Observations I've made at the Watershed

• FIRST DAY- followed the path to the reservoir pond, which is not the water area I later found and stayed at. This area contains a small, calm pond with a man-made dam. Through my binoculars I noticed a lonesome Canadian Goose. This is a rare observation because this species rarely ever is by itself, they never lfy or land unless they are with a larger number of Geese.
• SECOND DAY- saw a sort of fat, short bird running around under evergreen trees in beaver pond hillside forest, shades of gray on back and head and wings. Yelloiwish-orangish belly and a yellow chin and pointy beak. Saw a Blue jay fly into woods along the beaver pond, constantly moving near ground and and going from dead logs to lower tree branches repeatedly. Heard a lot of Black-capped Chickadees in trees but didn't observe any.
• THIRD DAY- Saw 10-15 flying wood ducks at once, were flushed from water of Beaver pond. Saw two more later on in water, one with a white eye patch and the other didn't but both looked very similar and had a turqouise wing mark on side. Observed a kingfisher, crest was up, blue head, white-striped throat, blue back and wings, with a brown underside. Had something in it's mouth as it perched on snag.
• FOURTH DAY- 5 red-winged blackbirds in leaveless trees of beaver pond. Saw a male wood duck in flight, mostly brown and had a white stripe towrds the back? American Woodcock was flying through woods along waterfront of beaver pond. American crow, Yellow Warbler, gray and white stripes on wings. Eastern Phoebe was perched on snag in the middle of beaver pond, was brownish. Ruby-crowned kinglet, small bird, white with black stripes and a red stripe on forehead, alos saw a lot of chickadees in the lower tree branches along the beaver pond.
• FIFTH DAY- 10/8/01, Partly Cloudy, cold, 50's, windy. Heard a lot of chickadees and Canada Geese. Heard a partridge or woodcock get flushed. On the reservoir I saw a duck-like bird with white shiny bill and an all-black head and neck, rest of body was a grayish color. Possible scaup, although their numbers here in Vermont have been recently declining in the past years.
• SIXTH DAY- 10/10/01, weather: blue sky, mostly sunny, not much wind. 2 Hooded Mergansers were observed on the reservoir, adult female and male, were repeatedly diving for fish. Flushed 8 wood ducks when leaving on the trail.
• 7TH DAY- on October 12th, 2001. Cloudy day, no wind. Went to the wetland area where there is a swamp, beaver dam, some wood duck houses and a beaver home in the middle. I flushed about ten wood ducks, flew off flapping their wings rapidly. There was probably a thousand black-colored birds flocking together all around the water area of the watershed. Through my binoculars I identified Red-winged blackbirds, Brown-headed cowbirds and some other black-colored birds. Would takeoff constantly and move to different areas, different trees, never was a lonesome bird all by himself in a tree. All stayed together. Whenever they'd takeoff their wingbeats would make the sound of wind, it was an amazing thing, best discovery since I've been here. Belted Kingfisher came into the area, large female around 10 inches long, it's crest was up and it scared the flocks away for awhile.
• 8TH DAY- October 16, 2001 Blue Sky, sunny, little wind, temperature of about 65 degrees. At the wetland area I saw 3 blue jays flying, 3 crows flying, about 20-25 wood ducks were flushed and I got a good look at them as they flew by. Saw a Downy Woodpecker perched on a thin tree on the water. Saw some more Red-winged blackbirds. Saw a Turkey Vulture out around the edges of the field and a Red-tailed Hawk soaring in search of food.
• 9TH DAY- October 22, 2001 Blue sky, some clouds here and there, little wind, sunny. 50's temp.
• 10TH DAY- October 26, 2001. Not very good weather, cloudy, cold, very windy, maybe late 40s for temp, didn't hear much for birds. Spotted exactly 15 Canada Geese on reservoir pond. About an hour later they took off.
• 11TH DAY- 11/5/01 Cloudy, rainy and cold. Was around 10 Hooded Mergansers on reservoir. Constantly moving and diving for fish and other food. Saw a Great Blue Heron flyin in the air, it landed in the reservoir. Also saw some Black-capped Chickadees and a female Downy Woodpecker eating off a dead deer carcass. Wasn't very good birding weather.
• 12TH DAY- 11/7/01 Cloudy sky, not much wind, very cold, 30's, damp ground. Saw few flocks of Canada Geese in their v-formation. Were 6 on the Reservoir, including 16 Hooded Mergansers, male and female. Both birds got really close and checked each other out. Was a River Otter rolling and fooling around in the reservoir. Saw lots of Snow Geese in plowed field. Heard an angry Blue Jay. Went to Beaver Pond and found a lonesome female Hooded Merganser, took off from the water and flew about 100 yards and landed in the water on the leftside of us. Black-capped Chickadees in thickets and trees along the Beaver Pond.
• 13TH DAY- 11/13/01 Cloudy, some blue sky, maybe mid 30's. Went to an old orchard on North side of Beaver Pond. Just stood still and it seemed as thought the bird came all at once, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmouses, a Brown Creeper, a Downy Woodpecker [Female] and a White-Breasted Nuthatch which was acrobatically running up and down the trunks of trees pecking hard at the bark. Heard sounds on the Beaver pond, went to investigate and found some groups of migrating Eastern Bluebirds mixed in with some American Goldfinches, many of the males Bluebirds would be all alone and buffing up his chest to show himself off to others. The groups were mixed females and males.
• 14TH DAY- 11/19/01 ventured on to some small island in middle of wetlands, scared a Great Horned Owl away, it swooped down from a pine tree and made soundless as it flew. Other than that only saw a few Black-capped Chickadees.
• 15TH DAY- 11/30/01 using just my knowledge of sounds I tried to find out how many birds I could identify, I heard the Chickadees making their chik-a-dee-dee, heard angry Blue jay with it's jay call, crow caw and I heard a Downy Woodpecker pik.
• 16TH DAY- Cloudy, damp ground but no rain. Took pictures of watershed area, bird evidence and food sources. Did not focus on bird obversations today.