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The Buchanan County Bird Club meets the 2nd Monday of each month at the Buchanan County Public Library at 6:30 PM Volume 2 Issue 1 January 2003 |
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The next club meeting will be on Monday, January 13, 2003. |
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The Breaks Christmas Bird CountSnow and ice kept some of the BCBC members from getting to the Breaks Park area to participate in the 2002 Christmas Bird Count. However, Ed Talbott III and David Raines braved the elements to work with Terry Owens, the park naturalist to do their part in the CBC. Terry Owens worked the Park, while Ed and David drove up to Beaver Knob near Elkhorn to work that area before the roads got impassable. They found sparrows in great numbers, the most surprising being 2 Lincoln’s Sparrows. White-throated Sparrows were the most numerous with 140 being counted. 1 Fox Sparrow was seen as well as 6 Swamp Sparrows. They also had a flyby of a Northern Harrier, a hawk that is seen here only in winter. It inhabits large open areas like open marshes and grassy strip sites. Ed and David also had one Hermit Thrush for the day. These two intrepid counters then made their way up the Russell Fork River, where they found a Red-tailed Hawk, Mallards, a Great Blue Heron and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. The guys then birded the fields around David’s house near the Breaks community. They added Chipping Sparrows, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Pileated Woodpecker and Red-winged Blackbirds to their list. Ed and David ended the day with a total of 42 species. Their complete list is on the last page of this newsletter. |
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Interesting EventsHere is an item that was inadvertently left out of
the December newsletter. On Dec. 17 Roger & Lynda Mayhorn found 2
American Black Ducks on Ronald Compton’s
farm pond on Compton Mt. At this point it is believed that this is
the first time that this species has been documented here in the county.
Roger & Lynda birded the reservoir at Falls
Mills near Bluefield, VA on Dec. 20. There they found a Great Blue Heron, 36
American Coots and 79 Canada Geese. |
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 Sharp-shinned
Hawks seem to be more numerous this winter. This immature (probably
female because of its large size) has been coming to the Mayhorn yard since
the middle of December. An adult male (pictured in the last newsletter) has
also been making life a bit difficult for the songbirds there. Ed Talbott
and David Raines saw one on the Breaks Christmas Bird Count, and Ed has one
that has become a regular at his feeders at his home at Weller Yard.
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| Todd Perkins, while visiting his grandparents on Dec. 21, checked out the birds at his grandfather’s feeder. He saw 40+ Mourning Doves, a White-crowned and a White-throated Sparrow. The White-crowned Sparrow sighting is significant, because this species is usually only seen in Buchanan County during migration. | |
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Sheldon and Orpha Woods on Dec. 22 had the privilege of seeing a Great Blue Heron in the small creek near their home on Russell Prater. Recently, during the snowy
weather, Orpha put out some apple peels for the birds near her house and
reported that the birds really liked them.
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Ed and Michelle Talbott got a new lifebird, when they got looks at a Merlin, while birding Poplar Gap Park on Dec. 22. They were on the main top of the park area, where the mountain top has been recently leveled. The falcon flew by them twice. The next day Roger Mayhorn got an American Pipit in the same area. David Raines and Roger Mayhorn got great looks at a Merlin during the Blackford ( Russell County) Christmas Bird Count. The raptor was sitting on the top of a dead tree, and would fly out to chase small birds, then would alight again on the dead snag. David correctly called the identification even before getting better looks through the scope. This small falcon is often misidentified as an American Kestrel, since they are both falcons and there is not a great difference in size.
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Ed Caudill recently
remarked that he had not seen very many Blue Jays this year. He was
wondering if their scarcity might be linked to the West Nile Virus. A female Purple Finch
visited Roger and Lynda Mayhorns’ feeder on Dec. 23. The brown little bird
came to the feeder three times within an hour then disappeared. That is the
fourth time this season they have had Purple Finches at their feeders. On
Dec. 26 a Chipping Sparrow appeared briefly at the feeder. Dr. Clint Sutherland has
also had a female Purple Finch at his feeder on Hobb’s Branch as well as a
couple of Pine Siskins. This is good to know since not many Pine Siskins
have been seen in the area this winter. On Dec. 28 Ed Talbott, David Raines and Roger Mayhorn participated in the Blackford (Russell County) Christmas Bird Count. Ed hiked up on Rich Mountain with Bob Riggs to add Golden Eagles to their count list. They had started back down before they finally saw a total of five. One was an immature bird. David and Roger worked the northern part of Russell County, from Richlands back toward Lebanon. Tom and Laverne Hunter, two of our BCBC members, who are also members of the Russell County, club searched for birds in a southern section of the county. |
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On Jan. 4,
2003 Ed & Michelle Talbott, along with Bob Riggs participated in the Mt.
Rogers CBC. At an elevation above 5000 ft. the temperature was well below
zero. This was definitely extreme birding. Only three species were found.
These were a Common Raven, a Black-capped Chickadee and a couple of American
Crows. However, the scenery and the vistas were remarkable. As can be seen
from these photos taken by Ed, the snow and ice had stuck to all of the
trees and other vegetation. [Click
Here for more Pictures]
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The Western Phase of the Virginia Birding and
Wildlife Trail As some of you know the VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries is nearing completion of its western phase of the VA Birding Trail. Wild areas in each western county were nominated. In all 330 sites were nominated. The trail is designed in such a way that a birder or wildlife enthusiast can drive from one loop to another with places along the way to stop and bird or look for wildlife. The Breaks Park was nominated. Ed Talbott nominated the Poplar Gap area. Roger Mayhorn nominated a loop consisting of Horn Mountain and Compton Mountain. That loop along with many others is posted on the Great American Trails website. Click on this address if you want to take a look. http://64.164.15.62/site.asp?id=270 Be sure to read the description. So far we have not heard about the Breaks loop nor the one on Poplar Gap, but we believe this to be only an oversight. Ed Talbott has been in contact with the people in charge to check on the situation. According to the Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries, Virginia has one of the highest diversities of birds in the Eastern United States, boasting nearly 400 resident and migratory bird species seen during the year.
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This
American Goldfinch with a golden head ring appeared in the area around the
first of Jan. 2003 at the feeders of Roger & Lynda Mayhorn. Evidently
the mechanism within his body that makes his plumage change from bright
yellow to a subtler green in winter went slightly awry. The change to a
darker color in winter is probably a form of protection so that these little
passerines (songbirds) won’t be so visible in winter to hawks and other
predators. It is not unusual to see birds with areas of plumage that
appear different from their normal coloration.
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The Buchanan County Bird Club 2002 financial report: During
the year the club had 11 family memberships at $10.00 each for a total of
$110.00
VSO
membership for one year
- $15.00
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| Notice: At the Jan. 13, 2003 meeting elections will be held to elect new officers. | |
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The Birds counted by Ed Talbott and David Raines at the Breaks Christmas Bird Count Dec. 14, 2000: |
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White-throated Sparrow 140 White-crowned Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 28 Swamp Sparrow 6 Lincoln's Sparrow 2 Field Sparrow 8 Chipping Sparrow 3 Fox Sparrow 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 Northern Harrier 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 American Crow 100+ Mourning Dove 22 Rock Dove 75 Carolina Wren 12 Carolina Chickadee 23 Tufted Titmouse 9 White-breasted Nuthatch 7 Golden-crowned Kinglet 2 American Robin 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
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American Goldfinch 6 Eastern Towhee 5 Eastern Phoebe 1 House Finch 4 Northern Cardinal 25 Common Grackle 1 Red-winged Blackbird 1 Blue Jay 13 Downy Woodpecker 4 Pileated Woodpecker 2 Northern Flicker 3 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Dark-eyed Junco 15 Ruffed Grouse 1 Hermit Thrush 1 European Starling 9 Belted Kingfisher 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Brown-headed Cowbird 4 Mallard 3 Domesticated Duck types 3 |
 Buchanan County
Birders should be on the lookout for Pine Siskins. They can easily be
overlooked in a flock of American Goldfinches. Since they often hangout with
Goldfinches that compounds the problem. They are about the same shape and
size as the American Golfinch, but if you look closely you will see that the
markings are different. Siskins don’t have the greenish color of
Goldfinches and they also have streaking on the breast, where Goldfinches
don’t. Also take a close look at Nuthatches. They may turn out to be
Red-breasted Nuthatches.
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| Todd Day of Culpepper, VA decided this past year to attempt to break the record for the highest number of species seen within the state of VA during one year. The previous record of 345 had been set by Ned Brinkley of Cape Charles, VA. As the year neared its end it looked as if Todd might not reach his goal. With only hours to spare Todd reached the magic number of 346. The last species counted was a Clark’s Grebe, a western U.S. species that was out of its normal range. | |
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There was no
regular club meeting in Dec. The members met instead at Italian