The Chat

Buchanan County Bird 

 Club Newsletter

       Editors Roger & Lynda Mayhorn

The Buchanan County Bird Club meets the 2^nd Monday of each month at the Buchanan County

  Public Library at 6:00 PM

      http://www.bcbirdclub.org

Volume 6   Issue 2 February 2007

February 12^th  Club Meeting 

Ed Talbott III showed video of the 2006 Burkes Garden outing. I (Roger Mayhorn) showed video of the Cooper’s Hawk that has been hanging around our house on Compton Mt.

                                                                                                                     March 12^th Club Meeting

I presented a Power Point program on the February 24^th   2007 outing to Burkes Garden. Plans were made to have a birding outing in the Breaks Park for Saturday, April 14^th. Everyone will meet in the parking lot in front of the lodge at 9:00 a.m. Some of those wishing to eat breakfast at the lodge restaurant plan to arrive at 8:00. We will bird the park during the morning, then break for lunch. You have a choice of bringing a picnic lunch or eating in the lodge restaurant. More birding will take place after lunch. 

                                                                                                                     Participation in GBBC

Johnnie & Betty Ratliff, David Raines, Ed & Mary Talbott, Cheryl Thompson and Lynda and myself took part in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count February 16-19 sponsored by the National Audubon Society. 45 species were recorded over the 4 day period with a total of 1460 birds in our area. Many thanks to those who participated.

Here is the list of species logged:   

American Crow

American Goldfinch

American Kestrel

American Robin 

Blue Jay    

Brown Thrasher

Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Wren  

Cedar Waxwing  

Common Grackle

Cooper’s Hawk

Dark-eyed Junco   

Downy Woodpecker 

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Towhee

European Starling

Field Sparrow  

Great Blue Heron

Hairy Woodpecker

Hermit Thrush

House Finch 

House Sparrow

Killdeer  

Mourning Dove 

Northern Cardinal

Northern Flicker

Northern Mockingbird

Pileated Woodpecker

Purple Finch         

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-shouldered Hawk 

Red-tailed Hawk   

Red-winged Blackbird

Rock Pigeon

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Song Sparrow

Tufted Titmouse

Turkey Vulture

Wild Turkey

Winter Wren

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-throated Sparrow

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

                                             Spring Birds Returning

During late January and early February the migrants began showing up in our area. The first Common Grackle (in photo) showed up at Ed & Mary Talbott’s feeders at Big Rock the last of January. Recently Ed has counted more than 80 Grackles at his place. Grackles like being near water, and Ed & Mary live near the Levisa River. That may account in part for their high numbers. The fact that Ed & Mary put out a lot of seed may also play a part.

Don Carrier found 2 Canvasbacks (ducks) at Middlebrook Lake near his home in Bristol on February 16^th , and on February 17^th he saw 2 Lesser Scaup at Osceola Island just below the South Holston Dam. The next day he found Green-winged Teal, Redheads, Gadwall, Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, American Wigeon and Mallards at Osceola.

Lynda and I had two Brown Thrashers at our feeders here on Compton Mt on February 19^th, and a Chipping Sparrow at the feeder on February 21^st.

Club members Jerry and Jane Thornhill, who live near Lebanon, VA, visited the area of Elk Garden called “The Mudhole” on February 25^th. “The Mudhole” is an area of low lying pastureland that often holds water for long periods. On this day they found 33 Mallards, 2 American Black Ducks, and 8 Canada Geese there.

Don and Dawn Carrier had their first Common Grackle of the season at their home on February 26^th. 

Johnnie Ratliff saw both a Tree Swallow and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow near his home at the mouth of Little Prater on March 1^st.

Ed Talbott II saw 4 Ring-necked Ducks on Laurel Lake on March 3^rd.

David Raines saw a lone Purple Martin passing through at Riverview Elementary on March 6^th.

Also on March 6^th., new club member Faye Metzl saw a Hermit Thrush in the Guest River Gorge near Coeburn.

We had a male Brown-headed Cowbird at our feeder on Compton Mt on March 7^th.

Don and Dawn Carrier also had a male cowbird at their feeders in Bristol on the same day.

David Raines found a Brown Thrasher at his daughter’s house on Slate Creek on March 7^th. He also had 2 Tree Swallows at his home in the Breaks on March 10^th.

                                    Birder of the Month Award

The Birder of the Month award for the month of February goes to Don Carrier for photographing the Green-tailed Towhee, a western species that appeared at a home in Galax, VA on February 13, 2007.    Don drove to Galax on February 18th, where he was warmly welcomed by the land owner, Robert Perkins, and his wife, Rena. The bird was in the couple’s backyard, and Don was able to get some excellent photos. Because of Don’s photos the members of VARCOM (Virginia Records Committee), who keep track of such sightings, were able to raise the level of the sighting from a category 2 to a category 1, which means that there is visual proof of the sighting.

This is the first time this species has appeared in VA since 1953. There have been only 3 previously reported sightings within the state.

Don’s photos of the bird will appear in the Virginia Birding Journal and have already been used in local papers with articles about the sighting. Congratulations Don!

                                                                  Members’ Photo Gallery

                           Burkes Garden Bird Outing

The Burkes Garden Outing for the BCBC, that had been postponed earlier due to bad weather, took place on February 24th. The weather was beautiful with 50 degree temperatures. Twelve club members were there to join in the fun. The group met at Hardees in Tazewell at 8:00 a.m., then made its way to the Garden, where the birding began. Forty-two species were counted for the day with the sighting of a Peregrine Falcon being the day’s highlight. The birders stopped by the quaint Burkes Garden store for lunch, then continued birding. Some other interesting birds found during the day were 6 American Kestrels, 18 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Cooper’s Hawk, 6 Common Ravens, 1 Loggerhead Shrike, 4 Hooded Mergansers, 10 Wood Ducks, 2 Northern Shovelers, 6 Green-winged Teal, 1 Redhead, 9 Wilson’s Snipe and 1 Red-headed Woodpecker, which was a lifebird for Don Carrier.

Those who took part in the day were Don Carrier, Mollie McCutchen, Faye Metzl, Marie Miller, David Raines, Ed & Michelle Talbott, Jerry & Jane Thornhill, Sheldon Woods and Lynda and I.

Ed Talbott III has more photos of the outing on his web site at http://www.pbase.com/aquilaet/burkes1

                                                                                                    Interesting Bird Behavior  

David Raines saw an American Kestrel being mobbed by a flock of Blue Jays on February 10th. Later he saw, what was probably the same Kestrel with no tail feathers. Also on February 10th David saw an adult Red-shouldered Hawk at his neighbor's in the Breaks. 

 On February 18th David and his son, Holden, watched a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk come to the ground near their house and tear at a clump of grass. This went on for a few minutes. The hawk finally flew away, and David went to examine the grass clump. There was nothing there that he could see.

On February 25th Lynda and I watched a Red-shouldered Hawk (in photo) that flew in to perch on one of our bluebird boxes. The bird sat there for a few minutes, then flew to the ground and tried to get to a chipmunk by sticking its foot down into the chipmunk's hole. It was unsuccessful. There are more photos of the attempt at http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/red_shld_hk 

Lately we have had a pair of Eastern Bluebirds hanging around our yard and checking out our nest boxes. On March 3rd Lynda and I watched as the male fought his image in the mirrors and windows of our SUV (see photo). At times he got so caught up in the "fight" that he would fight his image for a few seconds, then land on the top of the mirror and peck himself in the back as far as he could reach. He would hang almost upside down on the mirror and peck at his own back. Once he dropped from the mirror as if locked in combat with another male and rolled about on the ground. After a couple of hours of this I went out, taped paper over the mirrors and rolled down the windows. As soon as I left the male returned. He couldn't find the other male so he went inside the vehicle looking for him. After a few minutes he gave up and went back to courting the female. I did get some of his unusual behavior on video. 

                      Early Rose-breasted Grosbeak in KY

Apologies to Larry Pinson for not having included this info in the last newsletter.  Larry lives in Eastern KY near the TN – KY line. On February 6^th 2007 Larry saw a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, like the one shown here, at his feeder. This is a bit early for this species in our area, but then Larry lives a bit farther south than most of us. We can expect this species to come through the area in numbers in mid-April.

Pileated Visit

Larry Pinson took his dogs for a walk in the snow on February 18^th and a Pileated Woodpecker swooped into a Crab Apple Tree near him and began to eat fruit. He watched as it ate 6 crab apples. The bird was similar to the one in this photo, which was taken by Richard Kretz, except the one Larry saw was a female and the one in this nice photo is a male. The dark red stripe running from the base of the bill toward the neck marks it as a male.

Larry says he has more than one that visit his trees every day.

                  Looking Forward to Purple Martin Season

This photo (taken by Johnnie Ratliff) shows what Johnnie & Betty Ratliff’s Purple Martin houses looked like at the end of the nesting season in 2006.

Johnnie & Betty have been hosts to nesting Purple Martins since 1964. This past year they had a great year with 48 nesting martin pairs. The birds layed 242 eggs and 234 of them hatched. 221 young birds fledged from their martin houses.

The information about their nesting martins appeared in an issue of Nature Society News, a monthly publication mostly written about Purple Martins for people interested in martins.

Johnnie & Betty are expecting their first martins of the season to return to their houses any day now.

                                                                         Red-tails Get Lunch

Don Carrier recently recounted this story to me over the phone. It seems he was outside his work place in Bristol talking with some co-workers, when a Red-tailed Hawk suddenly flew in and took a pigeon from the top of the building just above the workers’ heads. According to Don the group was showered with feathers from the hit. The female workers screamed, but the guys thought it was cool.

The next day Don was in the same area talking with his boss, when he saw the hawk approaching once again. He pointed it out to his boss, and they watched as the hawk flew in coming in from behind an unsuspecting pigeon, and once again got its lunch.

Ed Talbott II was playing golf on February 26^th in Jenkins, KY when a Red-tailed Hawk flew down and landed about 20 yards away and caught a mouse. The hawk covered its kill with its wings, but another Red-tail flew in and snatched the mouse and took off.

A short time later on the same golf course Ed saw another hawk that he thought might be a Rough-legged Hawk.

                                                                           Warbler Rediscovered in Thailand

Cheryl Thomson, who keeps up to date on bird news, sent us an email about the Large-billed Reed Warbler, a bird that has been rediscovered after 130 years. You can read the story and see a photo at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17490571/

                        Visit to Assateague Island

Club member Mollie McCutchen got to visit Virginia’s and Maryland’s Assateague Island last summer. While there she was fortunate to watch a bird bander trap and band birds. She watched as the bander set up his mist nets. These are very fine nets designed to trap small birds without injuring them. It was there she took this photo of a Prairie Warbler being held by the bander. The bander was a retiree from Cornell University.

Tracking Golden Eagles on the Internet

Two Golden Eagles were fitted with transmitters in Pennsylvania in November, and have since come down into WV and KY. You can track them by going to http://www.aviary.org/csrv/trackPA.php  At the moment one is in WV, south of Charleston, and the other is in KY.

Watching Bald Eagles on the Nest through Webcams

Club member Dave Worley posted this address to a webcam at Norfolk Botanical Gardens where a pair of Bald Eagles are feeding at least two chicks. You can watch the eagles at their nest at http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle.html

If you are on dial-up it may take a minute or so for the picture to come up. Remember also that you can’t see the birds after dark.

Ring-necked Pheasant in KY

I received an email from Bob Sweaney of Pike County KY. He and his wife had been working in their yard on March 13^th when a male Ring-necked Pheasant came walking up the road. The bird continued up the road for about a quarter of a mile. Since there are no known wild pheasants in KY, this bird was probably an escapee or had been brought into the area by resident sportsmen.

             Birding in Southern West Virginia

On March 10^th nine members of the BCBC drove to Hinton, WV to look for waterfowl and birds of prey. They weren’t disappointed. The group met at Wal-mart at Claypool Hill, then drove on into WV via Bluefield and Princeton. After a stop at Pipestem State Park the group went on to Bluestone Dam just up river from Hinton, WV. There were lots of waterfowl on the lake with a Horned Grebe, Pied-billed Grebes, Ruddy Ducks, Hooded Mergansers and Common Mergansers being some of the species found. The birders then drove to Mt Valley Lake near Hinton where Buffleheads, American Wigeons, American Black Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Scaup and Ring-necked Ducks were found. When the group stopped for lunch at the Dairy Queen in Hinton, they were joined by Ann and Grady McRae, members of the Bibbee Nature Club of Bluefield. After lunch the group drove down the New River to Sandstone Falls. A Red-tailed Hawk followed the caravan along the road and offered opportunities for photos.

The icing on the cake was the sighting of an immature Bald Eagle at Bluestone Dam in the evening. The bird was first sighted by Ed Caudill, who saw it go into a large Pine. In a few minutes the eagle flew out and began to circle. It circled right over the group giving everyone the opportunity for great looks.

Those who went on the outing were Don and Dawn Carrier, Ed & Barbara Caudill, Ann & Grady McRae, Ed & Mary Talbott, Sheldon Woods and Lynda and I.

                     Long Eared Owls in KY

Bob Riggs, Tom Hunter and Richard Kretz took off  from Lebanon, VA on a 4 hour drive to Danville KY on March 12^th. Their goal was to get there to see some Long Eared Owls that were hanging out in a backyard. This northern species is normally found in the northern part of the U.S. or in Canada. These guys were able to see the birds and Richard got some photos, including the nice one shown here.

                                Goldeneye at Osceola

Don Carrier got this shot of a beautiful female Goldeneye on March 8^th at Osceola Island near the South Holston Dam. This was another lifebird for Don.