The Chat
Buchanan County Bird Club Newsletter
Editors Roger and Lynda Mayhorn

The Buchanan County Bird Club meets the 2nd Monday of each month at the Buchanan County Public Library at 6:30 PM

Volume 2     Issue 4     April 2003

March 10 Meeting:

President Roger Mayhorn started the meeting with discussions on erecting bluebird boxes.

Collecting data on nests within the county this season were discussed.  Members were asked to report all nests found with details in order to add to the county information for our growing database.

Ed Talbott III showed some of his great birding video, including the rare Red-necked Grebes that have shown up this year in areas outside Buchanan County.  Roger Mayhorn then showed some birding video including that of a “rare” bird seen that day on Compton Mountain.  Members were also encouraged to get their hummingbird feeders ready for the hummers that are soon to arrive in early April.

Michelle Talbott will present the April 14 program on Wood Warblers.
  

Horned Grebe Found In Buchanan County

 Ed Talbott III, while hiking and birding along the Levisa River near his home at Weller Yard on the evening of March 11, saw a grebe on the river.  Recognizing it as a Horned Grebe (left), a rare bird for Buchanan County, he rushed home to get his video camera.  While there he called his parents, Ed Talbott Jr. and his wife Mary, who lived nearby.  They came down with binoculars and camera in hand.  They all got good looks at the bird and Ed III got some good video, from which this picture was taken.  It was appropriate that Ed and Mary Talbott be there since they had located the last Horned Grebe in the county 32 years ago in 1971.  In that year they found a Horned Grebe frozen in the ice on Slate Creek.  They freed the bird from the ice, took it inside to warm up, then later released it (right).

These Three Talbotts are to be congratulated on establishing, not only the first record for a Horned Grebe in Buchanan County, but for the second as well.  The fourth Talbott, Michelle, found the first Lawrence’s Warbler within the county last year establishing her own first county record. 

Since we are a new bird club in a county where little avian research has been done, hopefully there will be many more nice surprises such as this.
  

Interesting Events:

On March 10 Roger & Lynda Mayhorn found a very strange bird on Compton Mountain as they were heading to Russell County to photograph some Red-necked Grebes.  As they turned a curve this ostrich could be seen strolling along the roadside coming in their direction.  Roger stopped the vehicle, grabbed his video camera and got some video. The giant bird kept walking in their direction.  Roger then got his digital camera and took this photo as the ratite (flightless bird) walked by.  Needless to say, this was one of the largest birds Roger or Lynda ever encountered in the wild. It turned out that the bird belonged to a local farmer whose four ostriches had escaped.
  
Roger & Lynda continued to Russell County, where they found the Red-necked Grebes that had been there for some time.  Upon nearing the pond a large white bird flew up and away.  When Roger saw the size of the bird and the black tipped wings, he knew they were seeing a Snow Goose. This is a bird that is not commonly seen in our area.  Also on the pond were Gadwalls, American Wigeon, an American Coot and some Mallards.
  

Eighty American Goldfinches was the number counted by Ed & Michelle Talbott at their feeders on March 10.  They also had a couple of Red-winged Blackbirds that made an appearance.

Roger & Lynda Mayhorn had two Fox Sparrows at their feeders on the same day. 
  

Todd Perkins found a Winter Wren, similar to this one, on March 11 while birding near his home on Deskins.  Winter Wrens are fairly common within the county during winter, but this one was singing.  Most Winter Wrens do not sing until they get back to their nesting grounds in the spring.  Ed Talbott and Roger Mayhorn also found one softly singing while birding the Breaks Park on March 17.
On April 15, Grayson Perkins had three species of cavity nesting birds competing for the use of the nest box in his yard.  Carolina Chickadees, Carolina Wrens and Eastern Bluebirds were the birds checking out the box.  It will be interesting to see which species wins out.
 
After building an Eastern Bluebird nest box with other club members for the newly established Bluebird Trail, Todd Perkins was thinking of building one for himself.   He decided to make his idea a reality upon seeing an Eastern Bluebird near his house.  The open terrain in front of Todd’s house should be good habitat for bluebirds.  Todd will probably have Eastern Bluebirds or Tree Swallows that use the nest box.  Todd also made a bluebird nest box for his grandmother.  
Mockingbird numbers seem to be increasing within the county. Several members have reported sightings.  One was taking over the feeder at Sheldon and Orpha Woods’ house.  Another is visiting the feeder of Ed & Mary Talbott, and a third is staying around the Mayhorns’ home.  This species used to be rather rare in the area, and only one nest has ever been documented within the county. That was done by David Raines in the early 1990’s at his home in the Breaks community. Hopefully a nest site may be located.  Be on the lookout.
  

Getting Ready for Spring

Johnnie Ratliff (right), a new BCBC member, is ready for spring with his home built feeders and three newly erected Martin Houses.  Johnnie and his wife, Betty, live at the mouth of Little Prater.  They have had Purple Martins use their martin houses in past years, and are hoping that some will move in again this spring.

Johnnie has also had Orchard Orioles nest in the trees in his yard in the past.  The orioles make a pouch like nest that is entered from the side, unlike most other passerines (songbirds) in the area, which make a cup-like nest.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds as well have been common visitors to the Ratliffs’ yard.  With as many as twenty feeders they sometimes had hundreds of hummingbirds in their yard at once.
  

On March 17 Ed Talbott III and Roger Mayhorn went searching for an early Blue-headed Vireo in the Breaks Park. The Blue-headed is the first neotropical migrating songbird to return to the area.  No Blue-headed was found, but some other interesting birds were seen.  Two Red-shouldered Hawks were seen over the park.  Seven Pileated Woodpeckers were seen and heard.  Seven Ring-necked Ducks and ten Wood Ducks were seen on Laurel Lake within the park.

Earlier in the week, March 13, David Raines found the following waterfowl on the lake:  Eight Ring-necked Ducks, one Lesser Scaup, fourteen Wood Ducks, a pair of Mallards and one Canada Goose.
  

First Buchanan County Bluebird Trail

The first bluebird nest box for the first Eastern Bluebird Trail in Buchanan County went up on March 11, 2003.  It was erected by Roger (right) and Lynda Mayhorn on the Mountain Top Golf Course on Compton Mountain.  Many thanks to Glema Auville for allowing ten nest boxes to be put on the golf course.  Three of those boxes already have bluebird nests, and one already has two eggs.

Club member Shirley Justus of Guesses Fork of Hurley got two new life birds on March 23.  She found Blue-winged Teal on a small pond near her home, and saw her first Eastern Meadowlark.

Congratulations Shirley!
One possible Red-necked Grebe in addition to the five Pied billed Grebes and two Common Loons were seen at Musick’s Campground on Holston Lake by Ed Talbott III, when he stopped by there March 18 to see what could be found.  He also stopped by Hidden Valley Lake in Washington County, where he saw Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser Scaup, a Pied-billed Grebe, and another possible Red-necked Grebe.
  
Two wild Mallards were seen on a farm pond on Compton Mountain on March 15.  Not very many waterfowl appear within the county, so this was a welcome site.
  
A Veery was seen by David Raines in the Breaks on March 26.  These thrushes don’t normally nest in the area, so this one must have been passing through.  Some people think the Veery has the prettiest song of all of the songbirds, though some of us think that honor goes to the Wood Thrush, which sings with melodic flute-like notes just as dusk is falling.
  

Unusual Nesting Place

This unusual looking object is a nesting jar, called a Williamsburg Jar.  It is mounted on a wall so that cavity nesters can build their nests inside.  This particular one belongs to Ed & Michelle Talbott. They have it mounted near their backdoor, where Carolina Wrens raised a successful brood last year.  Since then the birds have used it as a roosting place during the cold winter.  Ed helped them out by putting some cotton balls inside.  As the weather has warmed Ed removed the cotton and the Wrens have constructed another nest.

 

The Spring Birds Are Returning:                                                                (Photo by Ed Talbott III) 

The following club members have reported their first sightings of the season: 

Roger Mayhorn – Red-winged Blackbird – Feb 20 – Compton Mountain
David Raines – Woodcock – Feb 27 – Breaks Community (Buchanan County)
Roger Mayhorn – Brown-headed Cowbird – March 9 – Compton Mountain
Michelle Talbott – Blue-headed Vireo – March 22 - Breaks Park (Dickenson County)
Todd Perkins – Blue-headed Vireo – March 26 – Deskins (Buchanan County) 
Ed Talbott III – Brown Thrasher – March 27 - Grundy (One Thrasher spent part of the winter in the Breaks near Ernest Raines home)
Roger Mayhorn – Chipping Sparrow – March 27 – Compton Mountain
Roger & Lynda Mayhorn – Louisiana Waterthrush – March 29 – Western base of Compton Mountain
David Raines – Northern Rough-winged Swallow – March 29 – Haysi (Dickenson County)
Todd Perkins – Northern Rough-winged Swallow – April 1 – Deskins (Buchanan County)
Ed Talbott III – Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – April 1 - Grundy
Johnnie Ratliff – Ruby-throated Hummingbird – April 2 – Little Prater
Johnnie Ratliff – Orchard Oriole – April 2 – Little Prater
Johnnie Ratilff – Purple Martin – April 2 – Little Prater
David Raines – Black-throated Green Warbler – April 4 – Breaks Park (Dickenson County)
Todd Perkins – Black-throated Green Warbler – April 5 – Deskins (Buchanan County)
Roger & Lynda Mayhorn – Yellow-throated Warbler – April 8 – Compton Mountain
Todd Perkins – Black-and-white Warbler – April 10 - Deskins
  

Birding the Breaks

David Raines and Todd Perkins (right), along with Roger & Lynda Mayhorn birded the Breaks area and Flanagan Dam on March 22.  In and around the park they found their first Blue-headed Vireos of the season, seventeen Blue-winged Teal, two Hooded Mergansers, one Pied-billed Grebe, two Mallards, three Pileated Woodpeckers, one Brown Creeper, two Red-shouldered Hawks and several other species.

David had found several waterfowl the day before on Flanagan Dam in Dickenson County.  He saw seven Ring-necked Ducks, four males and three females.  He also saw one female Lesser Scaup. On the 22 there were 5 Lesser Scaup on Flanagan and one Killdeer nearby.
  

New River Birding

On the week-end of March 15 – 16 Ed & Michelle Talbott birded a section of the New River. The highlight of the week-end was sighting 10 Red-necked Grebes, a rare species for the area. They also saw Pectoral Sandpipers (left), Horned Grebes, Lesser Scaup, Wilson’s Snipe, their first Osprey of the season, a Brown Creeper, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Tree Swallows. Click on the following link to see all of the photos and the full write-up of the outing on Ed’s web site. http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/marhikes/NewRiver.htm
  

Wrightsville Beach Birding

This Razorbill (right) was one of the seventy species seen by Ed & Michelle, when they birded Wrightsville Beach, NC on April 3 – 6

Other species they encountered included the Little Blue Heron, Black-necked Stilts, over one hundred Black Skimmers, Black-bellied Plovers, Pine Warblers, Loggerhead Shrike, Western Sandpipers, White Ibis and many more.  For the well told story, complete with pictures, go to Ed’s web site at this address http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/wrightsville/Beach1.htm 
  
Laurel Lake in the Breaks Park produced a pair of American Wigeon, one Blue-winged Teal, several Wood Ducks and a Canada Goose, when David Raines checked it out on March 24.
  
On March 25 David Raines saw his first Black Vulture of the season.  Almost all of the vultures seen within Buchanan County are Turkey Vultures, but in the area of the Breaks community, where David lives, the Black Vultures do show up.  The Black Vulture can be distinguished from the Turkey Vulture by its shorter tail, the different light and dark pattern under the wings and its flight pattern.  Whereas the Turkey Vulture forms its wings into a V shape or dihedral in flight and rocks from one side to the other, the Black Vulture flies with a flatter wing shape and does not rock in flight.
  
On the night of March 17 the hooting of a Barred Owl woke Roger Mayhorn at home on Compton Mountain.  With the help of some moonlight and his night vision binoculars Roger was able to see the large owl sitting on the top of a dead tree near the edge of his yard.  The owl would shatter the silence with series of hoots or calls that sounded like laughter.  The owl would sometimes look down at three wild foxes searching for food in the yard.
  
One of our Russell County club members, Dave Worley came across an unusual looking white goose on Stuart’s Pond in Russell County on March 28.  At first he thought it was a Ross’s Goose, but he couldn’t be sure of the species because sometimes the white Snow Goose breeds with the white Ross’s Goose to form a hybrid.  This bird seemed to have traits of both.
  
 
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