The Chat
Buchanan County Bird Club Newsletter
Editors Roger and 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

Volume 4     Issue 4     April 2005

Fifteen members attended the March meeting with some welcome visitors. Bob Riggs of Russell County added his welcome birding expertise to the meeting, and two new visitors, Joel and Jason Meade, potential club members, attended their first club meeting. A proposal was made by Roger Mayhorn to name the new Keen Mt. Park bluebird trail the Early White Bluebird Trail in honor of Early White, a former birder of Buchanan County. The proposal passed. Roger also proposed that the new trail around the lake in the Breaks Park be named the David Raines Bluebird Trail in honor of the work David is doing regarding the Johnnie and Betty Ratliff Bluebird Trail in the Breaks area. That proposal also passed. Secretary/Treasurer Lynda Mayhorn presented information about purchasing club shirts, and Roger Mayhorn presented a power point program on spring migrants. Club dues were collected for 2005.

Monday, April 11 – The regular monthly meeting of the Buchanan County Bird Club – 6:00 p.m. Members, who wish to, will meet at Italian Village for a pre-meeting dinner at 5:00 p.m. 

Saturday, April 16 – Birders are to meet at 8:00 a.m. at the lodge in the Breaks Park to bird the park for spring migrants. Those who want to have breakfast at the lodge are arriving at 7:00 a.m. 

Friday, April 22 – Peggy Spiegel, member of the VSO, and member of the New River Valley Bird Club will present a program called “The Dashing World of Hummingbirds” at 10:00 a.m. to the annual Mid-Atlantic Garden Fair at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon, VA. The fee is $5.00 per day for the fair or $10:00 for the three-day event. Lectures are included in the price of admission.

May 19-22 Magee Marsh Trip – These dates are still not definite. The festival at Magee Marsh (Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge) is usually held the week-end of The International Migratory Bird Day, which this year is on the week-end of May 14. We usually plan our trip the week-end after to avoid the large crowds. So far nothing has been posted on the Ottawa NWR’s web page. 

Saturday, June 11 – Members of the Buchanan County Bird Club will meet members of the Bluefield Bibbee Nature Club at 9:00 a.m. at the Flowers Bakery Outlet at the intersection of Rte. 460 and Rte 680. This is about half way between Richlands and Grundy. Rte 680 is the road crossing Bill Young Mt. The group will then cross Bill Young Mountain and travel up to Horn Mountain. After spending the morning driving/birding Horn Mountain the birders will then drive up to Keen Mt. Park, where they will eat their picnic lunches and bird around the park area.

Club president, Roger Mayhorn, received a call on April 4 from a member of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. He was told two that two individuals involved in the Peregrine hacking or release program would be coming to the Breaks Park in April to train those interested in learning how to acclimate and release Peregrine Falcons in the area – a program that was initiated in 2004. Two Peregrine Falcons are set for release within the Breaks Park in May. The exact date for the training is not yet set, but it is planned for a Saturday in April. As bird club members, and to show our support for this program, we should, if at all possible, make ourselves available for this one day of training, even if we can’t be more closely involved with the actual care and release of the falcons. If this release works out, more Peregrines may be released here in the future. 

Twenty new bluebird nest boxes have been erected at Keen Mt. Park. This new bluebird trail, now known as the Early White Bluebird Trail, was completed on April 4 by Johnnie Ratliff and Roger Mayhorn. The two erected the first ten boxes on March 15. A Fellow church member of Johnnie and Betty Ratliff, Kenneth Horn, who lives a short distance from the park, saw the boxes and stated that he had some property where more boxes could be placed. Roger and Johnnie then placed ten more boxes on the Horn property on April 4, extending the Early White Trail to twenty boxes. Johnnie and Betty once again provided these boxes, poles, and predator guards, and Johnnie once again assembled the boxes. Roger and Lynda Mayhorn painted the boxes, numbered them and painted the club name on each. As of April 1 the first box on the trail had the beginnings of a nest inside. Watch for an article in the Mountaineer about the club honoring Early White.

On March 21 Roger and Johnnie put in place six nest boxes around Laurel Lake within the Breaks Park. This trail, now known as the David Raines Bluebird Trail, was also financed by Johnnie and Betty Ratliff. Johnnie assembled the boxes and Roger and Lynda again painted and numbered them. Johnnie and Betty are monitoring the Early White Trail on Keen Mt. David Raines is monitoring the Johnnie and Betty Ratliff Trail in the Breaks area, and Roger and Lynda Mayhorn are monitoring the Compton Mt. Trail. The David Raines Trail around the Breaks Park lake has no official monitor. If any club members could help monitor either of these new trails the help would be appreciated. The trails should be monitored once a week, but if there were several people involved it would be only an occasional responsibility for each.

On March 24 Roger and Lynda Mayhorn and Marie Miller spent a cool damp day in the Breaks area replacing predator guards on the boxes of the Johnnie and Betty Ratliff Trail. Roger and Lynda went back on April 6, a sunny, warm day, to finish the job. A bluebird nest was found in one of the boxes on March 24. This is the earliest nesting record we have had so far for any of the bluebird trails. 

Roger and Lynda Mayhorn have extended the Compton Mt. Trail from 23 boxes to 25, using boxes donated by Johnnie and Betty. As of April 5, twelve of the 25 boxes had nest building material in them. Near one box a pair of Tree Swallows was observed. A pair of Tree Swallows was also observed at a nest box in the field on David Raines’ property in the Breaks. 

Compton Mt Trail at Compton Mt.                  25 boxes
David Raines Trail at the Breaks Park              6 boxes
Early White Trail at Keen Mt. Park                 20 boxes
Johnnie & Betty Ratliff Trail at Breaks, VA    20 boxes

                                          Total:   71 Boxes

The first neotropical (returning from the tropics) migrant of the season, a Blue-headed Vireo, was found by David Raines at the Breaks Park entrance on March 25 2005. This is usually the first returning species found within the county each spring, and the Breaks Park is where they usually appear. They could be following the high ridge of Pine Mountain that extends some 90+ miles from Tennessee northward to the Breaks Park, or they could possibly be following the river into the area. 

Todd Perkins also heard a Blue-headed Vireo at his home at Deskins on March 26 2005.

Johnnie Ratliff had the first Tree Swallows (pictured) of the season on March 21 2005, when two swallows visited the gourds attached to his Purple Martin house. In 2003 Tree Swallows nested in the gourds, but last year the Purple Martins returned and drove the Tree Swallows out. Tree Swallows were also seen on March 26 2005 in the Breaks area at David Raines’ home. On the same day Johnnie Ratliff found Northern Rough-winged Swallows at his and Betty’s home on Little Prater. These brown and white swallows nest under the bridge near the Ratliff home. Ed Talbott III found six Northern Rough-wings feeding over the Levisa River near Grundy on April 1.

Charles Kennedy of Raven Ridge Campground at 3700+ feet in Washington County (about 30 feet from the Russell Co. line) had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird come to his feeder on March 26 2005. This is the first seasonal report of a hummer in the area. 

Johnnie Ratliff reported the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird within the county on April 5 2005, when one appeared at a kitchen window at 9:45 in the morning.

Thirteen Red-breasted Mergansers on Laurel Lake in the Breaks Park March 24 2005 were observed by Marie Miller and Roger and Lynda Mayhorn. This is a record number of that species on that small Lake. 

The first reported Osprey of the season was seen by Ed Talbott III, when one flew over his house at Weller Yard on March 31 2005. The bird was chased down the river by one of the resident Red-tailed Hawks that are nesting behind Ed’s house. There are two active Red-tail nests in the area, one directly behind the house on the ridge and the other in a small hollow between Caney Island Branch and Mike’s Branch, just over the ridge from the Talbott house. 

Roger and Lynda Mayhorn found another active Red-tail nest across the river from Clevinger curve (the next curve below Hardees) on April 6 2005. The head of what looked like a Red-tail was observed peeking above the edge of the nest. The nest can be observed by stopping in the wide area near the curve and looking across and just a bit down the river. The nest is just above the railroad in a tall tree.

Ed also has Eastern Bluebirds around his yard, but so far they have not started nesting in his bluebird box. The Carolina Wrens are once again nesting in his Williamsburg jar ( a pitcher like vessel that is attached to the wall with the opening pointed away from the wall).

The first Black-and-white Warbler was heard by Ed Talbott III at the Breaks Park on the morning of March 3 2005. 

The first Barn Swallow of the season was seen by David Raines in the Breaks on April 2 2005.

The first Yellow-throated Warbler reported this spring was found by Ed Talbott III at SW Community College on April 1 2005 in Tazewell County. The first one found within Buchanan County was found by Roger Mayhorn at the Mountaintop Golf Course on Compton Mt. on April 4 2005.
 

This adult Cooper’s Hawk (right) has been coming regularly to the yard of the Mayhorns on Compton Mt. since March 14 2005. This raptor doesn’t stay long. It zooms in, looks around, then flies away. It was seen carrying away a dead bird that was lying near the feeder, so some raptors are opportunists. They will sometimes eat prey that they haven’t killed.

An American Kestrel was seen sitting on a wire over a pasture on Compton Mt. on March 1 2005. At about the same time Johnnie and Betty Ratliff were seeing one at their feeders at the mouth of Little Prater near Grundy. 

Eleven Wild Turkeys were feeding through a neighbor’s pasture at the Mayhorns on March 14 2005. At the same time eleven Turkey Vultures were circling overhead. Sixteen Turkeys were seen at another location on the mountain later in the day.

Todd Perkins saw 2 Wild Turkeys while in the woods on March 26 2005 and 3 Ruffed Grouse on the same outing. He also observed large flocks of American Robins that same day.

A Group of local Boy Scouts came to the Mayhorns’ place on March 19 2005 to complete work for a merit badge in birding. Roger Mayhorn, along with Scout Masters, Robert Rife and Harold Boyd, took the boys on a hike around the property then down a dirt side road. Several bird species were recorded and the boys learned about bird calls and bird habitat. 

In addition to the 13 Red-breasted Mergansers observed on Laurel Lake in the Breaks Park on March 24 2005 David Raines found 2 male Greater Scaup ( a species of duck), 2 male Blue-winged Teal, 4 Wood Ducks and 1 Pied-billed Grebe.

On March 25 2005 David found the following there: 28 Greater Scaup, 7 Ring-necked Ducks, 10 Wood Ducks, 1 Hooded Merganser, 1 Pied-billed Grebe, 2 Bufflehead and 2 Blue-winged Teal. A female Ring-necked Duck was seen on the lake by the Mayhorns on /April 6 2005.

Six Wood Ducks, a Pied-billed Grebe and a Great Blue Heron were found on the lake by Ed Talbott III on April 3 2005.

Frank Stiltner, living on the Harman side of Bull Mountain, just put up a new Purple Martin House. He is hoping to attract martins this spring. At one time martins were fairly common along the river, because several people had martin houses. Now few people host martins. Johnnie and Betty Ratliff have one of the few martin colonies within the county. Roger Mayhorn has had a house up for the past 2 years, but so far he hasn’t gotten martins. Another fellow on Compton Mt. put up a martin house last year, but he hasn’t yet gotten martins. Retired school teachers, Arthur and Maxine Mullins, on Compton Mt. have plans to put up a martin house as well. Perhaps we will eventually see an increase in Purple Martin numbers in the area. 

Two Pine Siskins were at a feeder on Compton Mt. on March 31 2005. After having been observed off and on during the winter none had been seen at that location since March 3 2005. The late date for Pine Siskins in Buchanan County is March 18 1982, recorded by David Raines in the Breaks. These birds will soon be heading north or to mountains or higher elevations in the area, where they will nest.

The last sighting of a Fox Sparrow on Compton Mountain was on March 17 2005. These birds only come this far south during the winter. In the spring they head north again to their breeding grounds in the Northern U.S. and Canada. They were more numerous this year than they have been for several years.White-throated Sparrows are molting into their bright spring plumage they need to attract a mate. These birds leave for their northern nesting grounds in April. The latest date we have for Buchanan County is April 26 2003 at Keen Mt. Park, when club members were on an outing there.

Purple Finches (above) continue to come to feeders on Compton Mt. This species may be seen in the area until May. The late date for Purple Finches in the county is May 9 1984 at the home of David Raines in the Breaks.  

Dark-eyed Juncos (snow birds) leave for higher elevations during April. The late departure date for this species within the county is April 15 1982. That was also recorded in the Breaks by David Raines.

If you see any of these species after the late dates mentioned, please notify Roger Mayhorn so they can be added to the database. We can learn more about the migration patterns of these species if we know when they arrive and when they leave the area.

In mid March Roger and Lynda Mayhorn discovered a new beaver pond about 4 miles from Whitewood near Brown Mountain. The pond covers about 2 acres and is 2 or 3 feet deep. Belted Kingfishers were sighted there, and on another occasion three Wood Ducks were feeding there. It’s a good place to keep an eye on especially during spring and fall migration of waterfowl and wading birds. 

Only one Wilson’s Snipe (formerly known as the Common Snipe) has been reported in the area this spring. The one bird was found on David Raines’ property on March 30 2005 by Roger and Lynda Mayhorn, when they were adding new predator guards to bluebird nest boxes. The snipe is a bird similar to the American Woodcock. Like the Woodcock it probes in wet soil with its long bill for earthworms and grubs.

American Woodcocks were heard near the baseball field at Enoch’s Branch by David Raines on March 22 2005.

This Pileated Woodpecker showed up in the Mayhorns’ yard on Compton Mt on the morning of April 5 2005 after Roger had cut a dead branch from an apple tree. It was getting grubs and other insects from inside the tree. This is the largest species of Woodpecker in the U.S. It grows to 16.5 inches long and has a wingspan of 29 inches. From this photo we can tell that this is a female. It has a black malar stripe (the stripe going from the bill to the throat), where a male would have a red stripe. We can also tell that this is a juvenile. It has dark eyes, where an adult would have yellowish- orange eyes. These large birds are common here in the mountains. They can be heard drumming on dead trees in the spring. This is their way of attracting a mate.