Orno Journal 1

• Date – 2/3/24
• Start time – 8:30
• End time – 10:20
• Location – Causeway Park
• Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) – 30 F, Wind 6+ mph from the west. No precipitation, overcast with some sun.
• Habitat(s) – Lake Champlain, pine forests and beech-birch stands, suburban.

I went out with my friend for a birding walk on the Causeway in Colchester, VT. We were on the hunt for a snowy owl but sadly didn’t see one. We did, however, see a ton of Goldeneye. It’s pretty easy to identify a Goldeneye due to their contrasting feathers and that beautiful iris, but even if you can’t do that, you can at least tell that they’re waterfowl. It’s flight pattern is straight on once it’s in the air, with consistent wing flaps and no fluctuation in height or speed. They can take off and land without much of a runway, but still might require more than a Mallard due to them being diving ducks.
On our travels we also saw and heard several Black-capped chickadees. I am aware that Chickadees and Goldeneye are very different birds in every sense of the word, but I think they’re a cool example of different wings. Goldeneye wings are built for speed, they’re pretty long with long primaries, while also being fairly narrow. Chickadees, on the other hand, have more elliptical wings. They’re designed for weaving through branches and little bursts as compared to long distances. Chickadees also tend to fly in short flapping bursts, then dipping. This creates a wavy pattern in their flight which is super fun to watch.
The weather definitely influenced what we saw. It was kind of nasty and windy out, so we didn’t see too many songbirds. But ducks don’t care so we saw a lot of them. To see more songbirds I would have gone on a sunnier, less windy day. I don’t think the time of day really affected it because we were up pretty early (sunrise at 7ish). I would also stay in the forest longer to see more songbirds.

Publicerat 10 februari 2024 04.45 av gabbydowd