UVM Ornithology Journal Entry #7

Throughout my morning I saw 18 American Robbin. The majority of these American robin were located in fields and appeared to be feeding. It did appear that the pair structure of Robins where I was seeing them in groups of two is no longer present. These Robins were very vocal throughout the morning regardless of whether or not it was raining.

I recorded a total of 6 American Crow observations this morning. 2 of which were vocal observations and 4 of which were visual observations. Twice while sitting on the edge of an old cornfield I saw a group of 2 birds flying high and silently. While the third tom I saw was gobbling I had two crows on the hill behind me calling which seemed to trigger to toms gobbling.

Over the course of my morning I recorded 4 Eastern Phoebe observations which is down drastically from last week. I believe this lessened activity was due to the rain and high wind. The first group of 2 Phoebe I saw were calling from a group of pins on the edge of the field atop the mountain and appeared to be flying around to different branches within the cluster of trees. The second group of Phoebe I saw were located approximately halfway down the mountain in a group of small conifer saplings located in a raspberry thicket in the uphill side of the main trail. This group of a male and female bird was not vocalizing but I believe was foraging as they were flying from the saplings to the ground and back repeatedly.

I recorded a total of 22 house sparrow observation during the morning of May 1st. The majority of these were vocalizations which I heard during the early morning after first light but I also had many encounters in the portion of the conservation easement which was clearcut a few years ago and has a significant amount of secondary growth.

I recorded 11 song sparrow observations during my morning bird walk. The majority of these were observed flying around which brush separating a field from the pasture as a cattle barrier, and a few observations were made of song sparrows exiting the grass field flying to the safety of the brush as I was walking through the old corn field.

To my surprise I only recorded one European Starling observation during my bird walk. As I was walking up the main road back to the farmhouse I spotted a long European Starling sitting on a brush pile on the edge of the field next to a brown headed cowbird.

As I was walking through the field approaching the timer I saw what I believe to be a cooper's hawk circling high above the mountain for a brief moment before it disappeared into the timber. While hiking through the timber I did not encounter this bird where it entered.

I recorded a total of two great horned owl observations early in the morning of May 1st. Both observations were vocal observations. The first was before first light, and its vocalizations appeared to trigger a tom's gobble which I was observing. The second vocalization was at around 7:00 AM which was well into daylight which from my experience isn't typical of great horned owls. The second vocalization came from a dense stand of hemlock I was below.

As I walked into the barnyard I observed two mallards a drake and a hen take off from across the road where the bottom of a field is flooded due to a beaver dam. It is often we spot mallards in this location feeding on grass beneath the waters surface.