Shelburne Bay Park: Surviving Winter

Somehow, this trip was my first visit to Shelburne Bay Park. For anyone else who hasn't had the chance to visit, Shelburne Bay Park is a public park which runs along Shelburne Bay. Most of the area is forested; it consisted of a large number of evergreens, such as Eastern White Pine and Northern White-Cedar, and hardwoods such as Shagbark Hickory and young American Beech trees. This time I traveled with two friends (thanks to both of them for all of their help). We started at the parking lot, followed the Shelburne Recreation Trail up to the point where it reached the Clark Trail, and then wrapped back around. The trail was relatively icy, and there was still a good layer of snow on the ground. The weather was relatively warm, but it did flurry on and off during our trip. We started just after 10 in the morning and finished shortly after noon.

Unfortunately, the birds were relatively shy and scarce. We heard multiple common species (American Robin, Northern Cardinal, and Tufted Titmouse), but were not able to see any of them. We also heard American Crows quite often, but only saw a few when they flew overhead. A few other birds were quite vocal, including White-breasted Nuthatch, and we were very excited to hear a Brown Creeper singing while watching a group of Black-capped Chickadees.

We had the best luck spotting birds at a specific point along the Shelburne Recreation Trail, where the forest bordered a field. The first group to appear were the Black-capped Chickadees, as they often are. The chickadees flitted between a group of shrubs, some small trees, and a denser grove of white pines. They also foraged on the ground on occasion, usually by the base of one of the trees. When they weren't searching around, they were usually in the denser trees. The chickadees were also noticeably fluffed up when they were perched in the trees, trying to retain body heat.

The Eastern Bluebirds appeared while we were watching the chickadees and perched in a tall tree over the field. They didn't remain there very long, as a large group of European Starlings flew into the same tree. The bluebirds retreated into other trees along the edge of the forest. They also appeared to be somewhat fluffed up. As a side note, the bluebirds didn't actually appear very blue due to the cloud cover. It's an excellent example of structural color; the lack of light back the birds appear more grey at a distance.

Since so many birds seemed to be staying hidden and out of the weather, we also spent a good amount of time checking dead snags, as they can provide good shelter. We didn't find any wildlife actually living in the snags, however. We did find significant evidence of woodpeckers. Many small snags had small, round holes in them. Larger snags often had bigger, more rectangular holes. A good number of snags appeared to be dead Northern White-Cedars, but these snags had fewer cavities, if they had any at all. Some living trees also had a decent number of large cavities. Specifically, we found an old Eastern White Pine which had two recently excavated, large, rectangular cavities. The debris was still scattered around the base of the tree.

Overall, most birds seemed to be taking shelter, either in denser trees while foraging, or deeper in the dense portions of the forest. The variety of songs we heard and other signs we encountered, however, suggest that a wide variety of species are likely present in better weather. Currently, birds are trying to save energy by staying out of the elements, or searching for limited amounts of food available. As the weather warms and more food becomes available, they'll likely become more mobile and active again.

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