Week Six

Monday May 19, 2014
Mostly Sunny
62 Degrees
5:56 PM
Ravenna Park Erratic

           The park today was greener compared to last week and it is becoming even more full. The ferns are growing and filling in the river bed further and you can tell that the river even though it is still flowing relatively strong is well below the high flow line. At a large scale everything was lusha nd the coolness from the moisture being trapped below the thick canopy still remained near the riverbed. it must have been a good 5 degrees cooler in the park then on the outside of it. On a close scale things still looked similar besides the river dropping slightly there was more moisture on the mud than the last week from the weekend rains. things looked a little more complete as the brush covered the riverbed in many places. There are a good number of birds out but since its the heat of the day I know for sure that it is not the full number of species that is present in this park. The birds section of this will be the focus for today.            
          As I walked around the park  listened to calls of birds and tried to locate them, one of the first species i spotted was the American Crow or (Corvus Brachyrhynchos) Which has smaller than a raven at about 18" and is glossy black. It has rounded wings and "fingered" wingtips. It has a squarish tail with rounded corners. It is bold and noisy and its voice is a loud falling caaw or klaah. Habitat consists of shores towns farms woodlands and fields.
           I tried to follow this bird for as long as possible and note its actions. It was bouncing around the creek floor and seemed to be searching for food it would pick at the ground and seemed to be getting something to eat but i could not tell exactly what it was eating. it stayed near the river bed and continued to fly form rock to rock as i followed it, eventually it flew up into the canopy and did not return but its behavior down under the canopy was something i had not seen before. I usually notice crows in the open more and especially around populated places where it can nab trash or scraps of food.

          The next bird I followed was right by its nest it was what I believed to be a Bushtit (Psaltriparpus Minimus) The reason i believe this was the bird i found was because it fit the decryption provided as a lead grey with a small head and bill. Its eyes were yellowy and since it was around the nest this fits the female description of a bushtit. Also its habitat fits as being in broadleaf woodlands, thickets or parks, Which is where I found this guy hanging out on the outside boundaries of the park in thickets that were dominated by maple and thimbleberry species.
          As i followed the bushtit it remained relatively close to the nest just jumping down to scrounge up insects which it immediately brought back to the nest for the young which were clearly audible near the nest. The bushtit seemed catious around me but as long as I kept my distance it continued to jump up and down from the nest to the forest floor or nearby trees and gather food for its young. Overall it seemed very concerned with the fast at hand and nothing else, it was a very small bird and very hyper in nature just very twitchy and jumpy and not willing to stay still for long.
          Other species that I identified in the park was of course the American Robin (Turdus Migratorius) this bird is present almost everywhere and is easily identified by its call. The males have bright brick red colored chests and grey brown wings and black heads and yellow bills. The tail is fairly long and it lives in the woodlands as well. In addition I found another common species the Song Sparrow (Melospiza Melodia) this smaller bird is set apart by its call which though similar to a Bewick's Wren is slightly longer with more of an up slur on then and and more of a distinguishable raspy or vibrational sound in the middle of its calls. I found this bird around the outskirts of the forest and its darker brown body set it apart from some other species of sparrows. Its native habitat is in shrubs, marshes, parks and watersides.
          Noting the similarities between this species and the song sparrow I also found a Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes Bewickii) this bird is slightly smaller than the song sparrow and is a brownish or pale grey color on its back with a lighter chest area usually white reaching up over its throat. its bill is slender and its tail is longer and rounded and is often raised and can be cocked to the side. it has a shorter song than the song sparrow with less vibration noises and it is a resident to the broadleaf and riverine woodlands, thickets and towns. Lastly I found another sparrow. This time it was a White Crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia Leucophrys) this sparrow is similar to the song sparrow in form but is lighter with a more striped coat. It has a white crown that is distinguishable around its head and has a shorter song that consists of 1-3 clear notes followed by a trill, its native habitat is forests, thickets and parks. I found him in the understory near the rock and he was moving around quickly through the underbrush.
          Overall it was a good day I need to work on the calls I know because I couldn't recognize all of them and there were definitely more species of bird that I would have been able to identify if i could know more calls. This is something i will look into and see if i can figure out some more online and relate their calls to their species I am sure some more of the birds i heard will be on the list provided by class and I will be able to make the link for at least a few of them.