Diario de thatchermorrison

On May 22nd, 2020 between 6:30AM and 11:30AM I conducted a morning bird walk on the Ware Farm in Tunbridge, VT. I chose this farm because I know the property well and knew I would be able to access a range of habitats including grassland, shrubland, contiguous hardwood forest, contiguous coniferous forest, and a small wetland around where a spring emerges yielding a stream. I made this decision to maximize the amount of species to be seen in preparation for the final, as well as to gain more experience with the songs of grassland birds. To best due this throughout the morning I focused on attempting to identify a bird by song, before pursuing it for visual confirmation. The weather was sunny and the morning temperatures ranged between 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit with moderate wind swirling throughout the valley.

Throughout the morning birds were very active. I saw a total of 33 species in a variety of habitats, as well as recorded my first field sighting during ornithology of a Baltimore Oriole. The Baltimore Oriole I spotted was moving amongst the top of a box elder tree along the edge of an old pasture which transitions to a coniferous forest. One this in particularly which surprised me about this bird walk was the lack of Savannah sparrows in the grassland and shrubland habitat. Despite spending most of my morning in shrubland and grassland habitat I only recorded 7 Savannah sparrow observations but recorded 15 field sparrow observations ~25 house sparrow observation.

Another thing which surprised me this morning is that I stumbled across a wild turkey nest while moving through shrubland habitat. The wild turkey was nested in a small clump of Juniper bushed tucked under one of the branches. At the time she was sitting on 7 eggs.

On May 21, 2020 I conducted a bird walk at Sumner Falls on the Connecticut river in Hartland, VT with the goal of identify as many water and riparian species as possible. This bird walk was conducted between the hours of 7:15AM and 11:30 AM. The weather was sunny and ranged from 55 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit over the course of the morning. Winds were moderate and consistent our of the south. The water temperature in this area remained relative cool likely in the 40 degrees Fahrenheit range. The sumner falls area in which I visited is a rock outcrop in the Connecticut river which results in a transitions from quick flowing rapids to a large pool with an eddy creating a large cove with a camping area around it. The surrounding area which I am familiar with includes a steep bank with mixed forest, with a transition from forest to shrubs to a small grassland sections before the river bank, and a predominantly coniferous forest on the north side of the boat access where the driveway comes through. I chose to spend my morning in this area as previous excursions to this site for a former class revealed a great diversity of waterfowl using the river as a travel corridor, but this was not the case today.

I was surprised after my morning today to find this sight had relatively low species diversity. I watched song sparrows, killdeer, and spotted sandpipers consistently throughout the morning, but other species activity was few and far between. The habitat was good for Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers, but I am unable to explain the unusually high numbers of song sparrows within this area, being that is appeared many other species of bird aren't using this area. Waterfowl activity in this area was relatively slow which I suspect may have to do with the warm temperature. Having never seen a spotted sandpiper before today this experience leaves me wondering if they are always relatively comfortable around humans, or if the individuals in this area have had enough exposure to humans through recreational activity, that they have become comfortable.

One question I come away with after my experience in the field is what prompted the American Crows to chase the Osprey? In the past I have observed songbirds chasing crows, and hawks to protect their nests, but have never witnessed crows harassing other birds.

On May 20th 2019 I conducted a morning bird walk to identify forest birds on the ridge which encompasses the Strafford town forest between Van Dyke Road and Taylor Valley road in Strafford Vermont. The temperature over the course of my bird walk was was between 60 and 70 degreed Fahrenheit and the weather was mostly sunny with very few clouds in the sky and relatively little wind. The bird walk I conducted took place between 7:15 AM and 11:45AM. The Strafford town forest and surrounding ridge had a wide variety of habitats including coniferous forest, mixed wood forests, deciduous forests, and early successional habitat near where I entered on the eastern slope, and by the beaver pond on the western portion near Taylor Valley road.

Before entering the field today, I decided it would be most productive for me to spend the first half hour of my allotted field time listening to songs and writing tricks to remember songs by in my notebook, allowing me to refer back to them in the field when I heard an unknown bird song. I found this to be extremely helpful for identifying species which I otherwise would not have been able to identify if I did not take this time before entering the field.

Similar to yesterdays experience in grassland habitat, birds were more active early in the morning and activity began to slow towards mid-morning likely do to the hot temperatures. Based on my previous experiences while being in the woods early in the morning I was surprised to hear a Barred Owl hooting nearly two hours after first light. In the past I have found this species to be active most before first light and shortly thereafter. One thing which surprised me about my birding excursion is the diversity of birds I was able to find on a single mountain. Previous experience while hunting prior to my ornithology class I only noticed common species such as Chickadee's and American Crow's but after learning new species it opens your eyes to the previously looked over diversity of areas I thought to be relatively unproductive. My apologies for failing to take pictures or sound recordings during this bird walk, but my phone wasn't plugged in the night before and was out of battery.

On May 19th 2020, between the hours of 6:45 and 12:15 I conducted a bird walk focused on grassland and shrubland species. This walk was conducted on the Ainsworth farm which is an ~800 acre property in South Royalton Vermont on the North side of Vermont Route 110. The property is comprised of a wide variety of habitats including coniferous forest, deciduous, forests, mixed forests, current pastures, overgrown pastures, hay fields, marshes, and corn fields, and riparian. This property was not the assigned location for my bird walk but I chose to substitute it as my location for the day as I know this property well, therefore knew I would be able to locate key areas. I have also in the past noticed a large richness of species present, but never documented species, therefore I saw this as a good opportunity to improve my knowledge about the wildlife community on this property. I feel this was a strong decision as I was able to locate and record 26 species of birds during a short period of time, many of which were target species. During this bird walk I restricted myself to hay fields, overgrown pastures, and current pastures, but I also passed through but didn't focus on deciduous and coniferous forests while traveling between pastures. Over the course of my bird-walk the temperature resided between 55 degrees and 65 degrees Fahrenheit and was mostly sunny with little not no wind. Upon arrival to the property dew was still on the grass but rapidly cleared up.

Bird were very active early in the morning, and vocalizations from different species were often overlapping. As they day progressed bird vocalizations and movement began to slow which I speculate had to do with increased temperature pushing them into denser cover out of open area. The American Crow was easily the most abundant species during my bird walk which I speculated early on would lead to a low abundance of song birds on the property, as i have previously learned crows and ravens often predate on song birds nests. I was surprised to find this was not the case. I believe the high grassland song bird populations was likely due to a large amount of quality habitat which is created by maintained hay fields, overgrown hay fields, and overgrown pasture, as well as a large amount of edge habitat around the perimeters of the hay fields.

One thing which surprised me about bird behavior today was that of the wild turkey. I brought my call with me and was successful at calling in 3 hens, all of which came in silently without responding. Typically in the past I have found hens to be very vocal while coming to a call. I know this is an area of high hunting pressure and speculate this may be due to hunting and predation pressure limiting birds vocal activity. Song bird activity was high today and bird were vocally communicating throughout much of the morning which I believe indicates that wild turkeys lack of vocal communication is stemming from a pressure specifically on their species. Another interested trend I noticed on this property is grassland species spending time in forests, and forest species appearing on grasslands. I suspect this has to do with the fragemented nature of the property leading to species traveling through habitat which they don't typically use to reach other productive habitats on the property. Despite finding a high species richness in this area I feel returning to this area with a greater knowledge of bird songs and a field guide would yield an even higher species richness as I heard many vocalizations today which I was unable to identify due to a lack of experience.

On Monday, May 18th I spent the morning at Zebedee Wetland in Fairlee, Vermont. I arrived at the wetland at 7:00 AM and departed the wetland at 11:40AM. Over this time period the temperature remained relatively constant in the 50's and the weather transitioned from mild rain in the morning transitioning to partly cloudy and humid around 10:00. I did not notice a transition in bird activity with the transition in the weather. Zebedee wetland is a small 27 acre wetland in Fairlee Vermont with a singular trail circling the perimeter of the pond. I completed two laps of this trail starting both times on the north entrance working clock-wise toward the south entrance. As the trail begins on the norther entrance there is a slight hill leading down into the first section of the wetland which is dense with understory vegetation, and has dead conifers scattered throughout. From there the trail leads back uphill into a conifer forest which encircles the pond wrapping around the back section with a small bridge which leads across the stream in the back on the east edge. from these conifers the trail hooks back around the the southern end of the wetland at which point it hugs the yard of homes in the area as it snakes through dense understory vegetation along the edge of the point with a healthy canopy of conifers.

Throughout the morning some species of birds were highly active while other common species like black-capped chickadees were fairly scarce. Red-winged blackbirds were highly active showing signs of the spring breeding season as males chased each other around while constantly providing vocalizations. Females were moving about the wetland landing on mudflats where I suspect the have nests but was not able to confirm this. At many points in the morning males would perch above the mudflats on which females were spending time, before swooping down rapidly and before taking off to the brush on the perimeter of the wetland. Blue jays were another species which was highly active throughout the morning but there did not however show signs of breeding activity. The remained in relatively large groups throughout the morning, playfully chasing each other through the tops of the trees. To better understand their activity I would like to look further into the meaning behind their many different calls.

The thing which surprised me most about my morning at the Zebedee wetland is I did not directly witness many birds showing foraging behavior. With the exception of the red-tailed hawks circling overhead, and the eastern kingbird diving at bugs, most other species did not forage while I was visually observing them. The geese which I watched milled about the pond but made no effort to eat throughout the morning. I speculate this may have to do with he warm humid temperatures, and the brief rainstorm.

On May 1st 2020 between the hours of 4:45AM and 11:30AM I recorded all observations of birds while out turkey hunting on the Gifford farm in Randolph Vermont. The weather was between 39-55 degreed Fahrenheit with scattered showers throughout the morning, heavy at times, and overcast for the entirety of the observation period. Wind was minimal but bird activity was still slow likely due to the rain. I did notice activity increased during breaks between showers. Wild Turkey and American Robin activity did not seem to be affected by the rain. The Gifford farm is comprised of 60 acres of fields, and 80 acres of forests which is involved in the conservation easement program for the next 25 years. The forest is comprised of a wide ranged of habitats including mixed wood forest, conifer forest, and hardwood forest, as well as early successional growth of honeysuckle, raspberry, and sumac growing up in clearcuts which were conducted in 2017. The fields are currently mowed and growing with grass and clover, and the pasture has recently been mowed and fenced to allow for the growth of grass in preparation for cattle grazing. Currently green forage is growing across much of the property, but former vegetation such as burdocks remains dead and standing.

On April 22, 2020 between 15:00 and 16:45 EST I conducted a bird walk on the former Gifford Farm in Randolph recording observations for all bird encounters. This farm is comprised of 60 acres of fields, and 80 acres of forests which is involved in the conservation easement program for the next 25 years. The forest is comprised of a wide ranged of habitats including mixed wood forest, conifer forest, and hardwood forest, as well as early successional growth of honeysuckle, raspberry, and sumac growing up in clearcuts which were conducted in 2017. The field are currently mowed and growing with grass and clover, and the pasture is mostly dead plant vegetation as it hasn't been grazed since 2017. The weather was overcast and 35 degrees Fahrenheit with high winds coming out of the west. The previous night yielded the accumulation of <1in of snow, some of which was still present at high elevations on northern exposures.

Bird activity and species composition this week was drastically different than weeks prior with a higher species richness and many species which I have not previously observed on the property. I speculate this may stem from the cold windy weather altering behavior rather than seasonal changed as my last observations were only 7 days prior to these. One pattern which I have noticed and remains true through this week is the majority of my observations were of male female pairs foraging together. This indicates within some species, mate selection has already occurred and males and female pairs are already set for the breeding season. I speculate the European Starlings and American Robins I observed were remaining in the barnyard as they are preparing too or building nests within the buildings. From previous observations I know it is common for European starlings and American Robins to seek small holes in buildings or tight spaces in open rafters to place there nests, and previous nests in the garage rafter indicate this is likely the case. The Wild Turkey I observed walking through the open overgrown pasture was likely looking for, or remaining close to her nest site. Wild Turkeys prefer areas with low thick grasses but open canopies for chick concealment, as well as abundant food sources like clover, grass, and bugs. Overgrown pastures and hayfields like the one this hen was spotted in provide excellent chick rearing habitat.

Despite not seeing any birds displaying territorial behavior I did notice patterns within how different species of birds were using different habitats. For example, all of my Dark-eyed Junco, and Eastern Phoebe observations were within coniferous forests with with substantial understory growth due to being selectively cut. Almost all of my song sparrow, Hermit Thrush, and Wild Turkey observations were recorded in open, but overgrown fields, and all of my European starling and American Robbin Observations were recorded near areas with open, short green grass, near to buildings. This lack of overlap between habitat use stems from the relationship each of these species have with their habitat and how they utilize it.

I did not witness any birds directly nesting, likely due to the cold temperatures, the majority of the behavior I observed was foraging. But the farm on which I conducted my observations on has a wide variety of materials open for nesting as many of the fields have long dead grass, and a high abundance of secondary growth leads to an abundance of small green stems. As I research on the house sparrow nests I believe it is possible the house sparrows I flushed out of the grass in the field were collecting grass for nests rather than feeding on grass seed, as house sparrows typically have a large amount of grass woven into their nests.

The sound map which I have attached was created over a 10 minute period including the names of the species which I heard during this time period. The size of the lettering indicates the clarity of the song, and the distance from the center location indicates the expected distance from my location. For this sound map I chose to sit in the middle of the barnyard as it has consistently been the area with the highest richness of bird species as well as the most activity. From this exercise I learned European starlings calls fail to travel
long distances, while calls from the American Crow can be heard from nearly anywhere within the valley.

/Users/thatchermorrison/Desktop/94123017_2636421776595259_500208010304421888_n.pdf

On April 15th between 1:00PM and 2:30PM I went on a 90 minute bird walk on the former Gifford Farm in Randolph Vermont. This farm is comprised of 60 acres of fields, and 80 acres of forests which is involved in the conservation easement program for the next 25 years. The forest is comprised of a wide ranged of habitats including mixed wood forest, conifer forest, and hardwood forest, as well as early successional growth of honeysuckle, raspberry, and sumac growing up in clearcuts which were conducted in 2017. The field are currently mowed and growing with grass and clover, and the pasture is mostly dead plant vegetation as it hasn't been grazed since 2017. The weather at the time of my bird walk was windy, 45° Fahrenheit, and partly cloudy. During my bird walk I continued to see signs of spring as I encountered many migratory male female pairs as well as a few groups of multiple males courting a single female. From my observation species compositions and behavior have not changed since my previous bird walk on 04/08/2020.

On 8 April 2020 on my brother's farm formerly known as the Gifford Farm in Randolph Vermont I conducted a 90 minute bird walk through a mix of habitats observing 14 total species. The weather was 55 °F and partly cloudy. Wind was consistently blowing between 5-10mph but the direction was inconsistent due tot he topography within the valley. Sadly due to a broken phone I was unable to take any photographs or audio recordings during this bird walk. Over the course of this bird was I walked through a variety of habitat typed including early successional forest responding from a clear cut 5 years ago, a mature hemlock forest which had been selectively cut with an understory of raspberry bushes, A mature hardwood forest comprised of maple, ash, and beech, open pastures and fields of all exposures, and a secondary growth forest comprised of white pine, ash, paper birch, and American beech. Despite walking through all of these habitat types, the greatest concentration and variety of birds I observed was from the driveway of the farmhouse as I was getting ready to depart on the hike. One major observations I noticed within all these habitats is that the majority of observations I made were either singular male birds or pairs of birds which I find very indicative of the spring season as many species are beginning to pair up as weather warms up bringing us into their mating season.
During this bird walk I observed many migratory and non-migratory species. Mourning doves can sometimes be a migratory species, but through my observations they do not appear to migrate from both my brothers farm and my parents farm as grain provides ample high quality food for them throughout the winter, therefore these doves observed were likely resident doves. Another resident species which I observed is wild turkey. Due to their large body size, lack of ability to hold sustained flight, and generalist feeding habits wild turkeys are not a prime candidate to migrate. Being generalists they are able to forage throughout the winter, which is more beneficial to them becuase the high mortality which would stem from the amount of energy it takes to sustain flight for such a large bodied bird. Another non-migratory bird species I observed during this bird walk was the ruffed grouse. Another generalist species which is more adapted for quick maneuverability rather than long distance sustained flight therefore would not be a good candidate for migration. Ruffed grouse are generalist which usually feed off the ground while perched in apple trees and eating berries off bushed and needles off conifers. Because of this snow does not typically cover their food supply during the winter and they are able to thrive off this generalist lifestyle even as food available varies with season. The last non-migratory species of which I want to discuss is the American Crow. Even though American Crow are strong fliers they don't appear to need to undergo migration as their generalist diet allows for ample food throughout the winter. Crows are able to feed off another from nuts and seeds, to the remains of carcasses discarded by farmers or left over from predator kills. Because of this coupled with their flocking mentality they are able to have lower mortality rates as resident species than they would while undergoing migration.
Of the migratory species observed both the waterfowl species being Canada goose and mallard ducks are the most difficult to assess the distance they migrate. Both of these species often have holdover populations which can be found in this region throughout most of the year feeding in cut corn fields or in bays kept open through warm spring inlets. The northern extent to which they migrate is also difficult to predict. Some migratory birds will never reach New England while others are just passing through this region towards breeding grounds in Canada. Because of this assessing the extent to which these birds migrate is difficult. These birds migrate though because they often rely on open water and agriculture to feed which becomes a restricted resource in the winter due to cold temperatures and snow. Because of this a percentage of these populations migrate to areas with warmer weather and greater food availability, while others stay in this region to holdover on what food remains. The American Robin is another migratory species which I observe in great number in this region in the spring. Robins during the winter migrate as far south and Florida or Northern Mexico before traveling north in the spring to breed. Robin which we are seeing in Vermont likely migrate to Florida in the winter which is a total straight line distance of 1,200 miles. This multiplied by the 15 Robin's I observed is a total migration distance of 18,000 miles. I speculate the American Robin chooses to migrate back in early April because as the ground is beginning to thaw out it is at its softest which brings worms which are a big food source for robins near to the surface making for a high food availability which is important while approaching breeding season. Like the American Robin, the Red-winged blackbird is another migratory species traveling from across the US to northwest Mexico to winter. This is a total distance of 2400 miles. Like the other migratory species I observed I speculate these birds are likely arriving in early April to get the first access to food and breeding grounds as they thaw out as it both limits competition for food as well as nesting locations.

On March 25th, 2020 between 1:30PM EST and 3:00PM EST I observed the species present, and activity of birds in the St George town forest behind my apartment in St George, VT. The weather was mostly cloudy, 42 degrees Fahrenheit, and the most recent precipitation was 36 hours before ending with the accumulation of 7 inches of snow. I chose to do the same location as my previous two bird walks as I am interested in comparing how the species composition and bird activity in this location change as we progress into spring. Over the course of this walk I traveled through many different habitat types with the hope of increasing my likelihood of encountering many bird species. These habitat types include open early successional and edge habitat along the power lines. Mixed-wood forest comprised of red oak, sugar maple, white pine, and hemlock, hardwood forest comprised of red oak, sugar maple, yellow birch, and ironwood, and coniferous forest comprised of hemlock transitioning to northern white cedar, then to white pine as the exposure changes.

I did not notice anything particularly different about how birds were communicating when comparing bird activity from this bird walk to previous walks in the same location. One difference I did however notice is that white-breasted nuthatches were communicating much more often and for longer intervals, which may have to do with an increase in photoperiod beginning to trigger breeding activity. During previous weeks I have not observed any gull vocalizations, but gulls in this area aren't common so likely I haven't heard any vocalizations in previous weeks as gulls weren't in the area. The thawing and exposing of farm fields may have increased the likelihood of gulls being present in the area. I did observe one bird which I have previously not seen nor was I able to identify it, even after scrolling through an online birds of Vermont website. It had a dark brown back and wings with a light brown chest and a dark blueing beck marking on it's chest around where the crop is located. It was a bit larger than a jay, maybe 8 in in height and flew up from the brush into a white pine. It was similar in shape to a killdeer but had shorter legs and a shorter bill.

Throughout my walk the weather remained partly cloudy with a constant temperature around 42 Fahrenheit, but bird activity drastically picked up towards the end of my walk across all habitat types. The only difference I was able to discern about weather change from the beginning of my walk and the end of my walk is the wind let up a great deal. This leads me to believe the high wind was suppressing bird activity. I hypothesize this is because the noise of the wind moving through trees limits the ability for birds to communicate, surpassing their activity.

While seeing the raven and crow on my walk I began thinking about the plumage of scavengers such as crows, ravens, and Turkey vultures. Each of these species is almost entirely black. I believe this indicates the black plumage is beneficial in some way to scavengers and hypothesize this may be because it allows them to blend in with crevices and shadows on a carcass while they are focused on eating preventing predation from above. I believe the lack of pattern on scavengers though is indicative that they do not spend the majority of their time in a specific habitat. I believe this because the comparison with them to a species like ruffed grouse or woodcock which have a variety of browns in intricate patterns on their feathers. Species like woodcock and grouse spend the majority of their time in brushy woodland habitats in which their plumage breaks their silhouette into their surrounding making them difficult to spot. But if a grouse or woodcock were in the air their complex pattern would be of no use to them.

When I came across a group of chickadees I attempted to swish at them but it appeared this noise had no effect on them their behavior as they continued to jump from branch to branch foraging at a distance of about 10m. I suspect in some cases this sound is effective in altering bird behavior as it is not a sound they hear in nature, which would likely then inspire curiosity or fear depending on the context in which they were hearing it.