex.

Even though this field journal took place in Dunedin, Florida, there were still some familiar bords in the area. Since this observation took place right next to the ocean, I observed some Osprey fledglings, there is a nest right in front of my grandparents apartment. I wasn’t sure what kind of species it was but I was with my grandfather who is an avid bird watcher, filled me in. You could tell the Osprey were fledglings because of their coloring on their underside. Their underarms and their bellies were a very light color, close to white, with darker brown wingtips. The rest of their underside was a soft brown color. I was told by my grandfather that it's a very common behavior that the fledglings flap slightly then soar and ride on the windstreams. Since it was slightly windy out today, it seemed as though the birds were floating in the air, barely moving. When they did move through the air the two fledglings coasted together, trying to get a hang on how to move through the air with grace. The two fledglings communicated with little high pitched chirps, back and forth. At first I thought it was an alerting call from other birds that were nearby because of how high pitched and loud it was.
Before the Osprey fledglings showed up I observed about 10 or more Ring-billed Gulls flying back and forth over the apartment complex, their calls were calm, cawing once or twice at each other in order to communicate, but when the Ospreys started flying over the apartment complex their calls became more aggressive, in higher frequency and pitch. The gulls were gliding towards the ospreys seemingly “defending” their territory, but then backed off, and the only birds that were soaring over the complex were the fledglings.
I heard the very distinct calls of a mourning dove, but didn’t manage to see any. I also heard what I thought was the call of a Black-capped Chickadee, but when I saw the bird that was making the call I realized that the body had a lot of brown around the wings and the neck, while the Black-capped Chickadee has dark/ light gray wings and a slight tan color on its chest. I came to the conclusion that the bird that I heard and saw was a Carolina Chickadee, which has a similar call but different coloring. In the sound recording that I captured you can very clearly hear the chickadee-dee-dee as well as a quiet peter-peter of a Tufted Titmouse. As it started getting later in the day, towards 5pm, many American Crows started to appear and distinctly cawed and flew over the apartment complex. You can slightly hear the sound of their call in the background of the sound recording.

Species Observed
Mourning Dove(1?)
Osprey Fledglings(2)
Ring-billed Gulls (10+)
American Crows (4+)
Carolina Chickadee (20+)
Tufted Titmouse (5+)

This field journal observation took place in Centennial Woods from around 3:15 pm-3:50 pm. The area of woods that I was observing from were populated with widely spaced trees, most of which had small trunks and were quite tall, with sparse branches with no leaves. Some of the trees were dying or falling down. The area was at a slight decline for about a couple hundred yards. The temperature was about ten degrees Celsius, with a humidity of 46%, and winds of 23 km per hour.
The only birds that I saw were ones on the smaller side, most likely a Black-capped Chickadee or a White-breasted Nuthatch. I also didn’t seem to see a whole lot of birds populating this area at this time of observation. The bird didn’t seem to fly too far just back and forth from tree to tree, it didn't fly for very long distances. I could hear the bird call of the chickadee, but I was sure it was coming from the bird that I was observing. Seemed to keep doing laps or loops around the same area, kept leaving then coming back. The bird seemed to glide for a max of about 5 seconds before flapping its wings again, only really glided when it was landing or swooping downwards. It flapped its wings very quickly and kept bobbing up and down, the flight pattern didn’t seem to be incredibly smooth. Seemed to call out as it was flying, not a “true call” or something easily identifiable until it was standing in a tree and not flying.
I didn’t really seem to find that many birds when I was out in the woods, this could’ve easily been because of the time of day, and only really seemed to see small birds as well. I did some research and birds seem to be more active during a larger portion of the day on cloudy days. Today was a pretty sunny day and it seems as though most birds retire a little earlier when there is a lot of sun present in the area. The area that I was in had a lot of sun shining through it, so the birds that would’ve been in that area when there was more cloud coverage could’ve moved to a different part of the forest where there was more tree coverage and therefore more protection from the sun.

Species List
White Breasted Nuthatch (2+)
Black-capped Chickadee (2+)