On Sunday, my friends and I tabled at Wintervale, and I spent some time cross-country skiing and keeping an eye out for new wildlife signs.
Cate Bilbe rocking it on Calkins Trail
American Robin
It is hard to tell in this photo, but there were many Robins out and about on the trail on Sunday, most likely as a result of the slight warm-up. The high was 35 on Sunday, and it had previously been sunny the days prior, so the Robins may have mistaken the weather for an early spring.
Pileated Woodpecker
When we visited the site for lab, we were actually able to see a Pileated Woodpecker in action. During Wintervale, I caught side of this wildlife activity, and there are many signs that indicate woodpecker activity. For one, there are small pieces of wood by the base of the tree trunk that most likely fell as the woodpecker was making the large holes to feed. It seems like the wood has been stripped which is a common tool for the Pileated Woodpecker.
Grey Squirrel
The most common track that I found when skiing along Calkins trail was the Grey Squirrel tracks. They were easy to identify because they were much larger than the tracks of the Red Squirrel. When looking closely at the tracks, you can see the galloping pattern that the squirrel took, as the prints make a trapezoid-like shape indicating it was traveling away from the tree.
Black-Capped Chicadee
While I was unable to get catch a photo, I caught the audio on iNaturalist of a Black-Capped Chicadee call. At first, I wasn’t able to identify the call because it was different than the typical “dee-dee-dee”, song, so I researched Chicadee calls, and one was nearly identical to the one I recorded, which allowed me to identify it when revisiting the audio after Winterfest.
My Experience with iNaturalist
I appreciate iNaturalist because it gives me an opportunity to test my knowledge and have it reviewed by my peers in a way that feels very low pressure. Because you are not directly engaging with those commenting on your identification it puts less stress on whether you are correct or not. I enjoyed having the chance to get out and put to test the identification strategies we have been discussing in class. Sometimes out in the field it can be difficult to be quick enough to take out your phone and capture the bird sound, or the organism directly, but the experience of interacting with your peers seems worth it.