Marisa

uconn eeb and linguistics/psych ‘21

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Walking the same route every day gives interesting perspective on the territorialism of these crows — I haven’t seen a single crow in my neighborhood outside of this one street corner and they’re constantly chasing away any larger predatory bird #socialdistancebirding #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Saw a group of crows mobbing a red-tailed hawk in my neighborhood. They were probably trying to defend their territory but didn’t seem to scare away the hawk, who sat still before flying to a nearby powerline #socialdistancebirding #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Part 2: Saw a single crow chase a turkey vulture out of sight then return alone to a tree with the rest of the flock. Wouldn’t guess a single crow could intimidate a much larger vulture like that but maybe the threat of more crows scared it off #socialdistancebirding #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

I finally got a birdfeeder a few weeks ago to help with #socialdistancebirding and turns out my indoor cat is just as interested! House sparrows are the most frequent visitors but he still has to look whenever they sing #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Saw my first blue-winged teal today and got a successful #tweetid based on the white crescent on his grey head, solid black bill, and white hip patch. I only saw him swimming on a pond and didn’t expect him to be hiding blue wings — I should’ve waited to see him fly! #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

I see a great blue heron flying toward the local pond on each of my daily neighborhood walks. Might be multiple individuals going to a colonial nesting site or gathering nesting material. At least quarantine is good for observing repeat behavior! #socialdistancebirding #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

@ProfRubega That’s the conclusion I came to also. I got a better look at another in the same area and the field marks matched up better (with no spotty white patch)

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Looking for a #tweetid for a bird hopping around to different levels of a tall conifer in my yard: There was def a red spot on the crown, but only from certain angles! The rest was mostly light grey w/ darker stripes on the wing and a distinct white stripe lower down #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

I’m not positive about the wing colors because it kept moving, so the colors/patterns in my drawing might not be completely accurate

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

This pair of black-capped chickadees was working on excavating a nesting cavity near a pond in my central CT neighborhood. The one flying in the first pic was sitting a few branches away, maybe protecting the mate #socialdistancebirding #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Doing some accidental 4am #socialdistancebirding from my room in central CT this morning after hearing an owl singing from my yard. I didn’t get to see it but I’m thinking it’s a Great Horned Owl based on the song and nearby eBird data #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

I’ve been hearing red-winged blackbirds in my neighborhood for the past few weeks but hadn’t gotten a positive #tweetID until I saw one showing off its red shoulder patches in flight and later singing from a tree today #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

The newest excitement in my #socialdistancingbirding is staying updated on the (at least) 2 red-tailed hawks that seem to be living in my neighborhood. I saw 2, one circling above the other, last week and 3 doing the same today. The original might have competition! #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

@SamApgar Thank you!

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Spent the day listening to northern cardinals with their distinctive “birdie birdie birdie” call and painting my favorite UConn bird, the cedar waxwing #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Currently wishing I had the sound localization abilities of an owl so I could spot the birds singing near my house without having to leave my yard. Still saw a male northern cardinal, 2 dark-eyed juncos, & 5 black birds I think were grackles #socialdistancebirding #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Lots of common grackles at my neighbor’s bird feeder this afternoon. They looked solid black at first glance but showed off their iridescence when moving into the light. Shoutout to structural colors for the apparent color change! #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Three house finches were flying between trees next to Hawley Armory earlier, flapping their relatively short and broad wings to easily maneuver through the small spaces between branches #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Saw two very round eastern bluebirds flying between trees outside of McMahon. They must be fluffing up their feathers to increase insulation and reduce heat loss #birdclass

[Marisa @mlkarasik]

Saw nine snow geese flying with a flock of over 100 Canada geese from a marshy field to the shore of a Newport, RI beach. Thanks to their keel, they can support the massive muscles needed for flight, enabling their long migrations #birdclass