Diario de mia0507

Date - 4 April 2021
Start time - 1:30PM
End time - 3:00PM
Location - Little Otter Creek WMA IBA- South Slang, Addison County, VT
Weather - 45 degrees, 10 mph wind changing direction, no precipitation
Habitat(s) - Wetland Floodplain Forest and River

Black-capped Chickadees are a species that I see on essentially every birding trip I have gone on in Vermont. These species are year-round resident birds, and have adapted in many ways to stay in VT all year. One adaptation is their use of feeders in the winter, and allowing to be fed by humans. These birds are able to survive the rough VT winters through the help of humans, and their willingness to accept human life. A facultative migrant spotted (and heard) on my trip was the Song Sparrow. The Song Sparrow is coming up to Vermont from anywhere as far as Florida, mainly wintering on the Mid-Atlantic coast. These birds are starting to arrive as spring is essentially here and the ice is melting, meaning bugs are starting to make a reappearance. Buds are popping as well, meaning Song Sparrows will have more opportunity to add berries and seeds into their diet! The obligate migrant I came across is one of my favorite birds, the Tree Swallow! An advantage of arriving to Burlington in early April as a Tree Swallow is that these swallows also eat vegetable material, so if the ice has not melted and bugs are not out yet, they will not starve to death. However, if the ice has melted, the Tree Swallows will have a great advantage by getting to eat bugs as soon as they hatch here! A disadvantage is that if the ice has not melted, the Tree Swallows will have to compete with other species for vegetable material.

Frequent Flyer Distances:
Northern Shoveler- 2200 miles
Blue-winged Teal- 2500 miles
Tree Swallow- 3400 miles
Gadwall- 230 miles

Date - April 13, 2021
Start time - 12:30pm
End time - 2:00pm
Location - Saxon Hill, Vermont
Weather- 65 degrees, light wind, dry
Habitat(s) - Upland woods

Date - April 24, 2021
Start time - 8:00am
End time - 9:30am
Location - Fort Cassin/ Porter Bay, Addison, VT
Weather - Partly cloudy, 40 degrees F, little to no wind
Habitat(s) - Farmland

For this field journal and birding excursion, I ventured down to Addison county in hopes of seeing the largest swallow in North America, the Purple Martin. I was very excited to see this species in particular, as swallows have always been a favorite of mine. As we pulled up, the large swallow was immediately visible; their dark purple iridescent feathers contrasted the white bird boxes. A behavior visible that related to territory selection was the fighting between two species over the Martin boxes. European Starlings are notorious for pushing native species out of areas, and Purple Martins are no exception. In the 10 minutes I observed the 7 Purple Martins, 13 European Starlings stalked the boxes, and at least 3 of them attacked the Purple Martins hoping to steal their territory.

The Purple Martins, on this side of the Rocky's, are basically only seen in human-made nest boxes. Native Americans have been hanging gourds for these birds for generations. In comparison, European Starlings are cavity nesters and nest in woodpecker holes, hollow areas in trees, and cavities on the sides of buildings. European Starlings are invasive, and are known for pushing native cavity nester species out. The Purple Martins were singing away when I arrived at 8am, defending their area from the lingering European Starlings. Compared to other members of its species, the Purple Martins are defending an average territory compared to the rest of its species. Purple Martins have been living in man-made nests dating back generations, so this is not a new territory, nor is its a "poorer" territory. Both birds are quite fit, the Purple Martin being quite agile hunters due insects being in their diet- this also goes for European Starlings. Another bird that I saw was the House Sparrow, who are not cavity nesters. These birds make their nests out of coarse dried vegetation, feathers, string, paper, and other materials for their nests. These birds lived very close to the house located on the farmland, and also quite close to the Purple Martins. There were small patches of forest nearby, where they got the dried vegetation from. The House Sparrows could collect the feathers from the Purple Martins nests, and string and paper from the house.

Mini-Activity:

Attached in "human"!