bicke1359's Journal

Today’s weather was fantastic. There was not even a single cloud in the sky, there was very little/intermittent wind, and it was relatively warm (high 50’s/low 60’s Fahrenheit). This excursion went on from approximately 6:50am to about 11:30am EST. Although a beautiful day, and the early timing, there were plenty of other people there, doing a range of things from walking their dogs, running, birding, etc. to get outside and enjoy the beautiful day. But the good weather also brought out a lot of active birds. There were a bunch of birds hanging out in the soccer fields throughout the park, many flying about from here to there, and a lot more just sitting in trees and singing their songs. On another good note, I saw my first Yellow-rumped Warblers flying between trees today. I couldn’t get a good picture of it, but I think I may have gotten a good audio recording of it. Overall, I was able to get pictures and audio recordings today of birds which I have previously not been able to capture, which was a good progression to make I’d say. It was a pretty decent day today.

Today was an ok day for birding. It was very sunny, not too cold (high 40’s F), and there was very little wind. The only problem was that there were a lot of other people out on the paths around the pond, which kinda got in the way of taking good pictures or audio recordings of a lot of birds. My excursion only lasted from about 7am to about 11:00am-ish because there became too many people as the morning became later -- this caused it to be near-impossible to try to identify most of the birds I heard singing, let alone trying to take pictures or recordings of them. I wanted to stay out longer and try to get some more observations in, but to no avail. In the end, I was able to see and hear a bunch of good birds, though, which I am happy about.

Today was a very nice day for birding. It was sunny, very little to no wind, and was slightly chilly (40’s to 50’s degrees Fahrenheit). There were a lot of birds (and a good number of chipmunks) active this morning. I was in Cat Rock Park in Weston, MA from about 6:30am to around 11:40am. There was nobody else there the whole time I was in the park. The species I found the most of was the Chipping Sparrow (if they weren’t chipmunks). I’m fairly certain that at least most of the Chipping Sparrows I heard in my audio recordings were actually Chipping Sparrows, and not chipmunks. I spent most of my time in the wooded areas of the park, as well as some time on the edges of those forested areas. I heard the calls of a Hairy (I’m pretty sure it was Hairy) Woodpecker, which I had never heard before. Also, I heard the “meow” calls of a Gray Catbird while I was still in a wooded area, and not yet to the fielded area, which I was somewhat confused about. But overall, it was a good day and I enjoyed it.

Today’s weather was pretty decent, sunny, some wind, and in the 50-degree range (Fahrenheit). The excursion lasted from around 6:45am to approximately 11:45am EST. There were many bird species active, ranging from Northern Flicker to American Robin, to Common Yellowthroat and Rose-breasted Vireo, and more. The habitats it contained were grasslands, shrublands, and the edge in between the two. While I was walking along the edge between grassland and shrubland, I could see many of these birds singing and calling, flying between different shrubs, flying between the shrubland and grassland, and just resting in the crowns of the trees. It’s almost like a lot of the birds were trying to sing over each other, given the flurry of calls and songs throughout the conservation land.
One cool thing I saw was a pair of Blue-winged Warblers chasing each other along the edge between the grass- and shrublands. Another cool sighting I had was a pair of Turkey Vultures flying up high, but following a man walking his small dog, which was quite interesting.

The weather today was overcast with grey clouds, and slightly chilly (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit). It was located in the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA. I was there during the mid/early to mid/late morning. There were countless active birds in the refuge, primarily Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and Canada Geese. There were some other birds, such as American Robins and a few swallows, but were not as prevalent.

This excursion happened on 29 April 2020, from 2:45pm - 4:00pm EST. It occurred in the wooded area surrounding my yard. The weather was partly cloudy, with a temperature in the mid-50’s Fahrenheit. I encountered various birds, from woodpeckers to crows to Black-capped Chickadees.

This excursion happened on 23 April, 2020, in Cat Rock conservation land in Weston, MA, at around 3:45-5pm. The weather was sunny, mid 50’s Fahrenheit, and a bit windy. The habitats were a mix of an open field and wooded areas, along trails in a town park with not too much human traffic.
In one observation, I saw a pair of what I believe to be American Robins on the edge of an open field and a wooded area. They were always staying together, either on the ground or part way up a tree. They were not very vocal, but were hanging out in only a certain vicinity. Around this location, I noticed a lot of smaller sticks, twigs, and other organic detritus on the ground. I’m guessing that this was a mating pair that was foraging for things to make their nest out of. They were both on the ground near the trail when I approached, but then flew up into a tree when I got close. According to my somewhat limited knowledge about American Robins, this area was a pretty decent territory for these birds.
In another location, I heard various perching birds and a woodpecker. The location was a highly wooded area, primarily composed of Eastern White Pines. This is the location of my mini-activity. By the sounds of the birds’ calls and songs, it did not appear like they were moving around much -- it seemed like they were just sitting and singing. My guess is that they were either defending their territories, attracting mates, or both.

Mini Activity:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lqx8P-SHKPsDYg9nV3nlbH6jhsUFc0cs/view?usp=sharing
O ⇒ My location
Other shapes ⇒ Birds in my vicinity

This excursion happened at around 5pm on Tuesday, 14 April 2020, in Weston, MA in my neighborhood. It was a very nice day -- very sunny, warm (around 60 degrees F), and little to no wind. The habitats were in wooded areas adjacent to both houses and residential roads that were not terribly busy.

This excursion took place on Monday, 6 April, 2020, and began at approximately 7:30am. It occured in a town conservation land near my home in Weston, MA. The weather during the excursion was quite nice -- sunny (barely any, if any clouds in the sky), very little to no wind, and the temperature was in the low-mid 40’s Fahrenheit. In the conservation land, I was walking on the trails, which went through a mix of heavily forested areas to wide open spaces, so I could try to see different kinds of birds. I saw only one other person while I was there, so other people were no distraction.
After some research on the Cornell lab of Ornithology website, I learned that all the birds I encountered on my excursion (American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, American Goldfinch, American Robin) live in Massachusetts year round, as well as a lot of the rest of the United States as well. So, I didn’t find any migratory birds today. Some of these birds I saw and heard today may have migrated from somewhere else in the US, but they may have also been here all winter. These birds are probably scavengers and habitat generalists -- they can probably live in almost every habitat and also eat a variety of things (like insects, fruit, nuts, small mammals, etc.). They probably don’t migrate somewhere else for the winter (or at least very far) because it would be too energetically expensive for them, and they won’t have the resources to migrate.
According to the maps on Cornell’s All About Birds, American Robins could winter in Florida, and then migrate at least 1000 miles from there to as far north as Alaska. From the southern tip of Florida to Boston, MA is just about 1280 miles, according to Google Maps. American Goldfinches can also migrate long distances as well. Although they also stay in the majority of the US year round, they can migrate from Florida, Alabama, Mexico, etc. in the winter up to southern Canada in the summer. From their most southern range in Mexico to Boston, the American Goldfinch can migrate up to 2,080 miles. These are just maximum migratory distances, given that these birds also just stay in the northeast region of the US all year round.

This excursion happened on March 22nd, 2020, starting at around 2:15pm, in Weston, MA, near my home. The weather was slightly chilly, probably mid-high 30’s (Farenheit) with a light breeze. It was also very sunny, with very few thin clouds in the sky. There were no other people around while I was out, just some sounds of occasional cars on nearby roads. I was in a wooded area behind my house, which was also adjacent to a few other people’s properties as well. I was walking around this wooded area, but every time I thought I was getting close to the birds I was hearing, I could not see them. They seemed to notice me coming and move away. I was able to get some audio recordings of the birds calling, although I was not completely sure of all of my identifications.
I could only really hear one, maybe two individuals of each species I encountered. Of the birds I heard, it seemed that the individuals were mainly sitting in one area, and not moving around very often, or at all. I believe that the individuals I heard were mostly trying to notify their neighbors of their presence, laying out the land of their home territory. I feel like the various species of birds I encountered were not in the same few trees, or very near those same trees, so I believe that they were trying to tell each other to not come near each other and to find their own territory. They also may have been trying to find and communicate to other individuals of the same species, to see if any other individuals of the same species were around the general vicinity.
Since I did not actually see any of the birds I encountered, I could not see any of their plumages. But of the birds I heard in the area, it appeared that the birds did not move unless they really needed to, i.e. when there was a danger in their vicinity (like me), or if they needed to defend their territories from other birds and species. For example, following the Blue Jay that I encountered, I followed its call to where I heard it, but when I entered its territory and stopped walking to listen, I noticed that it was no longer in its territory, but moved away to where I was not walking from. When I left its territory to find another bird, I listened behind me and noticed that the Blue Jay may have moved back into its original territory after I vacated it.