Wildlife Sightings
During my visit to my phenology site on April thirteenth, I encountered many different types of wildlife. As soon as I entered my site, I observed a grey squirrel foraging for food on the ground, and then it climbed up a nearby tree. I also observed two more grey squirrels during my time there, and they all seemed to be foraging for food. Another animal I encountered was a chipmunk. This curious creature was scurrying around on the ground, most likely looking for food. It crawled up onto a log and then we stared at each other for quite a while. I used my binoculars to take a closer look at it and was fascinated by how still it was sitting. Then, it jumped down to take a long drink of water from the brook. In addition to the squirrels and chipmunk, I watched many birds. I had my binoculars so I was able to see many birds up close and watch what they were doing. I saw a group of three black-capped chickadees chasing each other and flying between the branches of a hemlock tree. I also spotted two different woodpeckers (either hairy or downy woodpeckers). Both had black wings with white spots, a white underside, and a red spot on the back of their heads. I spotted the first woodpecker because I heard it pecking on a snag and was able to follow the sound. The second one flew right in front of me and landed on a nearby tree. I watched as both woodpeckers pecked at the snags they were on, looking for insects and steadily moving up the tree. I also saw a few American robins near the brook that seemed to be looking for food on the ground. In addition to these animals that I could identify, I encountered some birds that I had trouble identifying. For example, I had a really good view of a medium-sized bird with a grey back, white underside, and black and white head with a long beak. I also saw through my binoculars a small grey bird that pecked at a tree and grabbed a small insect. Many birds were chirping and calling high up in the trees throughout the day. Finally, I saw a large spiderweb between two trees glistening in the sun, a large black fly that landed on my leg, and a beautiful black butterfly that landed on a log. It was a warm and sunny day, and I was very excited to encounter so much wildlife.
Buds Breaking
I observed many buds starting to break as I walked around. I noticed that almost all of the buds on the barberry bushes I saw had already broken and the leaves were spreading out. I saw buds breaking on a variety of other plants too. Some were already completely open, while others were just starting to swell and open up.
