• Date – 2/19/23
• Start time – 2:14 pm
• End time – 3:15 pm
• Location – Centennial Woods, Burlington, VT
• Weather – 42°F, 16mph winds from the south, no precipitation
• Habitat(s) – mixed hardwood stands, conifer stands
I did not see very many species of birds flying today. I think one of the reasons I didn’t see many birds today is that it was relatively windy and we also just experienced some snow after most of it had melted during the few abnormally warm February days. Most of the birds I saw were on trees. I did see a few Black-capped Chickadees fly though. They looked as if they were bouncing from tree to tree, not in the air for longer than a few seconds. I also saw an American Crow flying from pretty far away, but I have seen American Crows fly before. It appeared as if its wings never stopped moving and its wings were rounded. This makes sense because more rounded wings are not great for gliding.
Although I did not see the Pileated Woodpecker fly, I want to mention what I was doing when I saw it. I was sitting down crying (I had a rough week but I’m ok) and I heard the classic laugh-like wuk wuk wuk wuk. I looked up and about 30 feet in front of me, at the bottom of a tree, there was a Pileated Woodpecker. I could tell it was a female because she did not have the red “mustache” that males have. She began pecking at the tree. She was pulling away chunks of bark. I stood and watched for about 7 minutes before she worked her way up the tree a little, then hopped to another tree and out of my vision.
For the mini-activity, I sketched a Black-capped Chickadee last night. When I saw on today in person, I noted that the underbelly of the bird was a little dirty/stained. I also noted where the eyes fall in relation to the “cap.” The bottom of the eyes are at the bottom of the “cap.” I also noticed that the “cap” goes all the way to the base of the beak.

Posted on February 19, 2023 09:12 PM by ajberkow