BCBC Newsletter - May 2002

	The Chat Buchanan County Bird Club Newsletter Editors Roger and Lynda Mayhorn The Buchanan County Bird Club meets the 2^nd Monday of each month at the Buchanan County Public Library at 6:30 PM Volume 1 Issue 5 May 2002
April 8th Meeting: Only 4 members attended the April meeting. Vice President, Ed Talbott chaired the meeting as President, Roger Mayhorn was out of town. Ed discussed birding books at the library and upcoming birding trips. Michelle Talbott presented a program on Wood Warblers. Then video shot by Roger Mayhorn was shown. It featured the wild turkey seen near the Breaks Park entrance, which kept pecking on David Raines’ tires, and the intimidation dance of a White-breasted nuthatch as he tried to make himself look ferocious and drive other birds away from a suet feeder.
Editor's Note: Did anyone fall for the story in the last issue about the California Condor seen near Harman? If you had looked at the date you would have noticed that it was April 1^st. J
Interesting Events: Early in April Shirley Perkins went outside one morning to listen for turkey gobblers, and was surprised when she found one strutting near her yard for a group of hen birds. She ran back inside and told Grayson, who grabbed his camera and took some photos as the turkeys made their way around the mountain side. As early as April 7, 2002, David Raines found Yellow-throated Warblers and a singing Black-and-white Warbler in the Breaks Park. On a ridge near his home on Happy Hollow he located a singing Black-throated Green Warbler. On Saturday, April 13, 2002, Ed & Michelle Talbott birded Conaway Gap, Poplar Gap and Guesses Fork of Buchanan Co. Some of the great birds they found were Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, Worm Eating Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, Blue-headed Vireos and an Osprey. A couple of days later Ed & Michelle saw their first Osprey in the county on the Levisa River.
Late Tuesday night, April 16, Roger Mayhorn was working late at the computer when he noticed that his motion sensitive light outside came on. When he looked out he found a Barred Owl sitting on the shepherd’s crook, which held one of his bird feeders. He quickly grabbed his video camera, which he keeps handy, and took some video in spite of the bad lighting. The owl dropped down to the ground and seemed to be eating something. Within moments it flew back up to the perch. It looked around for a few more seconds then flew off into the night, leaving Roger, who was glad he had stayed up late.
April 18, Bob Riggs and Roger Mayhorn birded Horn Mountain and Harry’s Branch near Whitewood here in Buchanan Co. They found 14 species of wood warblers including Swainson’s, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green, Orange-crowned, Blue-winged and Worm Eating.
Lynda and Roger Mayhorn were lucky enough to get a Yellow-crowned Night Heron (right) as a lifebird, when they went to Sycamore Shoals in Elizabethton, TN. They had heard that the bird was there from other birders. They drove down and located the heron within a few minutes. It was standing in the river not 50ft. away. Roger set up the scope and the bird’s head filled the scope. As they watched, the heron suddenly caught a fresh-water eel from the river, which it quickly gulped down. This heron is a really beautiful bird.
Ed & Michelle Talbott did some intense birding along the New River Trail State Park the week-end of April 20. The trail runs from Pulaski to Galax. They started with a 3 mile hike, then went on a 35.6 mile bike ride. Because of their stops for birds the trip took 9 hours. The next day they hiked six miles, getting an Orchard Oriole as a lifebird, along with 12 species of wood warblers. They were also surprised to find 6 Ruddy Ducks on the pond at Burkes Garden.
The Mayhorns were host to a pair of Baltimore (Northern Orioles) in April. The female (on the right) is not as colorful as the male, but is a beautiful bird in her own right. In all, 5 Baltimores visited their feeder of orange halves put there for the purpose of drawing them in.
Ed & Mary Talbott had their first male Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the season on April 14, and Ed’s brother, Jim, who lives in Grundy, reported seeing one a few days earlier. David Raines had his first male hummer at the Breaks community on April 15. The Mayhorns had one on the 16^th on Compton Mtn. The males arrive first to find food and stake out their territories. The females and immatures soon follow. David Raines also had his first Whip-poor-will of the season on April 23. Grayson & Shirley Perkins reported hearing Whip-poor-wills earlier in the month on Upper Hurricane Creek, where their son, Roger, lives.
Dave Worley, one of our Russell Co. members, along with three friends recently went on a 5 day birding trip to Southern Arizona. They birded Madera Canyon, Shannon Broadway, Mt. Lemon and Patagonia. Dave had been there before and was acting as guide to the others. One of the group got 75 lifebirds. Dave didn’t get any, but when you have 523 species on your life list it’s a bit difficult to get a new lifebird. They found such great western birds as, the Elegant Trogan, Broad-billed, Violet Crowned and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, the Elf Owl, the Pyrrhuloxia, the Phenopepla, the Hepatic Tanager, the Red-faced Warbler, The Lazuli Bunting, the Vermillion Flycatcher, the Gray and Zone-tailed Hawks, the Black-bellied Whistling Duck, the Thick-billed Kingbird and the Painted Redstart .
On April 26 Roger Mayhorn saw his first Cerulean Warbler of the season on Compton Mtn. Within a few days he saw other Ceruleans in the county while birding with Ed & Michelle Talbott, and Bob Riggs. Ceruleans are declining in numbers and may one day be placed on the endangered species list. We are in one of the lucky areas that still has them. They are also very numerous in southern West VA.
Congratulations go to Michelle Talbott for a great bird find this month. Michelle located a rare Lawrence’s Warbler on Caney Island Branch, a hollow at the end of Weller Yard bridge. The Lawrence’s Warbler (left) is so rare because it is a backcross. The Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers mate and produce an offspring. The offspring then mates back with one of the parent species and produces a Lawrence’s. The bird has been seen several times now and is believed to be nesting there. It will be interesting to see what its offspring look like. Good job Michelle!
Kudos go to Ed Talbott III for getting the first verified sighting of a Bald Eagle in Buchanan County. Ed was talking with his father outside the Buchanan Co. Public Library on April 30, 2002, when he saw vultures along the ridge behind the library being harassed by a smaller hawk. Thinking they may be Black Vultures, which are uncommon in this area, he went inside and retrieved his always handy binoculars. While watching , a Bald Eagle flew into view along the ridge and dwarfed the other birds by its size. Ed immediately identified the bird because of its size and its white head and tail. Way to go Ed! Veteran birder, David Raines, said that he has been looking for a Bald Eagle here in the county for the last 20 years. Isn’t that the way it goes David? These young upstarts with only two years birding experience are making the great finds. J
Saturday, April 27, Members of the Buchanan Co. Bird Club birded the Breaks Interstate Park. With a temp. of 49-69F and overcast skies the day was very comfortable. The great sight of the day was a Swainson’s Warbler that landed close enough to be seen by everyone through Ed Talbott’s scope. This bird was a lifebird for several in the group. In addition to the Swainson’s, Yellow-throated Warblers, Pine Warblers, Nothern Parulas, Hooded Warblers, Worm Eating Warblers, Black-throated Greens, Black-and-white Warblers, Ovenbirds, Blue-headed Vireos, Wood Thrushes and Pileated Woodpeckers were also seen. BCBC member, Jeff Boardwine got 5 lifebirds that day.
BCBC member, Todd Perkins is quickly adding birds to his life list. Two of them he got while turkey hunting. One was the Hooded Warbler that he first recognized by its song that seems to say “Dju eat, dju eat, dju eat this year?” The other was the Ovenbird that nearly hopped up on him, which shows the effectiveness of his Realtree camouflage clothing.
BCBC member, Jack Brown, had a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak and 4 Pine Siskins show up at his feeders on April 28. These were both lifebirds for Jack. We should all have such good luck to have lifebirds show up at our feeders. These Grosbeaks have been passing through during the spring migration and have also shown up at the feeders of Grayson & Shirley Perkins, Roger & Lynda Mayhorn, Ed & Michelle Talbott, Ed & Barbara Caudill and Dr. Clint Sutherland. They are indeed remarkable looking birds.
The outing at the Mayhorn home May 4 on Compton Mountain went very well in spite of the wet drizzle. All those present seemed to have a good time and the birds were abundant. The group worked up an appetite by birding around the home. After lunch the group went in search of Cerulean Warblers which they found in addition to Scarlet Tanagers, Indigo Buntings, American Redstarts, Black-and-White Warblers and Red-eyed Vireos.
David Raines saw something interesting at Riverview Elementary School on May 4. He saw Northern Rough-winged Swallows flying around the parking area and occasionally darting into the tailpipe of one of the parked buses. The birds were evidently trying to build nests in the tailpipe. That evening when the bus was started nesting material came flying out. David also had a new sighting as his place on April 31, a beautiful male Chestnut-sided Warbler. He also had a singing Cerulean Warbler on Bull Mt. on April 27 and a Swainson’s Warbler and a Cerulean in the Breaks Park on May 1^st.
Future Events: May 13 – Next Buchanan Co. Club meeting. John Dickens, the bird carver, is going to give a demonstration and teach those who want to try, how to carve birds. We should definitely make a trip in May to Elk Garden to see the only nesting colony of Bobolinks in the area. Watching the courtship flights of the males makes the trip well worth it. David Raines has suggested a trip to High Knob in Wise County where because of the mountain’s elevation, several unusual species nest. Keep this in mind for June.
Did You Know? Did you know that in some areas House Sparrows have learned to open automatic doors by hovering in front of the motion sensors? Birds are indeed amazing.
Back to Newsletter Page Back to Bird Club Home Page

David Raines had his first male hummer at the Breaks community on April 15. The Mayhorns had one on the 16th on Compton Mtn. The males arrive first to find food and stake out their territories. The females and immatures soon follow.

David Raines had his first male hummer at the Breaks community on April 15. The Mayhorns had one on the 16^th on Compton Mtn. The males arrive first to find food and stake out their territories. The females and immatures soon follow.