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The
Buchanan County Bird Club meets the Volume 3 Issue 4 April 2004 |
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March 8 Club Meeting 18 attended this March meeting. New guests, Harry and Phyllis Scott, were welcomed. Plans were made for an outing to the new Birch Knob observation tower on April 10. An “Open House” was planned for the next club meeting on April 12. Johnnie & Betty Ratliff discussed their trip to Costa Rica. Ed Talbott then presented video of the Bufflehead, a new Buchanan County species. David Raines then presented part of an excellent hummingbird video, which introduced all of the hummingbirds of North America. |
 Johnnie & Betty Contribute
AgainJohnnie and Betty Ratliff recently donated 35 new predator guards for the nest boxes on the county Bluebird Trails. Johnnie bought the materials and constructed the guards. He and Roger Mayhorn spent the day of April 5 at the Mountain Top Golf Course, replacing the old guards that had deteriorated due to sunlight. These new guards are made of 6 inch diameter, thin walled water pipe. The 2 foot section of pipe is mounted to the nest box pole and a piece of wire (hardware cloth) is attached to the top end. This prevents snakes, cats or raccoons from climbing to the nest box. The club and the bluebirds owe a big “Thank You” to Johnnie & Betty. |
 The Migrants Have ReturnedDavid Raines found a Blue-headed Vireo, the first of the neotropical migrants of the spring at Laurel Lake in the Breaks Park on March 20 (new early record). March 25 David found a Tree Swallow at the Willowbrook Country Club (new early record). On March 29 Roger & Lynda Mayhorn found the first warbler of the season, a Yellow-throated Warbler, at the State Line overlook in the park. March 30 Ed Talbott II saw the first Northern Rough-winged Swallow of the season near the mouth of Slate Creek in Grundy. On April 1 Ed & Mary Talbott had a pair of Brewer’s Blackbirds at their feeders at Big Rock. While birding in the Breaks Park Ed & Michelle Talbott saw the first Osprey of the season pass by overhead. April 6 Michelle Talbott found two Vesper Sparrows at Poplar Gap Park. April 7 David Raines saw the first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher of the season at his house on Middle Fork. A few days later Shirley Justus found one on Guesses Fork of Hurley. April 8 Roger & Lynda Mayhorn found the first Yellow Warbler of the season in the Head of Slate Creek. This was the first warbler of the season found within Buchanan County. |
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Four Grebe Species at Musick’s Wallace Coffey and Rack Cross checked South Holston Lake at Musick’s Campground on March 9. There they found 9 Eared Grebes, 15 Horned Grebes, 3 Red-necked Grebes and 14 Pied-billed Grebes. |
 First Hummers Appear On the evening of April 6, 2004 Johnnie Ratliff called Roger Mayhorn to tell him that he and Betty had their first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the season. The male hummer showed up at their feeder around 4:00 PM. Later Johnnie learned that a couple at Vansant had had a hummer at their feeder two days earlier on April 4. So, if you don’t have your feeders out yet, now is the time to do it. The hummers usually appear at feeders in the valleys several days before they show up at feeders on the nearby mountains. |
 Burkes Garden OutingEleven members of the BCBC turned out for the outing at Burkes Garden in Tazewell County. The weather was rather mild, and the group logged 41 species for the day. After birding during the morning the birders stopped at the little country store in the Garden and had lunch. The highlights of the species observed were 6 Red-tailed Hawks, 5 American Kestrels, 8 Common Ravens, a few Tree Swallows, Ring-necked Ducks, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Snipe and Killdeer, as well as Horned Larks and Eastern Meadowlarks. |
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Wallace Coffey to Lecture Club member, Wallace Coffey of Bristol TN, is giving a series of lectures that explore spring in the Appalachian Mountains. His first lecture on March 25 was on “Birds of the Appalachian Region”. Wallace is presenting his lecture series in the Executive Auditorium of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education System. Other dates for Wallace’s lectures are April 1, 8, 15, and 22. These lectures are part of the Arts Array cultural outreach series sponsored by Virginia Highlands Community College and are free to the public. |
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Interesting Events On March 10 Ed Talbott III heard from his cousin that Woodcock were displaying near the ballfield at the Grundy Airport. |
| March 14 Roger & Lynda Mayhorn had a Pine Siskin at their feeder. On that day they also found a Red-bellied Woodpecker excavating a cavity in the top of a Black Locust snag on their property. They watched a lone male Woodcock displaying in their yard every evening at dusk for a couple of weeks. |
| David Raines found a pair of Hooded Mergansers on the George Mullins Pond on March 19. The Mullins Pond is the one next to the marsh just on the Breaks side of Bull Mountain. Earlier in the week on the 16th David found a Great Blue Heron and a Pied-billed Grebe on Laurel Lake in the Breaks Park.David and Tim Fields, another teacher at Riverview, (also the son-in-law of Ed & Barbara Caudill) have been watching a pair of Red-tailed Hawks on their nest just across the river from the school. They thought the hawks were carrying food. |
| Johnnie Ratliff and Roger Mayhorn erected three nest boxes at Marie Miller’s on March 21. Marie hopes to draw more birds onto her property on Slate Creek. Johnnie built and donated the boxes. |
| Ed & Mary Talbott had hundreds of American Goldfinches at their feeders on March 22. They also had five or six Chipping Sparrows. |
| Johnnie & Betty Ratliff recently saw an Osprey fly over as they were driving through Shortt’s Gap on April 3. |
 Sharp-shins Over the GorgeDuring the week-end of April 1-4 Ed & Michelle Talbott birded the Breaks Park searching for new spring arrivals. A pair of Sharp-shinned Hawks (one at left) were soaring over the gorge in the park. Blue-headed Vireos were found throughout the park. 2 Black-throated Green Warblers were also found and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. A Singing Hermit Thrush, a bird that normally does not sing nor nest in our area, was a highlight of the outing. More about this avian expedition can be found at http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/Spr04/Breaks1.htm |
 Purple Finches at the Mayhorns’On March 22 with an inch of snow on the ground Roger and Lynda Mayhorn had 16 Purple Finches at their sunflower seed platform feeder. The 10 males and 6 females arrived early and stayed all day. Purple Finches have been visitors at the Mayhorns’ feeders all winter, but not usually in such large numbers. A Pine Siskin had visited the feeder on March 21. Another appeared again on March 24. Also at the feeder were 27 Red-winged Blackbirds, 3 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and the usual, nearly 100 American Goldfinches.4 Eastern Bluebirds are also coming to be fed mealworms each morning. |
 Birding The Breaks ParkEd & Michelle Talbott again birded the Breaks Park on April 9, 2004 looking for returning migrants. They were not disappointed. They found 4 Black-and-White Warblers (one pictured here), 25 Black-throated Green Warblers and Northern Rough-winged Swallows in addition to Wood Ducks and a Pied-billed Grebe on Laurel Lake. The two birders found a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, and they also logged their first Broad-winged Hawk of the season. For more photos and more about their outing go to Ed’s website at http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/Spr04/Breaks2.htm |
 Bluebird Trail Update11 Eastern Bluebird nests already containing a total of 3 eggs have been found in the 41 nest boxes of the Compton Mountain and the Johnnie & Betty Ratliff Bluebird Trails. A 12th box contained a Carolina Chickadee nest. On March 10 Johnnie Ratliff and Roger Mayhorn put up 13 new boxes on the Johnnie & Betty Ratliff trail in the Breaks community. Johnnie and Roger replaced the predator guards on 10 boxes on the Mountain Top Golf Course on April 5. Plans are in the works to eventually replace all of the old bowl type guards with the new 6 inch diameter plastic pipe guards. These should make it very difficult for predators to get into the boxes. The club bluebird trails have been fortunate so far. They have had no known predation. |
 No Purple Martins YetRoger Mayhorn (left) and Johnnie Ratliff have been waiting for Purple Martins (our largest swallow) to come to their martin houses this year, but so far they have had no luck. Johnnie, who, until a few years ago had housed Purple Martins for years, had 3 martins visiting his house last year and had one nest of Tree Swallows in one of the gourds attached to the martin house. Johnnie had one Tree Swallow that visited his house in March. Roger had one as well. Tree Swallows have since been seen in the area but so far they have not attempted nest building. However, the season is still young. Martins could show up to nest until the end of May, and the Tree Swallows built their nest in the gourd at Johnnie’s in June of last year. In the 1960’s and 70’s Purple Martin houses and martin colonies were common in the area, but now unfortunately are rarely seen. Another colony of swallows, the Northern Rough-winged Swallow is nesting under the bridge near Johnnie’s house. Rough-wings can often be found nesting under bridges. Cliff Swallows, which are not known to nest in Buchanan County, but do so in Russell, will also nest under bridges. |
 Red-shouldered Hawk NestRoger & Lynda Mayhorn found a Red-shouldered Hawk on the nest in the Breaks Park on March 25, 2004. The nest is about 30 feet up in the fork of a large American Beech Tree near the lower end of the Bike Trail. It is hoped that birders will be able to observe the young being fed by the parent birds after hatching takes place. So far no young have been observed. |
 Kingfisher NestWhile working is his yard on March 24, David Raines noticed a pair of Belted Kingfishers near the bank of the small stream that runs not far from his house. He observed the male excavating a hole (left) in the bank about 2 feet above the streambed, and about 1 foot below the edge of the bank. The female sat on a wire nearby and chattered as the male worked. The two have been sporadic in their digging. They work for a short time then leave, probably to feed. David is going to keep an eye on the nest hole. Hopefully club members will get a chance to see these parents bringing minnows to their young in the near future. |
 Peregrines May be Released in the Breaks Park Buchanan County Bird Club Vice President, Ed Talbott III has been in contact with members of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The VDGIF is interested in possibly hacking ( releasing ) young Peregrine Falcons in the Breaks Park. A team is coming to the area later in April to check out the park. The VDGIF needs the help of the BCBC to first check out the park to make sure there are no Peregrines already nesting within the park, and to make sure that there are no Great Horned Owls nesting in the area. Great Horned Owls kill young Peregrines that have no parent birds to protect them. Later the bird club will be needed to help keep an eye on the newly released birds. The club may be able to help out in other ways as well. It is believed that the Breaks Park was the last place in the state to have been home to wild Peregrines before their decline in the 1960’s and 70’s due to DDT poisoning, etc. |
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