Buchanan County Bird Club Newsletter

Editors Roger & Lynda Mayhorn

                                                  Birding On Compton Mountain

Don Carrier and David Raines came to bird at our place here on the mountain on July 3rd. Fortunately, it was a rather cool morning at 61 degrees with blue sky and low humidity. We birded our yard, our birding trail, then the dirt road that runs into the woods. We were able to find 49 species for the day. Some of those were Black-throated Green Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Ovenbird, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Yellow-throated Warbler (photo).

The biggest surprise of the day was the flyover of two Great Blue Herons, a sight we don't see often here on the mountain.

                                                                                    Roger Mayhorn

                                              Unexpected Visitors At The Thornhills'

In mid-July Jerry and Jane Thornhill  were seeing a few Cedar Waxwings at their place near Lebanon, VA. Since they rarely see waxwings there, this was a treat.

A few weeks before that they spotted Eastern Bluebirds, which was the first time they had ever seen that species near their property. On July 14th they found that the bluebirds were nesting in one of their nest boxes that had already hosted a family of Tree Swallows.

Another rare visitor to their place in July was a Scarlet Tanager. 

                                                              An Uninvited Guest

On July 3rd this Rat Snake decided it wanted to come and "stay for a spell" at our house. I first noticed something was amiss when I saw a chipmunk that was making its way around the rocks on the pond, suddenly leap about 2 ft into the air and disappear a couple of feet away into some flowers. I then saw a Mourning Dove come down to the stones near one end of the pond and start flipping its wing at something. That's when I realized that we had a 2 ft Rat Snake near the pond. The snake came out of the rocks and headed toward our house. I headed it off and stopped in front of it. It tried to go around me. It was about to get past me when I used a stick to flip it about 6 ft back toward the pond. It tried going around me again. I flipped it again. It took three flips before the snake finally realized that it wasn't going to be allowed to go to our house. I watched as it crossed the yard stream and headed back into the woods. I don't mind a Rat Snake in my storage shed. I had one there for 2 years, but I don't want one in my house. I would have to get a new wife :)

I have seen doves herd a snake before using their wings. You can see photos of it at http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/doves_snake&page=all 

                                                                                  Roger Mayhorn 

                                                    Mockers At The Ratliffs'

Betty Ratliff took this picture of a Northern Mockingbird in their yard at the mouth of Little Prater near Grundy. Ten or twelve years ago it would have been unusual to find mockingbirds in Buchanan County, but since that time they have slowly moved in and increased in numbers. Now Johnnie and Betty have at least two pairs of them nesting in their yard each year. The birds put on  a show as they flip open their wings while hunting for insects around the yard. The birds flip open their wings to scare up the insects. Mockingbirds, being very territorial, often attack other birds that come too close to their nesting area. Sometimes their attacks are not limited to birds. Johnnie and Betty's cat has often been the recipient of these attacks. Johnnie said that for awhile the cat was afraid to go outdoors. 

                                                                 A Good Day For Birds

On July 20th I noticed quite a bit of bird activity at our yard stream. First a female Hooded Warbler came to drink and bathe. She was followed by a Northern Parula, which was soon followed by a Black-and-White Warbler. Then came a female Cerulean Warbler (photo), a Yellow-breasted Chat, a female Black-throated Green Warbler, a Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireos, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and Cedar Waxwings. Overhead were Barn Swallows and Chimney Swifts feeding, and a Turkey Vulture making lazy circles against the sky.. Yellow-billed Cuckoos called while staying hidden in the tree foliage in the backyard. The regulars - chickadees, towhees, titmice, cardinals, nuthatches and finches made regular trips to the sunflower seed feeders. 

Red-bellied, and Downy Woodpeckers competed for turns at the peanut butter mixture in the suet cage.

                                                                                        Roger Mayhorn                

                                               More Great Egrets In Buchanan County

I photographed these two Great Egrets on a neighbor's property here on Compton Mt on July 22nd. The neighbor called to tell me he had two large, white birds in one of his fields. When I arrived  I found these two birds perched in the tree tops. This was only the fourth record of this species reported within the county.

On July 24th David Raines called to tell me that there were two Great Egrets at the Willowbrook Country Club in the Breaks community. We were wondering if the two egrets at the country club could possibly be the same two that I had photographed. Normally I might say it is unlikely because the two sightings are on opposite sides of the county, but since the sighting of this species within the county is so rare, it raises the possibility that they are the same birds to a higher level.

                                                                                            Roger Mayhorn

                                           White Barn Swallow In Russell County

BCBC member Tom Hunter took this photo of a beautiful white Barn Swallow on Clifton Farms Rd in Russell County on July 25th. This shot was taken with a strong telephoto lens and Tom wasn't able to get close enough to determine if the bird was a leucistic (partially white) or completely albino (all white, pink eyes, etc.) Whichever it was, it was a great find. More photos of the bird can be seen on Tom's website at

http://www.pbase.com/opiehunter/white_barn_swallow  

                                         First July Grosbeak In Buchanan County

On July 23rd an immature male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, like the one in this photo, showed up in our yard here on Compton Mountain. The bird didn't stay around long enough for a photo. The bird probably came in to feed on the wild cherries that the Cedar Waxwings and others were eating. This is the first reported sighting of this species ever recorded within the county in July.  We have only one sighting ever reported in June and two in the month of August. 

You may remember from last month's newsletter that Jerry and Jane Thornhill had the unusual sighting of a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak at their place in Russell County on June 24th. 

On July 25th a Chestnut-sided Warbler was also found feeding in our yard. There are only 3 previous recorded sightings for Chestnut-sided Warblers in the county during the month of July.

                                                                                                                                                         Bluebirds Fledge

A pair of Eastern Bluebirds  finished their second successful nesting in our yard on July 26th. The parents were good parents and were constantly bringing food to the 4 nestlings. I sometimes put out mealworms (left photo) for them and the parents wasted no time in carrying off as many as I could produce. One day they carried away 36 mealworms in about 30 minutes. I'm not sure if they fed all of those to the nestlings immediately. Let's hope not.

On the morning of July 26th I went out early to feed the fish in the fish pond. The male bluebird was sitting on the electrical wire above, where he had a good view of the nest box. The nest box is located at the end of the pond only a few steps from where I was standing. I saw a young bluebird poke its head from the entrance hole. I heard a whoosh of air and realized that the parent male had just zoomed by my ear. Before I could get the fish fed he did this two more times. 

After I got away from the box I watched from a distance. When the male left to hunt for more food I grabbed my camera and took the photo (right photo) of the young one watching me from the box. I watched for a few minutes then went about my day. A couple of hours later I saw no activity at the box. The parents were nowhere to be seen. I went to the box and found it empty. The young ones had already fledged.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Roger Mayhorn 

                                                                         Nestbox Surprise

When I do my weekly check of the bluebird nest boxes on the bluebird trail on Compton Mountain, I check the boxes on our property, which are part of that trail. On July 19th as I checked one of the boxes I noticed  material in the box that didn't look like a bird nest. I thought it might be a Flying Squirrel's nest. They sometimes use an empty nest box. Before I could examine the nest material an adult Flying Squirrel suddenly shot out of the entrance hole and landed on a nearby tree (photo). It quickly scooted around to the shaded side of the tree and froze. It thought it was hidden. I quickly went for my camera and took the above photo. The flaps of skin on the squirrel's side that it uses to glide from one spot to another can be seen in the photo. Flying squirrels don't really fly as birds do. They can't take off from the ground. They climb to the top of a tree and launch themselves into the air. They then glide to another tree where they cling to the bark.

                                                                                          Roger Mayhorn

                                               Compton Mountain Sunset

On July 16th we had an evening rainstorm, and afterwards a beautiful sunset. There are some advantages to living on top of a mountain.

Early                                          

I was   I was asked recently why the Eastern Bluebird Trail on Keen Mountain is named for Early White, so I decided to dig out this article I wrote for the local paper in 2005.      Roger Mayhorn

                                                                                                                             Early White Honored by Buchanan County Bird Club

    Early White, a former resident of Buchanan County, and a man who loved birds, was honored by the Buchanan County Bird Club on March 15, when club members established a bluebird trail at Keen Mountain Park in his name.

     Many Buchanan County residents will remember that for several years during the 1970’s and 80’s Early White wrote a column about birds for the Virginia Mountaineer. He studied birds for over 30 years. One of his favorite subjects was his Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that he watched for hours at his home on Watkins Branch. He kept records of arrival and departure dates for these tiny visitors each year, as well as recording data on other local bird species. In April of 1978 Early wrote an article about hummingbirds for the magazine “Virginia Wildlife” called “Rubies in Your Garden”. Early was fascinated by birds. He estimated that during some winters he put out as much as 500 pounds of bird seed to help the birds make it through until spring.

      In 1981 after Early’s retirement from William Supply, a mining supply firm, he combined his hobby of woodworking with his love of birds by building more than 50 bluebird boxes and erecting 18 of them at Willowbrook County Club. Early was aware that Eastern Bluebirds, being cavity nesters, have problems finding nesting holes because of the lack of large old trees, and competition from European Starlings and House Sparrows. The numbers of bluebirds were at an all time low during the 1950’s until people started putting up nest boxes for them. Early’s son Jeff told of coming home from college on week-ends and helping his dad assemble bluebird boxes in their basement. Early continued his study of birds when he and his wife, Maizie, moved to Abingdon in the mid 80’s, where they lived until their deaths.

     After the Buchanan County Bird Club was formed in December of 2001, and a database was established to record information on birds within the county, members wondered about the whereabouts of Early’s notebooks containing his birding information. Roger and Lynda Mayhorn, Ed Talbott III and Johnnie Ratliff tried to locate them. Finally, in the spring of 2004 Roger and Lynda located Early’s son, Jeff White, living in Abingdon. He had his father’s notebooks and was glad to allow the club access to the information. A few months after the notebooks were returned to him, Jeff was killed in a tractor accident.

     The bird club had already decided to honor Early by establishing a bluebird trail in his name. Club members, Johnnie and Betty Ratliff, paid for the materials and Johnnie built the 10 nest boxes and predator guards. Permission was obtained from supervisor, Buddy Fuller to erect the trail at Keen Mountain Park. Park attendant, Bonnie Mullins, was very helpful in deciding the best area for the boxes.  Since most of the bird club members work during the week, Johnnie Ratliff and Roger Mayhorn put up the boxes on March 15. Shortly after the boxes were up, Kenneth and Patty Horn, who live near the park told Johnnie that they were willing to have boxes placed on their property. The trail was then extended to a total of 20 boxes. Bluebirds were seen investigating the boxes only a few hours after they were erected. Within a few days the first pair of Eastern Bluebirds had started a nest. Buchanan County Bird Club members think that Early White would approve.