Dawn Bird Walk at Raven Ridge Natural Area

After camping out at Raven Ridge in Starksboro on Friday night, I got up around 6 with the sun on Saturday to begin looking for birds. I had been birdwatching at this area numerous times before with excellent results, so I figured I was in for more of the same, but I really couldn't have been more wrong. It was cloudy, cold, and snowing the entire time I was looking for birds, and so only say some of our hardiest resident birds, American Crows and Black-capped Chickadees.
Black-capped Chickadees have a somewhat distinctive style of flight. They primarily fly short distances quickly, with a somewhat ballistic flight pattern. They tend to take a good number of wingbeats and then tuck their wings in a bit, but not entirely, while they careen through the air before beginning to beat their wings again. This flight type matches their wing shape, which is relatively deep with long primaries and short wrist anchoring small secondaries. The wing is clearly optimized for thrust during relatively short flights.
American crows tend to flap their wings almost continuously while in flight, neither very quickly, nor very slowly. This flight type matches their wing shape, which is somewhat longer and shallower than a Black-capped Chickadee's, with a much more even balance between primaries and secondaries. This more even balance between lift and thrust makes sense for the American Crow given their penchant for sustained, mid-speed flight.
On my next outing, I will certainly pick a day with warmer and sunnier conditions, and hopefully without the snow or wind. Birdwatching in Vermont this time of year is pretty dire even without poor weather, so hopefully waiting a week or two will make things better. I do want to see a Lapland Longspur before they head back north, so I'll be out anyways, regardless of conditions.

Publicado el febrero 19, 2019 08:54 TARDE por trmcgrade