Bird Language, Dec 2

At Saturday's Bird Language sit we observed feeding flocks of Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, and Brown Creepers. Their baseline feeding behavior was interrupted by two groups of hikers, one with three adults and a child moving through during Period 1 and Period 2, and another with two adults and a dog through Period 4. Both of these groups elicited some alarms from Chickadees and Nuthatches ahead of their approach. Behind them the trail was silent for a couple minutes or so. Meanwhile, a couple who walked through in between these groups didn't trigger alarms. In fact, during the second period a buck and doe tromping through the icy marsh seemed startled by the couple who were standing quietly on the observation deck. The deer abruptly turned back the direction from which they came. Many of us heard the deer breaking through the ice from a distance, but couldn't see the action. Good thing we have many observing eyes and ears to piece it all together!