Diario de ben__simms

-5/7/2021
-2-3:45 pm EST
-Centennial
-Overcast (60% cloud cover), Light 10mph S/SE wind, 58 degrees Fahrenheit
-primarily saw habitat made up of White Pines, Red pines, paper birch, Eastern Hemlock.

-5/8/2021
-9-11 am EST
-Veteran's Memorial Park Wetlands in South Burlington and Memorial Park in Winooski
-Overcast (60% cloud cover), Light 8mph NW wind, 55 degrees Fahrenheit
-primarily saw habitat made up of White Pines, Red pines, paper birch, Eastern Hemlock in Winnoski
-In Veteran's memorial in South Burlington wetland area was made up of cattails and phragmites.

-5/24/2021
-6-11:30 am EST
-Shawnee Mission Park
-Overcast (40% cloud cover), Light 6mph SW wind, 80 degrees Fahrenheit
-wetland areas were primarily surrounded by tall grasses with scattered phragmites. Hard-wood forested areas were directly adjacent to many of the wetlands (i.e. red and white oaks, purple beech).
The riparian forests displayed the highest abundances.
There was also a distinguishable difference in the types of birds that I saw in each area. The waterbirds remained either on the water or on the shore, I primarily observed RW Blackbirds making use of shoreline vegetation, surrounding riparian forest had high density and diversity of songbirds, and surrounding parking lots and scattered trees in mowed grass had more generalist species like American Crows and European Starlings.
I also visited some of the surrounding grasslands which seemed to have significantly lower bird activity. The birds that I did observe here were primarily insectivores likes the Tree Swallow

I had a really good time, but unfortunately only saw a couple of water birds.

I'm still figuring out how to best utilize my guide apps, and was struggling to ID two of the birds that I took pics of. It looks like other inaturalists identified them as a brown-headed cowbird and an Eastern Bluebird, but I'm curious if you guys agree with these (because I wasn't sure that I did).

-5/25/2021
-6:30-11:30 am EST
-Martha Lafite Thompson Wildlife Sanctuary
-Overcast (40% cloud cover), Light 15mph S wind, 73 degrees Fahrenheit. 74% Humidity

Grassland areas at the sanctuary displayed much lower bird diversity and abundance. I primarily observed Tree Swallows, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Indigo Buntings in the grassland habitat, while the bulk of my observations occurred in the surrounding wooded areas. I spent a lot of time and effort searching in the grassland habitat so I feel that my lack of success was likely due to poor habitat quality as opposed to lack of trying.

I used Allan's old bobolink data for a paper last semester that looked at Bobolink ideal habitat conditions (measured by observed abundance). When I was conducting literature reviews many sources discussed the effect of vegetation height, vegetation density, and field size on grassland passerine abundance. These papers indicated that ideal habitat for Bobolinks and many other grassland passerines consisted of medium-tall and dense vegetation in large and unfragmented fields. The grassland area that I observed the majority of my grassland species in had high, dense, and heterogenous vegetation, but was not very expansive and was fragmented by wide, mowed trails.

-5/26/2021
-6:30-12:30 am EST
-Maple Woods Natural Area (Kansas City, MO), and Shawnee Mission Park (Shawnee, Kansas)
-50% cloud cover, 8mph SE wind, 78 degrees Fahrenheit. 59% Humidity

Habitat Breakdown: Maple Woods was a small densely forested area with a stream running through it. I heard several target birds there but unfortunately the area was directly adjacent to a noisy neighborhood and highway. This made it difficult to hear calls and the foliage was much too dense to see birds. I left this area to go back to Shawnee Mission park (where I had a lot of luck on the first day). There I spent much of my time in a grassland that had several white oaks sporadically placed throughout. I was able to see many grassland species (Savannah Sparrow, Tree Swallow, Indigo Bunting, etc). Watching the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in flight was my favorite part of the day. I also spent some time in some trees (primarily white oak and paper birch) that were adjacent to a large lake. There I saw wetland birds like Red-winged Blackbirds and Canada Geese, but also several deciduous residents like the Baltimore Oriole and the Red-eyed Vireo.

Behavioral Notes: I saw several Eastern Kingbirds that were mobbing a Red-tailed Hawk.
I also observed what appeared to be an antagonistic encounter between a Red-winged Blackbird and a smaller bird that I was unable to identify or gather media on. I thought this was unusual this late in the year.

-5/27/2021
-6:30-12:30 am EST
-Swope Park (Kansas City, MO), and Shawnee Mission Park (Shawnee, Kansas)
-100% cloud cover, Thunderstorming, 15mph S wind, 67 degrees Fahrenheit. 65% Humidity

I started off the day in severe thunderstorms that seemed like they might have progressed into tornado weather, but eventually they staved off into manageable sprinkling. I began at Swope park in Kansas City MO. The area that I spent the most time in there consisted of deciduous trees bordering a small creek. This area was adjacent to a moderately busy road. My best finds here were a Wood Thrush, a Red-eyed Vireo, and a Brown Thrasher. All three of these species were perched high up in trees bordering the stream, so I had to depend on songs for identification.
Next, I moved on to Minor Park. Here I was able to make use of a trail that led through a dense deciduous forest that bordered on a much larger river. When I came upon the river I unfortunately spooked a Great Egret but I was able to make a moderately confident identification as it flew away. My other great finds were a Killdeer that was in some puddles on the drenched trail, and an Eastern Wood-Peewee.

An interesting behavior that I observed happened after I played the Indigo Bunting's song on my phone to confirm what I was hearing was indeed an Indigo Bunting. This prompted the Bunting to rapidly circle me and it even swooped at my head several times. It makes sense to me that birds might be attracted by recordings of their song, but what I don't understand is why the Indigo Bunting was able to identify it was coming from me and turned antagonistic and defensive.

-5/28/2021
-7:45-11:45 am EST
-Cooley Lake Conservation Area (Excelsior Springs, Missouri)
-100% cloud cover, 11mph NNW wind, 57 degrees Fahrenheit. 61% Humidity

Cooley Lake Conservation Area was an interesting adventure because it seems like they have not bothered to maintain their trail in a very long time. There were several times that I lost the trail because the vegetation covering it was so dense. Because of this, (and very deep mud) I moved much slower and found less birds, but now that I know where the good spots are I think it would be a great birding spot for the future. A dense deciduous forest borders both wetlands and grasslands allowing for a great diversity of species. I didn't spend a lot of time in the wetlands but I thought that I saw a Great Egret and 2 American Black Ducks flying in the distance. My best grassland birds were (the angry) Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher and a female Orchard Oriole. And my best forest bird ID were several Least Flycatchers.

I saw a lot of Indigo Buntings today, so as a continuation of yesterday I would play their call on my phone. Immediately they began to come much closer and swoop at me. So far in my experience they have been one of the most responsive birds to recorded song.
Also I think that I am getting better at using spishing because I got a Tufted Titmouse to come much closer to me.