Derway Island

Today I headed to Derway Island at around 4:00, and stayed there until about 5:30. It was clear, not very windy, somewhat cold (35 degrees), and there were not very many people around. The Derway Island area is mainly a Silver Maple/Cottonwood/Green Ash/Bur Oak ecosystem owing to its location on the inside of an oxbow on the Winooski River, where it appears to be frequently inundated with water.

The first thing I heard when I started walking into the woods was a couple of Brown Creepers. Shortly after, I heard a couple of Black-capped Chickadees as well, as one always does around these parts. This was followed rather quickly by the loud drumming of a Pileated Woodpecker. I had it spotted within a few seconds, poking away at a Bur Oak pretty close to the water. Within a minute or two it had flown away to a Silver Maple somewhat deeper into the woods, where its mate, or at least another Pileated Woodpecker, was excavating a cavity.

Both of the birds stayed on that tree for quite a while I was watching, which was probably 10 minutes or so, and given that they didn't seem to be disturbed by my walking around, I would assume that they stayed there afterwards as well. One of them appeared to be excavating a cavity and the other appeared to be engaging in foraging behavior. The one excavating the cavity was working very intently on the same spot for the entire time that I watched, and the one that was foraging moved around a bit, although never more than a few feet from where it landed on the tree. Given that spring finally seems to be around the corner, I would guess that the cavity underway is intended for their eventual young. The cavity was relatively high up on the tree, probably at least 40 feet, and faced east. Perhaps Pileated Woodpeckers like to rise with the sun? Although if they do, I would assume that they would be able to do so even without an east-facing window, but alas, I am not a woodpecker, so what do I know?

Pishing: I tried a couple of times to pish for Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, which I knew to be in the area. However, they were never very close at hand, and birds appear not to like my pishing. I've been trying to pish for more than a year now with little success, although that doesn't stop me from making a fool of myself in front of anyone who happens to walk by. While I've heard a number of hypotheses as to why pishing works, I would assume that when it does work, it's just because they are intrigued by the sound. They seem not to be alarmed by it, and I've never seen mobbing behavior in response to pishing, but I have a hard time believing that animals as acutely aware of their surroundings, and potential danger, as songbirds would mistake it for anything other than a human clumsily trying to get a better look.

Publicado el marzo 26, 2019 12:26 MAÑANA por trmcgrade