Lab #2 

Habitat: Pine/Hardwood Forest

Temperature: 53.1 F

Wind: 11.5 mph

Humidity: 47%

       For this lab we set up a linear drift fence and pitfall combo. This consists of digging a narrow trench in a more or less straight line and placing some pegs covered linked by tarp inside of it. After that is done you dig more holes and place buckets inside of them. The idea is that when an animal meets the drift fence it will then travel along it looking for a way around it, but instead ends up falling into a bucket.

       We took some precautions with this set up. First we drilled holes through the bottom of the bucket so that they wouldn't fill with rain water and drown anything caught inside. Also we placed some vegetation inside so that anything which found itself trapped would have something to hide under. Lastly we placed the lids on the buckets before leaving. The purpose of this was because we hadn't planned on coming back for a few weeks and we didn't want anything to starve in the buckets while we were gone.

Red Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

    The adult Red Shouldered Hawks have brown and white checkered patterns on the top parts and have red barring on their breasts. Individuals of this species do look different on the eastern and western halves of America, the western variation being lighter in color and the hawk in the picture is from south florida.

    We didn't actually get to see the hawks but we know that there is a mating a pair in the area and they were squawking at us.

 

They almost sound like a cross between a seagull and a dog's squeaky toy.

Ground Skink (Scincella lateralis)

    Ground skinks can be found throughout most of the southern United States and prefer areas with loose soil and plenty of leaf litter cover. You are likely to find them underneath something like a log or a coverboard, in the case of this skink under the leaf litter. 

    

    Ground skinks have proportionally tiny legs and even though they use them their means of locomotion is best described as a wiggling like motion. Skinks move through the leaf litter similarly to how a crocodile moves through the water.

Lab #1

Date: 20 January, 2016

Location: Lumber River Conservancy

Lab Activity: Bird Surveying 

Habitat: Pine/Hardwood Forest on and near the Lumber River floodplain

Temperature: 39.3 F - 46.8 F

Wind: 2.1 mph

Humidity: 23.8% - 24%

Additional Information: There was a lot of cloud cover.

    We went out to an area near the Lumber River to look for birds.

Pileated Woodpecker (Hylatomus pileatus)

 Male

Female

The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker species that you will see in North Carolina. They are easily identified by the very distinctive red crest placed right on top of their heads. 

The males and females look mostly the same, but have one distinguishing feature. Both genders have a whisker mark starting from the base of the beak and stretching across the face. The whisker mark on a male is red, while the whisker mark on a female is black.

A Pileated Woodpecker was heard in the area drumming its beak against a hollow tree. These woodpeckers do this in order to establish territories, choosing hallow tree to resonate the sounds of their drumming over a greater distance. 

The Pileated Woodpecker is also easily identified by its call.

Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)

The Carolina Chickadees were seen seen near one of the ponds in the area feeding on the seeds of a sweetgum tree along side House Finches.

The Carolina Chickadee has a black cap and black bib with white cheeks. Their tail is long and narrow which along with the back and wings is a gray color.

Although there is no sexual dimorphism in the coloration of this species the males are typically larger.

Carolina Chickadees are often found in flocks but tend to space themselves apart while feeding.

Carolina Chickadee Call

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

A wood duck was spotted flying over the canopy and away out of our sight.

The male Wood Duck is covered in all sorts of marks and colorations along with reasonably sized crest. The females are a drabber grayish brown color with a speckled breast.

 Male Wood Duck calls

Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus)

 Female Winter Plumage

Male Summer Plumage  

A pair five of Pine Warblers was seen perched in wherelse but a pine tree.

This species changes color depending on the time of year and while there is little difference in coloration between the males and the females, the males are slightly brighter in color with more yellowish coloration on the to of the bird. 

 Pine Warbler Call

House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)

Female Male

Male Winter Plumage

House Finches were seen near the pond eating sweet gum tree seeds amongst Carolina Chickadee.

The males have red colorations along the face, breast, and rump. The females have a dingy grayish brown color. While the females generally remain the same year round, the males take on a dingier coloration during the winter.

  House Finch Call

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

A Tufted Titmouse was spotted near the pond, I did not personally see this species and so cannot report on any activity.

The Tufted Titmouse is medium sized passerine bird with a grayish coloration and a crest atop its head not to dissimilar from that of Cardinal's crest. They have a black lore and peach coloring underneath the wings.

  Tufted Titmouse Song

The song of the Tufted Titmouse varies in syllables, it can be one syllable or five.

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

This species was spotted amongst the understory flying at about average head height. 

They have a thin medium beak for feeding on insects. The feather on top of their head may appear flat at times but they can raise them into a rounder peak like shape.

Both the male and the females are brownish gray color on top and have lighter coloration underneath.

 Eastern Phoebe Call

Its call is where the Phoebe gets its name, if you use your imagination it almost sounds like they're saying fee-bee.