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The Chat The Buchanan County Bird Club meets the 2nd Monday of each month at the Buchanan County Public Library at 6:30 PM Volume 1 Issue 11 November 2002 |
The October 14th Meeting: Roger & Lynda Mayhorn presented the program “Winter Birds at Your Feeder.” The most common birds and a few of the rare ones were shown as a slide program and discussed. Members were given a sheet to write down some field marks to look for. They then tested themselves by having the slides mixed up and deciding which bird they were seeing. Everyone had an enjoyable time. |
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These Mallards and American Wigeons were some of the waterfowl seen on October 12, 2002 when some members of the Buchanan County Bird Club visited the Weir Dam near South Holston Dam in Bristol, Tennesssee.
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Lincoln’s Sparrow was the first of two new species of sparrows to be found
in Buchanan County within a couple of weeks of each other. The other was a
Henslow’s Sparrow. Ed &
Michelle Talbott along with Michelle’s Mother, Shirley Justus found two
Lincoln’s on Guesses Fork while birding on Oct. 26, 2002. Ed took this
video photo. Congratulations to these three members!
The Henslow’s was also found on Guesses Fork on November 2, 2002 by Ed & Michelle, Shirley Justus, David Raines and Roger Mayhorn. (Ed actually located it first) Henslow’s Sparrows are getting rather scarce in VA. The nearest area to Buchanan where Henslow’s are seen regularly is the Radford Arsenal near Radford, VA. |
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A Bonaparte’s Gull was another new bird added to the Buchanan County
list this month. On November 1 David Raines was doing his morning bus run in
the Breaks community when he saw a gull sitting in the highway in front of
the bus. As the bus came near, the gull flew from the highway and landed in
a nearby driveway. Being the good birder that he is David made mental notes
of the field marks. The bird had a gray back, white tail, black bill and a
white head with a black spot behind the eye. Later he called Roger Mayhorn
from school and with the help of Sibley’s Guide to Birds it was determined
that the gull was definitely a Bonaparte’s Gull in winter plumage. This
was a life bird for David and a new species for the county. Roger &
Lynda Mayhorn went in search of the bird, hoping to get some video of it,
but unfortunately, it had already moved on. Good job David! |
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Interesting
Events: In October Dr. Clint Sutherland and his family spent
some time at Sanibel Island, Florida. 75% of the island is protected from
development. While there he did some birding on the beach. He saw Brown
Pelicans, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, White Ibis, a Little Blue Heron,
Osprey, Wilson’s Plovers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Semipalmated
Sandpipers, Shortbilled Dowitchers, least Sandpipers, Royal or Caspian
Terns, Sandwich Terns and Laughing Gulls. Doctor Sutherland recommends the
area to any birders, who may be down that way. Way to go Clint! On October 21, Ed Talbott III birded the Clifton
area of Russell County with Bob Riggs. They saw Lincoln’s Sparrows, Song
Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows. They
saw Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Northern
Harrier and Turkey Vultures. At Stuart’s Pond in Rosedale they found
Ring-necked Ducks, Killdeer, Green-winged Teal and Canada Geese. On various
ponds they also saw Gadwall, Mallards, Wood Ducks, two Double-crested
Cormorants and at least four Great Blue Herons.
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 Roger & Lynda Mayhorn and Ed & Barbara Caudill recently spent a week at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. They did some birding on Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island. They found 69 species. The most interesting incident was a Bald Eagle attacking a Northern Gannet to take its meal of fish. Other species seen were Brown Pelican, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, Snow Geese, White Ibis, Tundra Swan, Black Scoter (Sea Ducks) and American Avocet. Roger and Ed also found two Cottonmouths. |
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Other Events: Todd Perkins recently birded Rural Retreat lake and
later the lake at the Breaks Interstate Park. Todd has been adding more new birds to his life
list. At Rural Retreat he added the Greater Yellowlegs and the Pied-billed
Grebe. After seeing the Pied-billed Grebe again at the Breaks he described the Grebe because of its shape as “looking
sneaky.” At the Breaks he also found 8 Wood Ducks and 2 Coots. Todd is
quickly becoming a good birder. White-crowned Sparrows have been seen in the area
for the last few weeks. David Raines, Ed & Michelle Talbott
and Roger Mayhorn have all had them coming to their feeders. At the
moment Roger Mayhorn still has three immature birds visiting his feeders
regularly. Ed Talbott III recently found some White-throated
Sparrows with orange lores (the area between the bill and the eye). The
lores are normally yellow on White-throats, but as Ed has since learned the
color can be changed by certain foods they eat. On November 1 Shirley Justus had a great birding day
on her property at Guesses Fork with 23 species recorded. Shirley says this
is the greatest number she has had so far while birding alone. She saw 5 Redwing Blackbirds, 1 Hermit Thrush, 3
Carolina Chickadees, 5 Northern Cardinals, 4 Tufted Titmice, 25 American
Goldfinches, 20 White-throated Sparrows, 3 Eastern Towhees, 2 Chipping
Sparrows, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 3 White-breasted Nuthatches, 6 American
Crows, 5 Eastern Bluebirds, 15 Cedar Waxwings, 25 American Robins, 5 Blue
Jays, 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 3 Carolina Wrens, 1
Winter Wren, 2 Northern Flickers, 3 Dark-eyed Juncos, and 2 Song Sparrows.
We would like to congratulate Shirley. She has not been birding very
long and is really coming along as a very competent birder. Way to go
Shirley! While looking for David’s Bonaparte’s Gull on
November 1 Roger & Lynda Mayhorn checked out Laurel Lake in the Breaks
Park. They found a flock of 85-90 waterfowl. The flock included Greater and
Lesser Scaup, Gadwalls, American Wigeon, Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, a
couple of Coots and one Double-crested Cormorant. Roger & Lynda managed
to slip down through the woods for a closer look at the flock without
disturbing the birds. On November 3 David Raines birded Doran Bottom near
Raven, VA. He was surprised to find a Summer Tanager still hanging around.
He also found a Tree Swallow and a Vespers Sparrow. If you want to find a
Vespers look for a sparrow that has white outer tail feathers that show up
when the bird is in flight. A Northern Harrier was a new yard bird for Roger
Mayhorn, who keeps a list of the birds he has seen from his yard. Roger had
just seen a Red-shouldered Hawk, when this hawk came up out of the valley.
The long wings and long tail with a slim body, along with the bird’s
flight pattern with wings pointed slightly upward in a dihedral allowed him
to identify the hawk. That’s only the second one Roger has seen on Compton
Mountain. These hawks can be seen on strip sites in the county during
winter. Roger also saw 5 Common Ravens the same day. Their loud rough
“croak” could be heard, even before the birds were seen. Ravens also
glide quite a bit, whereas crows
usually do more flapping during flight. Roger ended the day with 29 species
from his yard. The Ross’s Goose was a new bird added to Roger and
Lynda Mayhorn’s life list, when on Oct. 31 they went to Middle Brook Lake
in Bristol to find the bird. Glen Eller of Galax went with them. Ross’s Goose looks very much like a Snow Goose,
but has a different bill shape and is a bit smaller.
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Events:
November 9, 2002 [Saturday] - Bibbee Nature Club - Fall Waterfowl Count on the New River. Meet at Bellepoint Park in Hinton, WV (below Bluestone Dam) at 10:30 a.m. at the picnic shelter/parking area. E-mail Ann McRae at annmcrae@netscope.net or call (304) 327-7556 for more information. November 11, 2002 [Monday] - Buchanan Bird Club Meeting - 6:30 p.m. at the Buchanan County Public Library. The library will be closed so come around to the side door. The presentation will be on the sparrows of Buchanan County. December 14, 2002 [Saturday] - Bristol Bird Club Christmas Party. E-mail Dave Worley at trooper@mounet.com for more information. December 14, 2002 [Saturday] - Breaks Interstate Park Christmas Bird Count. Contact Terry Owens at bip@mounet.com for more information. Meet at the Visitor's Center at the park. December 28, 2002 [Saturday] - Blackford Christmas Bird Count (Russell County, VA). Contact Bob Riggs at bebirding@go.com for more information. |
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Did You Know?
Did you know that most birds have a preen gland on the rump at the base of of the upper tail feathers? They use their bills to squeeze oil from this gland and work it into their feathers. The oil helps keep the feathers flexible and waterproof and it also inhibits the growth of fungi and bacteria. |
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