Kristian

Activity 1: This course has drastically changed my knowledge of birds and I find them extremely undervalued, and they should be more appreciated by people. Nature in general needs to be appreciated more. Birds like any living thing are very important and matter and the more complex and more amazing things become the further we research and get to know about it. I feel if people took the time to pour value into their own life and learn more about the small things or things in general, people would be happier and grateful, and so would the planet. Activity 2: I think all these actions will help everything from humans to animals. The birds are a gift to the world and show the true complex beauty God has created. Activity 3: I have not been very observant of the bird population until recently sadly. I am now going further with a higher awareness to this part of nature. I do feel though over time since I was younger, the bird population have decreased. Activity 4: The next steps I have is to keep learning and growing in my awareness of nature. I think learning is vitally important and will do tons more than people forcing people to listen to them. I will keep promoting learning since with knowledge comes power in everything we do and the value we bring to the world including birds. It's very therapeutic as well and people benefit from nature as it helps us to slow down and enjoy instead of rush and chase.

Activity 1: The first habitat is a parking lot by a golf course with open grass area and a few batches of trees as well as the edge of a tree filled hill. Saw some Wrens and blue jays. The second habitat was a park swamp area that didn't have as many birds, but I did see a Great Blue Heron. Activity 2: I explored the species of Roger Road and Mt. Lemmon. Roger Road is definitely aquatic with waterfowl. Mt Lemmon seems more open and has more woodpeckers and songbirds.

Activity 1: Northern cardinal: Very still and not much transitioning, a little shift during the summer months but not much. Mostly move within the US east of the midline and Texas. Blackburnian Warbler: June through August they spend their time up in north eastern Canada and New England. Mid November through the start of April they are in north part of South America (Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela). Migration periods are from April to start of June, and August through October.  They follow the path North through Mexico and the gulf, and going south they stay east more and pass over Florida and go straight south. Scarlet Tanger: spends winter in South America as low as Peru and Bolivia, travels north in April through Mexico and gulf, kind of avoiding parts of Florida, followed by a summer in northern US, then in August/September they start making there way back down and cover Florida more and fly back towards southern Mexico back into South America. Western Tanger: spends winter in Mexico, following a wide migration path on the western side of the US from April and May, till they fly back down as soon as August and follow the same path back till they reach Mexico again in early November. Ruby Throated Hummingbird: stays in Nicaragua and Costa Rica and Guatemala and south Mexico during winter and migrates north to north eastern US from May through September then travels south on same path back for winter. Rufous Hummingbird: From October through start of March they stay around the center of Mexico May till they move up north along the western coast of California, and land in Canada during April where till June they are spending time up in western Canada (British Columbia), and Mid June they start to move back south but there migration back south is a lot wider stretching across the whole western side of US until they reach Mexico again in October. Sandhill Crane: Region is very scattered from eastern Midwest and South by Florida and Texas, to Canada and as far north as Alaska. March they move north staying from April to August, then migrate from September through November back south from Canada to mostly Texas and Florida and parts of South West region. There path is usually the same going and coming from there previous location. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher: migrates North in May from South Mexico and Nicaragua and El Salvador and Guatemala like the Ruby Throated Hummingbird but to north east Canada where they stay and follow the same path back in August and September for the winter. It’s very surprising how some species have a different path north than south and some follow the same path directly. Some species travel farther and some stay very local. Some travel earlier and some later.  Learning a whole lot for just starting out.   Activity 2: The American Robin which I’ve seen plenty of. The Belted Kingfisher is a year round resident as well but I haven’t seen it. Finally the Ring-billed Gull is up at the coast of Lake Erie all year and seen plenty. In terms of species that live here in Northeast Ohio for part of the year are the Fox sparrow from October to June with peaks in April and November and not sure if I seen it or not. Second is the Horned Grebe from November to May peaking in November and haven’t seen. Third is the Yellow-rumped Warbler from September to June peaking October and May since it is a migrating bird.   Activity 3: The Male American Goldfinch in summer has black wings and cap, and bright yellow with white stripes. In the winter it is white on the belly,  dull brownish yellow on the sides, wings are still black with a dominant white stripe. Small to no cap or crown, and yellowish throat patch. The Common Loon in summer has black head and bill, with a black and white spotted body, on wings and sides. Also it has a black throat collar. In the winter, its dull and dark brown, white throat, dark gray head, with white on the bill.   Activity 4: My favorite birding spot would be my own back yard. We are right on a hill and small lake and have the metro parks directly behind us. Right now there is a lot of Black Capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Downy Woodpeckers, Carolina Wrens, Great Blue Herons, Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Robins. In 6 months we should be the American Redstart, Yellow Throated Vireo, Cliff Swallow, Chimney Swift, and many more.

Activity 1: Two birds I used Merlin to ID were the Carolina Wren and Downy Woodpecker. They were at my feeder, and I used color to identify them. The Wren was gold on the belly and had a white eyebrow followed by brown nape and back, with a pattern that became more dominant as you reached the tail. Very alert and the bill is not too long with a slight downward curve at the tip. The Downy Woodpecker was a female with no red visible, but had a black crown and eye stripe mask, white belly, black wings with white spots. The Bill had a whiteish tan spot at the end of the bill on the bird's face Infront of the eyes. Activity 2: Three birds that have the same color or close to it that I used for this was the Robin with an orange belly, the red winged blackbird with a reddish orange wing patch, and a Eastern Towhee under the wing on the side. Activity 3: The first bird I observed was a Great blue Heron in a tree, very still and foraging for food from high up towards the top of the tree. The second bird was the Black Capped Chickadee which is a favorite of mine, and it behaved very quick, alert, came to the feeder, picked up black oiled sunflower seeds and would fly back to a branch or stay at the feeder, holding the seed with its feet, and cracked it open with its beak. The third bird I observed was the White Breasted Nuthatch. A little less quick and would also take food and fly to a branch. The Black Capped Chickadee and Nuthatch showed a dominance battle at points with each other at the feeder.  Both hopped and constantly looked up at their surroundings between eating. Our feeder is right at the edge of the woods on a hill where there are a good number of hawks and raptors in the area which might to me explain the alert behavior. Activity 4: My favorite bird is the Northern Cardinal. It has a red belly, darker red wings, short legs, black mask and throat patch, pointed crest on the top of the head, and orange bill. Beautiful bird.