Diario de juliapolvino

Date: March 8th, 2024
Start time: 11:45 am
End time: 12:45 am
Location: My backyard on East Ave
Weather - Sunny, slight breeze, 42 degrees
Habitat - Evergreen shrubs and dispersed pine trees, grassy patch int between

Since I last sat in my backyard, the activity of the birds here has skyrocketed. From my count there are about a dozen Chickadees, four Northern Cardinals, and two White-Breasted Nuthatches! I have never seen a White-breasted Nuthatch this close and they are one of my favorite birds so I had a very enjoyable day:) These birds are super engaged with each other. The four cardinals have been chasing each other from tree to tree for the past 20 minutes and one always seems to me singing. I have attached a recording of one from the top of my evergreen bushes singing. Similar to the cardinals, the Chickadees are all bouncing around in the same bush near each other. They weren’t making much noise until I started making the “spishing” sounds. Then suddenly they started singing and sitting on branches right near my head! One Chickadee even went back and forth in a sort of conversation with me. I have heard that spishing sounds similar to warning calls that some song birds will use. I know that Chickadees are curious birds so it makes sense that the sound would draw their curiosity. The Chickadees were the only birds that got near me when I did this, so I assume that the other birds were either uninterested or avoided the area where there was a warning.
When I have watched the birds in my backyard in the past I have done it early in the morning between 8 and 10 AM. Usually the birds fly between the trees and shrubs and forage on the ground. In contrast, during the afternoon today they are mostly hopping between branches and making more noise. This makes sense based on what we learned about bird’s body temperature in class. Since the mornings are cool the birds are able to use energy to fly between structures. However, during the afternoon when the temperature is hot, they stay in the shade and limit the flying that they do.
It is fun to watch the birds hopping in the bushes because it’s mostly the black, white, and beige of Chickadees and then sometimes I will see a flash of red. The Cardinals are very entertaining to watch as they chased each other from tree to tree and made a lot of noise. When the cardinal sings all other birds seem to stop. I love that their bright plumage reflects their bold nature, and in comparison the Chickadees’ mellow color reflects their more reserved personalities.

I went on a hike at Rock Point this weekend where I saw and heard many different birds. My phone died on the journey so I wasn't able to capture any pictures, which was a bummer because I saw my first Cooper’s Hawk flying across the cliffs at the Lone Rock overlook. The Cooper’s hawk is a facultative migrant that leaves Vermont in the winter in search of food further south. This Cooper’s hawk must’ve just arrived back in Burlington during the warm weeks we have been having. The Cooper’s hawk is a bird of prey so it makes sense that as smaller birds either migrate, or become less active in the winter, they would travel to find a more readily available food source. However, the past few weeks more and more birds have been arriving in Burlington and becoming active, bringing the Cooper’s Hawk back to the area.

Some of these now more active year-round residents include the Northern Cardinal, House Sparrow, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Black-capped Chickadee. All species that I saw on my Rock Point hike. These birds all rely on seeds during the winter as a main food source. These seeds either come from foraging or residential feeders. Additionally, most of the species are cavity nesters, which means that they don't have to rely on foliage for cover and protection. The one exception is the Northern Cardinal which nests in shrubs. I have Cardinals living in my backyard that specifically nest in the evergreen shrubs. This is probably to avoid cover loss in the fall when the leaves drop.

I also saw Mallards on my hike. I know these birds can be obligate migrators but they also can stay year-round in places like Burlington. Lake Champlain doesn’t completely freeze over and remains an abundant food source for these birds. I am not sure if the Mallards I saw got back from a migration down south, but I would assume that they have stayed in Burlington throughout the winter.

I unfortunately did not see any obligate migrators on my hike. As a result it is hard to tell how many miles the Cooper’s Hawk and the Mallard might have traveled. At a minimum, the Cooper’s Hawk would have traveled about 150 miles and if the Mallards did migrate they would have traveled somewhere around 300 miles. This is a total of 450 miles!

Even though I didn’t get pictures on my Rock Point I have attached some cool birds I saw when I traveled to Fort Myers Florida!!