Justin

8:05 8:20 March 14, 2011. Only two days after buying a bird feeder and sticking it in out front yard, one chickadee landed on that bird feeder. I saw it and grabbed my mom's camera and slipped out the back door, as not to disturb it. I crept up around it and took some pictures of it. i was how hard it as for me to take the picture, because wouldn't stop moving. It seemed like it was constantly flitting around from place to another. I think that the chickadee must be a very paranoid bird. Not only was it's body constantly moving, but whenever it did stop to stand still, it's head would be moving in a hundred different directions@

7:05-7:20. March 15, 2011. I could see at least three black-capped chickadees sitting on a fence entangled with a now dead concord grape vines, 15 feet away. Then they started to flitter back and forth between the vine-fence, and the bird feeder, which is 5 or 7 feet away. I noticed that they only came one at a time, and never ate whatever they got right at the bird feeder. They would always bring it back to their fence, and eat it there.One, they would grab the food with their beaks. I thought they might have grabbed them with their feet like eagles, but i was wrong it was with their beak.

5:10-5:30 March 15, 2011. There was a distinct group of four black-capped chickadees tonight. I think I have figured out that they all like to hangout together as a group at that fence with the vines. Once again, they would fly to the bird feeder, and grab their food, and move back to the fence to eat. I got a chance to get within a few feet of the bird feeders one flew over, and I noticed a couple of different things. One was that i was surprised to realize that they could only fit one seed in their beaks at a time. It seems very inconvenient to me that they would only be able to eat one seed at a time. I also noticed their flying habits. They would pump their wings once or twice, and then drop six inches to a foot before flapping their wings again. I wonder if this is how all birds fly. When the group moved to a different place, it happened more than once that one bird stayed behind for maybe 5 minutes, before chasing the others down.

Justin's Drawings

3:05-3:25. March 19, 2011. Today's session was all about their calls. It was really cool. There was a group of three chickadee's.However, that weren't always next to each other. It was very easy for me to tell that the call they use to comunicate with each other is definitely the classic; chicka-dee-dee-dee. What i noticed about that call is that the "dee" part of the call could be issued anywhere between only two time to as much as six or seven. There was one chickadee right in front me using this call, and I could literally hear another chickadee call back across our whole front lawn. When the chickadees were in a tighter group however, for instance all being on one bush, they still used that call, but it seemed they also used short "peep" like sounds, or maybe "chirps" describes it better.

3:35-3:55. March 20, 2011. Today I started out by the bird feeder waiting for the birds to come to me. after about 3 minutes without seeing any chickadees, I was about to give up, and then I heard across the front lawn. The call of the chickadee. So I literally sprinted over a climbed up a hill until I was directly under the tree in which they were talking. I noticed that they were constantly interrupting each other, and trying and trying to talk over each other. Then suddenly two chickadees flew out of the trees and broke for the two big trees next to the bird feeder, so I immediately sprinted back to the feeder, across the whole lawn again, and then when I got there, they flew back to where e just where, so I ran after them for a third time. However, shortly after that I lost track of them. I then headed back to the feeder to see if any were there now. Sure enough, there were two different chickadees there now-check that; They were actually in the two trees next to the feeder. Once again, It seemed like they were constantly pecking at their feet, and I wasn't sure why until I realized that that is probably how they eat. They were also communicating with short 1 note noises, like I described yesterday. The peeps" or "chirps" or "tweets" whatever you want to call it...



4:50-5:10 March 25,2011. Today I found two birds in two trees today flitting constantly back and forth and having a conversation.What surprised me was that during the whole 20 minute period I was out there, //they didn't use chicka dee-dee once!// Not one time. They only used a short one note chirp. As I got closer, the chirping intensified and got louder. I suddenly heard a call I had not heard before. It was one high pitched note, followed by a series of short notes.It happened right after one bird ran into another. I may be a sign of aggression. I saw that it seems they are able to turn, or maybe hope on a dime. If they are standing on this little inch wide branch, they are able to turn completely around!

5:45-6:05 March 27, 2011. The chickadees are obviously getting used to my house. They are spending more and more time at my bird feeder sitting there. They are also getting more comfortable in the trees next to the bird feeder. I am beginning to think that they may be considering nesting their. One of the birds finally stopped moving around for me to get a good look at. It is amazing how it is constantly aware of everything around it. It seems like it never stops looking. Constant Vigilance! It is very hard to tell them apart. I have not been able to identify of them.

1:20-2:00 March 30, 2011. I am now back at the other setting where the vine covered fence is. I noticed that they were also getting more comfortable around the area. They would fly to the bird feeder, grab they're food, but then they would stay on the feeder for a minute and then fly away. I also noted that they would use the short "chirp" call when they were right next to each other, and then they would use the classic "chicka dee dee dee" for longer distance calls. I saw one of the chickadees dive-bomb another, and let out a completely different type of call. It's more high pitched, and sounds more distressed like it probably should. Another chickadee joined them after about 15 minutes. It seemed like they new each other because as soon as it flew up it started to "talk" with them. They then flew to nearby bushes and trees. I'm not exactly sure why, but it seemed like they were urgently going about it. Then suddenly at least one started to to make it's "chicka dee dee dee." I couldn't here another one, but I have the feeling they were trying to communicate and trying to find another one.



2:35-2:50 March 30, 2011. I finished typing my last entry and I realized that I only had 10 minutes left to do for this project. So I went back out for 10 more minutes to birdwatch. I don't know if was the same bird, but there was one at the feeder. It wasn't chirping or anything, so I think it was by itself. LIke before, it would grab the food and fly back to the fence. I think it was the first time I had seen one bird all bye itself. Like all the other times, it was constantly twisting it's head around as if it was looking for something.