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 1     January 2006

The Buchanan County Bird Club celebrated its 4th year in existence with it annual Christmas Party. The party was a success again this year. Members gathered upstairs in the Italian Village restaurant in Grundy to eat, chat, laugh, and then exchange bird related Christmas presents. Seed feeders, bird seed, suet cakes, hummingbird feeders, thistle socks and bird related Christmas ornaments were some of the presents exchanged. After the party members went home to prepare for the Breaks Christmas Bird Count that was to be held the next day.

Next Meeting – Monday, Jan. 9. Michelle Talbott will present a program on waterfowl.

Saturday Feb. 4 – Club trip to Burkes Garden in Tazewell County to look for Golden Eagles and Rough-legged Hawks, which spend the winter there. Dress warmly. It is usually very cold and windy in that area. Take a lunch or plan to buy your lunch at the small store in the Garden. The lady at the store makes good hamburgers and hot dogs. If the weather should be bad on the 4th the outing will be rescheduled for the following 

Saturday, Feb. 11. 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.

Apologies to Cheryl Thompson for leaving out a sighting in last month’s issue. She was very excited, when for the first time, since she has been feeding birds, she had the first Dark-eyed Junco to visit her feeder at her home in Big Rock. Hopefully, as the winter goes on, she will have several other species to report. Congratulations Cheryl. 

Roger & Lynda Mayhorn, Marie Miller, David Raines, Holden Raines, Johnnie & Betty Ratliff, Ed & Michelle Talbott and Ed & Mary Talbott were the BCBC members who participated in the Breaks CBC on December 17. With clear weather the groups started early. Roger, Lynda and Marie, started with the Grundy Airport Mountain area, then moved on to Poplar Gap Park. David Raines and Ed & Michelle birded Beaver Knob, the strip site just below Elkhorn City, and then covered the Elkhorn area. Johnnie & Betty covered the area around their house at the mouth of Little Prater near Grundy. Holden Raines kept a list of the feeder birds at the Raines household in the Breaks. Ed & Mary logged the birds at their feeders in their yard at Big Rock. Terry Owens, the Breaks Park naturalist and some others covered the Breaks Park and the area around Haysi.

Later in the day some of the members met at the Breaks Park, then together birded the area from there to John Flannagan Reservoir. At the end of the day they were back at the Breaks Park restaurant to compile their lists.58 species were recorded. Horned Larks, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Purple Finches, Pine Siskins and Common Raven were some of the highlights. The day ended on a positive note with everyone happy that the day had gone so well. More CBC birding photos can be seen on Ed Talbott’s web site at:
http://www.pbase.com/aquilaet/breaks05
  

Russell County (Blackford) Christmas Bird Count

Six members of the BCBC helped the Russell County Bird Club by taking part in the Blackford Christmas Bird Count on Friday, December 30. Richard Kretz, Roger & Lynda Mayhorn, David Raines and Ed & Michelle Talbott worked hard to find birds on a dark, cloudy day, when the birds seemed to be somewhere else. As dusk settled over the area, all participants met at the Bonanza restaurant in Lebanon to add up their total species. That’s where this group photo was taken by the camera of Richard Kretz. 59 species were finally tallied, which was below the number of the last couple of years. Last year’s total was 63 species. Amy Gilmer, the young blonde lady in the back row came along with the group on her first CBC, and was a great help in spotting the birds.  Starting at back left the people in the photo are Bob and Jean Montgomery (Bob is the club president), Pam Kretz, Jane and Jerry Thornhill, Amy Gilmer, Michelle and Ed Talbott, Tom Hunter and David Raines. Front row – Richard Kretz, Lynda and Roger Mayhorn.  

Normally Bob Riggs, the former Russell County Bird Club president and avid birder, would have been present, but Bob is in Iraq. Bob welcomed Roger & Lynda Mayhorn into the Russell County Bird Club in 2000, and became a good friend and birding mentor. Because of that the idea arose for the Buchanan County Bird Club. It was recently learned that Bob and possibly some of his fellow soldiers had been slightly injured by an explosion. We wish him and the other soldiers well and wish for them a quick and safe return home. Bob is not scheduled to return to the U.S. until sometime this summer. 

The Buchanan County Bird Club would like to extend a welcome to its newest club member, Richard Kretz of Elk Garden. Richard has been birding for a couple of years, and is now involved in photography, a hobby he is quickly mastering. Richard is now selling some of his nature and scenery photos. Some of his work can be found at the store, Misty Mountain, in the Bristol Mall. Richard participated in the Russell County CBC, where he took a good photograph of a Loggerhead Shrike, and it was Richard’s idea to make the group photo at the compilation dinner that evening to send to Bob Riggs. Welcome Richard. 

On January 1 Roger & Lynda Mayhorn birded a section of the abandoned railroad bed at Whitewood. This is the same section of railroad where Buchanan County is planning to put in place an excursion train. On this day Roger & Lynda found Swamp, Field and Song Sparrows in a large, weedy field beside the track. Farther along the track they found a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a Golden-crowned Kinglet. They heard a Pileated Woodpecker in the woods and a Belted Kingfisher along the Dismal River, which runs parallel to the railroad. Also along the railroad were several small trees that had been felled by beavers, though no beaver dam nor lodge was located. Roger & Lynda birded only about a mile of the six mile section, but the area looks very promising for future birding. Perhaps an outing will be planned for the BCBC in that area in the spring.

An announcement, concerning the Buchanan County Bird Club’s hosting the spring conference of the Virginia Society of Ornithology, appeared in the latest VSO newsletter. Roger & Lynda Mayhorn and Ed Talbott are working hard to finalize the last of the plans for the conference. There are still many small details yet to be taken care of, but the basic plan is in place. Six vendors have now signed on to display and sell at the conference. Two birders have requested a spot for the paper session. Papers to be presented are on the Bluebirds and the Northern Saw-whet owl. The club looks forward to a good turn out for the conference in the Breaks Park on the first week-end of May 2006. Vice President and web master, Ed Talbott has created an excellent web site for the event. It can be found at:
http://www.bcplnet.org/birdclub/VSO.htm 
  

Cranes, Cranes and More Cranes

David Raines had been wanting to visit the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge a few miles north of Chattanooga, TN to see the large number of Sandhill Cranes that spend the winter there. David did not have to be in school on January 3, so he talked it over with Roger & Lynda Mayhorn, who also wanted to visit the area, and together they decided to make the 5 hour trip. The trio left early that morning, and the trip was uneventful, except for the 45 minutes they spent sitting in traffic near Knoxville due to an auto accident.

After being joined by David’s sister and young niece, who live in nearby Georgia, the birders arrived at the refuge. Upon stepping from the auto their jaws dropped. There were thousands of Sandhill Cranes in the large fields around them. The calling of these great birds was so constant that the noise was almost a continuous sound, except for the small groups flying overhead that could be heard more distinctly. The gray bodies with the red heads of the adult birds were so numerous they turned some areas of the green fields into a mass of gray. Many of these 49 inch tall birds were either hopping, jumping or making short flights. There was constant movement among the flocks. According to the officials at the refuge 12-14 thousand Sandhills are there this winter. Within minutes of arriving David noticed two large white birds some distance away across a cove. These two birds turned out to be juvenile Whooping Cranes, which were lifebirds for all present. There are only about 200 Whooping Cranes in existence. At one time their numbers dropped to a very dangerous 12 or 13 birds, but thanks to hard work by conservationists these enormous (52 inches in height), white birds with black wing tips are slowly making a comeback. To get the opportunity to see such a rare bird was a real treat for these birders. After a few hours these three, tired, but very satisfied birders had to begin the long trip home. All agreed that the trip was well worth the time and effort. They hope that their fellow club members can one day share that same experience.

Recently a female Mallard Duck took up residence on one of the field ponds of Shirley and Billy Ray Justus on Guesses Fork. The duck was wild, but slowly started becoming acclimated to the owners’ presence. Eventually the duck would start quacking when it would hear them coming on a four-wheeler. Finally Billy Ray was able to entice the Mallard to take food from his hand. It had become the family “pet”.  

Then one day the Mallard was not heard. Some duck feathers were found near the pond. The duck was gone. Apparently some predator had managed to catch the “pet” and carry it away. 

This winter Clarence Brown of Hurley has had several species coming to his bird feeders, one of which was a Dark-eyed Junco with a white face. However, once Clarence discovered the bird it didn’t stay around long. He was hoping to show it to some other members of the bird club. Partial albinism is not unusual among birds. In fact it is fairly common. Some of the other species Clarence has seen are Eastern Towhee, Eastern Phoebe, various sparrow species, titmice, chickadees, Winter Wren and Ruffed Grouse.

avid Raines has had as many as 9 Purple Finches visiting his feeder at one time in the Breaks this season. Recently he has also seen 7 Pine Siskins feeding with the American Goldfinches in his yard. He has a Chipping Sparrow coming to his feeders, which is a rare winter visitor for him.

On December 12, David’s suet feeder was visited by a Yellow-rumped Warbler. On the 13th a Ruby-crowned Kinglet came to the suet and continued to do so for a few days.

Also in December David found an American Kestrel, and 8 Coots in the area of the Breaks Park.