Diario de jgoodma4

Friday, May 28ths Birding trip occurred at Stonybrook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk Ma. I arrived at 6:30am when it was 52 degrees and cloudy. I started in an open grassy field where I saw a bunch or tree swallows. I saw one peaking its head out of a bird box that had been built in the meadow. Still in the meadow but closer to the information building where there was a picnic area and a kids area, I saw the Eastern Bluebirds and Cedar Waxwings. This is also where I heard most of the generalist species. Once I got past the meadow, any trail I took was adjacent to the reservoir. I followed a Gray Catbird for a while and watched it dive into some marshy weeds and come back up with something in its beak, that I couldn't quite see. In the middle of reservoir, a bunch of wood duck nesting boxes had been built. I was able to see a couple of ducks sitting on top of one of the boxes. There was also a pair of nesting Mute Swans, the entire time I was at Stonybrook I saw them leave their spot once and they didn't go far. The more forested areas were mostly coniferous. This is where I heard the White-breasted Nuthatch

Todays birding trip started at Lake Massapoag in Sharon Ma. I got there around 7:20 when the weather was 66 degrees and cloudy .Right away I noticed a ton of common grackles. They were flying between the trees that lined the beach, hanging out on the sand, and flying over the water. There were also a lot of House Sparrows at this location. At one point, I was watching a couple of sparrows eat a bit of bread they found on the beach when a Common Grackle swooped in, chased them off, and ate the bread itself. I also watched a Sparrow find and investigate a feather on the beach. After about a minute it flew off with the feather to use as nest padding. Further down the beach I saw a group of Mallards swimming around. One detached from the group and walked right up to me, I'm guessing he was expecting me to have some food. There was also a large gaggle of Canada Geese, a few of which had Goslings. While I was watching them, a few of the Goslings wandered in my direction. One of the adult Geese started hissing at me, which I interpreted as "stay away from my babies" so I moved on from them. At around 9:00 people started showing up to the beach so I moved on to Borderland State park, about 10min away. First I spent some time going between a few different meadows on the property. There were a few Tree Swallows perched on an electrical wire and a Brown-headed Cowbird perched on top of a lamp post. I never saw the Cardinal but I could hear it singing from inside the branches, at the top of a big pine tree. I then moved to walk the trails in the more wooded area of the park. In the forested area I heard, the Yellow Warbler, and White-breasted Nuthatch. I heard the Red-bellied Woodpecker once but didn't hear it a second time. I could hear the Eastern Phoebe, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, and Tufted Titmouse pretty much anywhere I went in the park.

Todays birding trip started at 6:45am at the Franklin State Forest in MA. It was a cloudy, grey morning and around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. While I could hear many of the species, I wasn't seeing many birds on this trip. I would occasionally catch a glimpse of a bird flying into the trees but when I tried to get a closer look, it would have already moved on. I did get to see a Red-tailed Hawk fly overhead. In one spot I saw a White-breasted Nuthatch sitting on a tree and couple of Blue Jays flying around the trees. I also watched A Black-capped Chickadee investigate and eventually hide out in a nearby snag. The trails around Franklin State Forest are not very long so, around 10:00am I went a town over to the Wrentham State Forest. The temperature had risen to around 80 degrees and the sky had cleared to a mostly sunny day with just a few clouds. In this forest as well, it was more hearing, less seeing the birds. There was a small area that was a bit marshy where I could hear a Red-winged Blackbird and what I think was a Mallard. It was a little bit tricky today because both forests are directly next to main roads. Hearing some of the fainter songs and recording were a bit of a struggle in the beginning, but it quieted down once I got deeper into the woods.

My birding trip started today at 7:00am at Moose Hill Farm in Sharon MA. It was a sunny day, no clouds in sight and it was 50 degrees Fahrenheit at the start, rising to 75 by the time I left. Immediately next to the parking lot is a small field with a couple of birdhouses and a few big trees. I spent at least the first half hour of my day in this field. I saw so many species flying in and out of the trees and darting across the field. I saw most of the swallows and the less specialized species like the American Robin in this area as well as a few Baltimore Orioles. Moving on there were a few fields where I saw the Red-winged Blackbird, and a few more Baltimore Orioles. I could also hear a lot of songs in this area. A little further on there was a powerline corridor. This was where I heard most species of Sparrow that I identified. At the end of the day, I was walking through a wooded path and stumbled upon a rafter of Wild Turkeys in the middle of the trail. I ended the day back in the small meadow by the parking lot. I just sat and listened to the birds for about ten minutes to see if I could find anything I might have missed

My Birding trip started at about 7:50am. It was around 57 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny with just a few wispy clouds in the sky. As the day progressed, the temperature rose to around 70 degrees. The sun stayed out but the day got much windier as time went on. I was birding at Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area in Hanson, MA. This was an interesting area because it is a lot of paths winding around marsh and wetland areas and at the back of the area is a large pond. Right away I saw and heard Red-winged Blackbirds. As I was entering the Management area it was a more wooded section so I saw the more common species like the Black-capped Chickadee or the American Robin. There were a few other birders in the area that pointed out some Sandhill Cranes they had been seeing for a few weeks as well as pointing out a Spotted Sandpiper and a Pied-Billed Grebe. I sat and watched a Great Blue Heron fishing in the middle of the pond and spreading out it's wings in the sun. As I sat, I used the Merlin Bird ID app on my phone to play some bird calls. When I played one for the Downy Woodpecker I would get a response. As I headed back away from the pond I saw three Great Egrets standing in a marshy area. I stopped and watched one of the Egrets chase away a Red-Winged Black bird that was flying around it. The last bird I saw of the day was an American Kestrel perched on top of a birdhouse that had been built in the middle of one of the marsh areas.

My birding trip started around 2:00pm on May 1, 2020. It was about 61 degrees Fahrenheit and very overcast with some rain. I walked until about 3:30, seeing birds in areas of deciduous woods and people’s yards.

My birding trip started around 12:30pm on April 22, 2020. It was a cloudy day with a lot of wind. It was around 42 degrees Fahrenheit and I was out until around 2:15pm. On the walk I could hear a Northern Cardinal and saw it fly into the branches of a big Eastern White Pine where I lost track of it. I saw a couple of American Crows up in an American Beech Tree that was slightly separated from the woods behind a neighbors house. I heard a call that I had trouble identifying but I think it was an Eastern Phoebe and I saw a Black-capped Chickadee on the branch of a Birch Tree snag.

I could most easily see specific mate selection behavior in American Crows. I could hear an American Crow but it was making a different sound than it’s usual sharp caw which is what caught my attention. I located a pair of crows up in an American Beech tree on the edge of the woods near my house. The crow that I assume is the male, was kind of bobbing his head up and down at the female. I couldn't locate any nests, but none of the woods in my neighborhood are very thick. I’m assuming most of the birds are nesting in the different patches of woods.

I could see and hear a Northern Cardinal defending an area of thick Eastern White Pines. He was defending prime territory which also probably signaled to the females that he would be a good mate. He has good territory that could hide a nest from potential predators very well. I saw a Black-capped Chickadee that I think was nesting in a Birch Tree snag. Chickadees like to line their nests with wood chips and wood shavings. In a Suburban area, that is not very difficult to find. The Black-capped chickadee would only have to go to a nearby yard to find materials to line its nest. In suburban neighborhoods people use wood chips and wood shavings for landscaping and for areas around their child’s playground.

Sound map:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kbB2kDWajbHhwX7mFcyQjAytyHx55eTS0MFiIemke7s/edit?usp=sharing

My birding trip started around 3:00pm on April 15, 2020. It was a sunny day, around 52 degrees Fahrenheit. I walked around until about 4:30. I saw two Black-capped chickadees as well as a few American crows flying from tree to tree in a small area of deciduous woods behind my house. I also heard a Tufted Titmouse that sounded like it was coming from the same area. I also saw a few American robins perched in a Crimson King Maple tree in my front yard.

My birding trip started around 2:00pm on April 7, 2020. It was about 63 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny. I was walking around my neighborhood so there were a lot of people outside, enjoying the weather, doing yard work, and driving around. I walked until about 4:00pm when I ended my birding trip. All the activity outside made it difficult to hear the different birds but I saw a few. I saw a Black-capped Chickadee fly into a bush, a few mourning doves were sitting on a lawn, and I saw a couple of crows up in a tree. Towards the end of my walk I saw some blue jays and Downy Woodpeckers. For the most part, American Crows don’t migrate, they may change or leave their territory more often. They will leave to roost and to forage for food. Not much is known about the migration behavior of blue jays. They most likely migrated along the Atlantic coast. The increasing temperature is one of the main factors that contribute to the blue jays northern migration. Looking at the range map on all about birds, all the species I saw are either residents or short-distance migrants. None of these species are shown to migrate outside of the US. Assuming the non-resident species migrate along the Atlantic coast, they traveled about 2,700 miles combined.

I started my birding trip around 12:00 on March 24, 2020. It was partly cloudy with a temperature around 43 degrees Fahrenheit. It had both snowed and rained in the past few days so that probably had some effect on the bird’s activity level. For the first half of my walk, I was hearing a bunch of different species but all I was really seeing were a few American Crows. In the second half of my walk, I saw a Black-capped Chickadee and a northern Cardinal up in some trees. I saw a bunch of American Robins in a neighbor’s yard and as I was finishing up the walk, I saw a Blue Jay fly by. I finished up my Birding trip around 1:15.
I didn’t see very many birds interacting, for the most part the ones I saw were alone. The few times I saw multiple birds interacting, they seemed to be gathering food. I watched the blackbirds for a while and they would stop at a tree eat some seeds, take a branch, fly off then return a minute later to a different nearby tree and repeat the process. Northern Cardinal males have bright red plumage which are fairly easy to spot while American Robins have Grey/brown backs with a much more muted red on their undersides. The plumage of a Northern Cardinal is ideal for attracting a mate. The bright color draws females to the males. The muted colors of the American Robin help camouflage the birds better especially this time of the year when trees haven’t regrown leaves to act as cover yet. Their brown backs blend nicely with the tree bark making them more difficult to see while up in a tree. Though I tried “spishing” a few times, nothing really happened which leads me to believe I was probably doing it incorrectly. In general, it is so effective with small birds because it alerts them to possible threats they either want to further investigate or escape from.