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 5     Issue 2     February 2006

Michelle Talbott presented an excellent, informative Powerpoint program dealing with “Winter Ducks”. David Raines then showed video of his and the Mayhorns’ recent trip to Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in TN to see the Sandhill Cranes there. Roger Mayhorn then showed some digital photos of the same trip.

Next Meeting – February 13 at the Buchanan County Public Library at 6:00 p.m. The regular pre-meeting meal will be at the Italian Village Restaurant in Grundy at 5:00 p.m. 

Saturday February 25 – The rescheduled trip to Burkes Garden to look for Golden Eagles and Rough-legged Hawks. The Feb 4th and 11th trips were postponed due to bad weather. Those attending will meet at the Hardee’s in Tazewell at 8:00 a.m. 

Feb. 17-20 - Great Backyard Bird Count – Count the birds in your backyard or local area. Watch the birds for at least 15 minutes on each day you participate. Record only the highest number for each species observed at one time. Information about the count can be found at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc 

If you’re not sure how to do the count, click on Show me how at the top of the page. You can also record your data at that site or send it to Roger Mayhorn, who will record it for you.

Upcoming events for the club and the area can be found on the Local Events Page of the bird club website http://www.bcplnet.org/birdclub/events.htm, which is updated regularly by our webmaster, Ed Talbott 

The Ross’s Goose may be common on the east coast of VA during winter, but is not usually found in Southwest VA. New Buchanan County Bird Club member, Richard Kretz, of Elk Garden found and photographed this Ross’s Goose at St. Paul in Wise County on January 30. It was in the company of Canadas and domestic Graylag Geese. This species looks much like the Snow Goose, but is a bit smaller and has a different shaped head and smaller bill. This bird is also smaller than a domestic white duck.

David Raines found another Ross’Goose at Richlands on Feb 5. Another Ross’s Goose and Greater White-fronted Geese were found earlier on Dec 31 at Clear Creek Lake in Washington County by Rack Cross of the Bristol Bird Club. You can find more of Richard’s photos of both species at www.pbase.com/rkretz and at Roger Mayhorn’s site at http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/waterfowl. Richard also has an article on the Ross’s Goose at the end of this newsletter. VARCOM, the Virginia Records Committee, would like the sightings submitted for review, since this species is so uncommon in the mountainous part of the state.

On January 29, Roger & Lynda Mayhorn birded the road that runs past the new Lowe’s near Claypool Hill in Tazewell County. After about 3 miles this road meets Wardell Road. Not far from the Wardell Road intersection Roger sighted a large bird in the distance with a white tail. Finally the bird turned to the right and started to circle to the right. It was then that the two could see the bird’s white head and realized that they were looking at an adult Bald Eagle. The bird circled for about 5 minutes before disappearing over the mountain. A local resident said that both Bald and Golden Eagles had been seen recently in the area. This is an unusual sighting for the area. As Bald Eagle numbers continue to increase, the number of sightings in our area should increase as well. Be on the watch for them, especially along rivers, lakes and ponds. 

Richard Kretz, fellow birder and photographer, is always up for a birding outing. After hearing about the Ross’s Goose and the six Greater White-fronted Geese being at Clear Creek in Washington County VA, he headed there with camera in hand. He found the geese and was able to get these stunning photos. At first glance the Greater White-fronted looks like the domestic Graylag Goose, but these birds are smaller and are slimmer in body. They also have the white rump band and a thin white line on the tip of the tail. Notice the white face patch at the base of the bill. These birds usually spend the breeding season in western Canada and Alaska. They lay 5 or 6 eggs and incubate them for about 23 days. It takes the young about 45 days to get large enough to fledge. This species comes down the Mississippi and Pacific Flyways to spend the winter in the central and western U.S. However, these birds are often seen along the Atlantic coast and on inland eastern lakes and ponds during winter. This particular group of birds was first observed at Clear Creek on Dec 31, and was present to be counted on the Bristol Christmas Bird Count, held in early January. This is the first time this species or the Ross’s Goose has been present during the Bristol CBC.

Excellent camera work Richard. 

On January 7 Marie Miller had a dozen American Goldfinches and an equal number of Mourning Doves at her feeders. On the 19th she counted 37 Goldfinches there. It wasn’t but a few years ago, when Marie first moved into her house, that she had no birds coming to her feeder. Persistence in this case paid off. Marie has also had a pair of Mallards in the creek behind her house. She was impressed by their dimorphism (the difference in the appearance and coloration of the males and females).

David Raines called Roger Mayhorn on Jan 12 to tell Roger that he had a rather strange bird on his property in the Breaks community. David said the bird looked somewhat like a female Indigo Bunting in breeding plumage, but this bird also had a blue central chest patch. The next day Roger, with camera in hand, joined David at his place in search of the bird. Unfortunately it was not seen again. Even if the bird had been only an Indigo Bunting, it would still have been a good find, since Indigos are not present in the area during the winter months. These two birders did find some good birds, including an American Kestrel, 2 Hermit Thrushes, a Pileated Woodpecker and 6 Purple Finches.

Fox Sparrow in the Breaks

A Fox Sparrow, like the one shown here, has been visiting David Raines’ feeders in the Breaks since January 14. David had been commenting that he had not seen a Fox Sparrow at all this winter season when this fellow showed up. These sparrows are a bit larger than other sparrows in the area, and the reddish-brown coloring is distinctive. Pay attention to the birds at your feeders. One of these guys may be among all of those goldfinches, juncos and other sparrows.

Pied-billed Grebes, Eared Grebes and Horned Grebes were some of the species found on January 19 at Musick’s Campground on South Holston Lake in Washington County VA, when Richard Kretz stopped by there. Also found there were about 50 Ring-billed Gulls. This is one of the few places in the state of VA where Eared Grebes spend the winter. Ring-billed Gulls have become quite common on the lake there.

Richard then went to Osceola Island at the Weir dam just below South Holston Dam. There he found this pair of Ring-necked Ducks, which he photographed, 75 Bufflehead Ducks, 6 Mallards, a pair of Canada Geese and lots of Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

Johnnie & Betty Ratliff have had American Robins feeding in their yard during January. One day Johnnie counted 137 of them. Cheryl Thompson heard a Robin singing and saw a flock of Robins near her house at Big Rock recently. Robins don’t leave the area unless they are forced to by really bad weather, however, in February large flocks that did migrate, can be seen passing through the area on their way north. 

Caney Island Branch and Breaks Birding

Ed and Michelle Talbott birded the hollow across from their house at Weller Yard below Grundy on January 22 and February 5. On the walk they found Northern Flickers, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 7 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 12 Golden-crowned Kinglets, more than 50 White-throated Sparrows, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 6 Wild Turkeys, 1 Pileated Woodpecker and others.  Michelle spotted a Brown Creeper on Feb 5.

The also birded the Breaks Interstate Park on January 29. More Photos of their walks can be found at Ed and Michelle's website:

http://www.pbase.com/aquilaet/caney1
http://www.pbase.com/aquilaet/breaks
http://www.pbase.com/aquilaet/caney2

Birding at Whitewood and Brown Mountain

Roger Mayhorn and Richard Kretz hiked and birded a section of the abandoned railroad near Whitewood VA on January 20. The two first went to Brown Mountain, about 4 miles from Whitewood, where they searched for birds along a Beaver pond (left – photo by Roger). There they found Swamp, Song and White-throated Sparrows, a Belted Kingfisher and a singing Carolina Wren (right – photo by Richard ). They then started their railroad hike. They did about a five mile round trip hike, and along the way they found 9 more Carolina Wrens, 5 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Pileated Woodpeckers, 11 Golden-crowned Kinglets and one Brown Thrasher. Along the Dismal river several trees had been felled by beavers. 

BCBC member, Cheryl Thompson has a Carolina Wren coming to her suet feeder at Big Rock. She also noticed that it and several other birds had begun to sing. As spring draws nearer and the days lengthen, the extra light triggers the mating and nesting instinct in the brains of birds. As strange as it may sound the light affects the brain, not through the bird’s eyes, but through a thin area in the skull. This causes the bird to want to sing, long before it is actually time to start nesting. As the days get longer the urge to mate and nest will also grow in strength. The male will establish a territory, driving away other males of his species. He will then sing to attract a female to his area. If the female finds the male satisfactory, she will stay and nesting will begin.

Loggerhead Shrikes are dropping in numbers everywhere, and are becoming harder to find. However, there are still some nesting in Russell County. Richard Kretz sees a couple in Elk Garden near Lebanon fairly often. He took this photo on January 29. These mockingbird-sized birds with their black masks are predators. They have hooked beaks. They catch insects and impale them on thorns or barbed wire until they are ready to eat them. They prefer open, rocky habitat.

Beginning with the next bird club meeting a bird, like the one shown here, will be given to the birder of the month.

It will be given to the birder, who finds the most unusual bird during the month. It will be based on the WOW factor.  The rarer the bird found (species, out of season, strange behavior, etc), the more likely the birder is to be awarded the Birder of the Month Award.  More discussion will be held at the next meeting to further define the rules and guidelines.

Ed & Michelle Talbott went to see the Sandhill Cranes at Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge near Birchwood TN on January 28. They saw lots of Sandhill Cranes, but the two Whooping Cranes, that were there when David Raines and the Mayhorns went a few weeks before, were not in sight while they were there. 

ROSS' GOOSE

IDENTIFICATION FEATURES

Length:  23 to 24 inches (about the size of a Mallard)
Wingspan:  45 inches
Weight:  2.7 lbs

Body:  White (blue morphs exist but are rare), head is smaller and more rounded than that of a Snow Goose and it has a shorter neck, with black primaries (wingtips).

Feet:  Pink legs and feet

Bill:  Perhaps the best identification feature, the Ross' Goose has a pink, very stubby, triangular bill with a steep, almost vertical, forehead. They often have warty protuberances at the dark blue-gray base of the bill that are visible at close range. The Ross' Goose does not have the black "lips" grin patch on the mandibles found on a Snow Goose.

Range and Habitat:  Ross' Geese nest on lake islands of the high Arctic Tundra. During winter migration they are found in marshes, ponds, and lakes in California, the lower Mississippi Valley into Texas and as far south as Mexico, and along the eastern U.S. coastline. Their population is relatively small but increasing significantly. Often found with Snow Geese and hybridization does occur.

Nesting Habits: Ross’ Geese have one brood per year. These birds nest in loose colonies in tundra lowlands and on remote islands. The female scrapes out a depression in the soil and builds up a small mound of willow twigs and grasses. Their clutch is 3 to 5 eggs that require three weeks incubation. The female Ross's Goose does all of the incubation of the eggs. The male stays nearby and guards her the whole time. The female covers the eggs with down when she leaves the nest. The down keeps the eggs warm while she is away and may help hide them from predators. The downy young come in two colors: yellow and gray. The two forms look identical once they get real feathers. The chicks fledge in about 45 days.

"Ross’ Geese are in the duck family and share the webbed feet and flatish bills of the ducks, geese, and swans. Geese differ from ducks by generally larger size and longer necks with less flattened bodies. Another interesting difference from ducks and swans is that geese have their legs farther forward. This allows them to better walk on land, thus are more easily able to graze far from water on green grasses and sprouting grain." ¹

“Ross’s geese resemble diminutive versions of lesser snow geese, although other morphological differences are apparent on close inspection. Due to the formerly low numbers of Ross’s geese, their restricted breeding and wintering ranges which are shared with snow geese, and the similar appearances of Ross’s and snow geese, knowledge regarding Ross’s goose population status is more limited than for other light geese. The breeding grounds of the Ross’s goose were discovered only in 1938 (Gavin 1940). The species was thought to have been near extinction in the early 1900s and to number only5,000-6,000 in 1931 (Ryder and Alisauskas 1995). Since then, Ross’s geese have exhibited rapid growth in numbers and distribution, and by 1998 the North American spring population of Ross’s geese was estimated to number at least 800,000 birds (F. D. Caswell, Canadian Wildlife Service, unpublished data; R. T. Alisauskas et al. 1998, Canadian Wildlife Service, unpublished report). Recent research and monitoring have documented the rapid population increase of Ross’s geese, the expansion of their breeding range eastward across Canada’s Arctic and sub-arctic, and the winter range expansion from California eastward to the mid-continent of the United States and to Mexico.”² 

This winter there have been several sightings of Ross’ Geese in eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia. Most notably at Weir Dam and Osceola Island of the South Holston River in Tennessee, the lake at Clear Creek Golf Club north of Bristol, and at the park along the Clinch River in St. Paul, Wise Co, Virginia. I have been privileged to see these beautiful diminutive geese at both the lake at Clear Creek Golf Club and at St. Paul. At the lake at Clear Creek Golf Club there are large numbers of Canada Geese, several Domestic Graylag Geese, six Greater White-Fronted Geese, and one Ross’ Goose. The Ross’ Goose has always been in the company of the Greater White-Fronted Geese when I’ve seen them. In addition to the significant size difference between the Ross’ and Greater White Fronted, the Greater White-Fronted appeared very protective of the Ross’. And although they are found in proximity of the Canada and Graylags, they generally do not intermingle with them and prefer to remain apart. They also kept their distance from people. At St. Paul there is another solitary Ross’ Goose that can be found mingling with Canada Geese, Mallards, and some domestic and hybridized geese and ducks. This Ross’ Goose’s situation is quite different from the one at Clear Creek Golf Club. It is barely tolerated by the other waterfowl that tend to harass it. Yet it has remained there since December. I was also able to approach within five feet of it and suspect that if I had offered it grain it would have taken it from my hand. I don’t know if these geese will remain with us until Spring or not, or with their increasing numbers if we can expect to see more of them in years to come. For the moment we have a wonderful opportunity to enjoy some of the best that nature has to offer.  Enjoy the birds…

¹ Greg Gillson
² Timothy Moser and Ray Alisauskas

References:

United States Geological Survey; http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i1700id.html
Gillson, Greg: http://thebirdguide.com/sample/rogo.htm: 1995
Virtual Bird Field Guide: http://birding.about.com/library/fg/blfg-chenrossii.htm 
Cornell Lab of Ornithology; All About Birds: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Rosss_Goose.html
Moser, Timothy J., US Fish and Wildlife Service and Alisauskas, Ray T., Canadian Wildlife Service: http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/reports/rossgeese/chapter1.pdf 
National Geographic: Field Guide To The Birds Of North America, fourth edition. National Geographic Society; Washington, D.C.; 1987
National Audubon Society: Field Guide To Birds, Eastern Region. Chanticleer Press, Inc., 1994. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., NY

Mountain Migratory Bird Festival - May 19-21, 2006
Headquarters: Mt. Lake Hotel 1-800-346-3334

Celebrate spring migration at the Giles County birding festival! You will have over 35 field trips and workshops to choose from including rafting on the New River. The activities begin at noon on Friday with field and float trips. Those will be followed by a slide presentation of “The Birds of Mountain Lake” with Jerry Via and a Moth Watch with Teta Kain. 

Saturday will be filled with field trips, workshops, and children’s nature activities. A banquet that evening will be topped off with Keynote Speaker, Bill Hilton. Bill has spent the past two winters banding rubythroats in Costa Rica with his project Operation RubyThroat. Then more field trips on Sunday.

For more information, visit the website, www.mountainlakebirding.com or contact Peggy Spiegel at gramby@pemtel.net or 540-921-4340.

Sponsors: Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, For the Birds, Giles County,Mt. Lake Hotel, Inn at Riverbend.