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The
Buchanan County Bird Club meets the Volume 2 Issue 7 July 2003 |
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June 9 Club Meeting: The June meeting program began with Vice President Ed Talbott III showing excellent video of the birds seen on the Magee Marsh trip on Lake Erie in May. President Roger Mayhorn then presented digital photos of birds taken at Magee Marsh. The next meeting will be Monday, July 14. |
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Welcome New Club Members Janice Martin of Bristol and Ruth Smith of Church Hill, TN recently joined the Buchanan County Bird Club. Welcome ladies, and we look forward to seeing you at BCBC meetings and outings. |
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 New Species Confirmed Nesting Within the CountyWhile doing the weekly check of the Bluebird nest boxes of the recently established Breaks Community section of the Buchanan County Bluebird Trail, David Raines and Roger Mayhorn made a discovery in one of the nest boxes. Instead of an Eastern Bluebird nest they found the nest of a House Wren (left) located in a nest box on the property of Eddie Bailey. The nest, constructed mostly of twigs, contained 6 brown mottled eggs. This was a surprise because there are no records of House Wrens successfully nesting within the county. The only other record is from 25 years ago, when David Raines observed a male House Wren on his Breaks property building multiple nests and singing. The male sang for a couple of weeks, but unable to bring in a female, apparently abandoned the nests and moved on. Shortly after examining this new nest, David and Roger found another pair of House Wrens constructing a similar nest in another nest box, not more than 50 yards from the first in the nest box built by Betty Ratliff (previous page ). To have two viable nests at the same time, of an uncommon species was considered really unusual. However, since learning that male House Wrens are polygamous, it is believed, that this is one male servicing two females. This may be the case, since 3 House Wrens were observed, and if so, this male may have a hard job taking care of two households, since House Wren females lay from 6 - 8 eggs, and sometimes as many as 12. |
 Tree Swallows Using Nest BoxesA pair of Tree Swallows constructed a nest in one of the bluebird boxes located on the Mountain Top Golf Course. This brown female (photographed by Johnnie Ratliff) and her bluish-green mate raised 4 young after laying creamy white eggs in a nest constructed with lots of feathers. Tree Swallows are known for using feathers, especially white ones in their nest construction. This pair used chicken feathers, and one that was believed to have come from a Guinea fowl. The pair successfully fledged their 4 young. Tree Swallows are welcome residents around bluebirds or Purple Martins because they are aggressive, and will drive away harmful species, such as European Starlings and House Sparrows. Johnnie Ratliff, who recently had a nesting pair in his yard, watched the swallows drive a starling into a chain-link fence after it had landed too close to their nest of young. |
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Interesting Events BCBC member and Bristol resident, Wallace Coffey, saw what appeared to be a young albino European Starling on June 9 in Bristol. The bird was a little more cream colored than a bright white. It had dark eyes and more normal leg color to that of a starling. The near white color was uniform over almost all of its feathers. It was following an adult starling and begging for food. The adult was feeding it. |
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Todd Perkins again heard a Canada Warbler singing on Boyd's Ridge on June 17. This one was located in a different area than the first, that was heard on June 2. Todd also had the opportunity to see a male Yellow-breasted Chat doing its display in flight. |
 Dave and Diana Worley, Russell County residents and BCBC members, returned in mid June from a western birding trip that took in parts of North Dakota, Montana, Washington state, Oregon and Utah. They birded the pothole region of North Dakota, the Audubon National Wildlife Refuge, Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge, Glacier National Park and the Bear River National Wildlife Refuge in Utah. They saw millions of birds, including this Yellow-headed Black Bird (right) and to quote Dave "trillions of mosquitoes". In some areas Dave said that their car parted the clouds of mosquitoes as it passed through. They saw such birds as the Tufted Puffin, Cassin's Finch, Rhinoceros Auklet, Pigeon Guillemot, Pacific Slope Flycatcher, Common Murre, Cassin's Auklet, Varied Thrush, Heerman's Gull, Franklin's Gull and the Sooty Shearwater. |
 This Yellow-breasted Chat nested in the raspberry patch at the Mayhorns'. The bird kept scolding Roger each time he went to pick berries. Roger soon found out why, when he came across the nest, about 2 feet above the ground, attached to raspberry canes. It held 5 young nestlings. Within a few days the young had feathers and were soon out of the nest.
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| On June 18, Roger Mayhorn saw 2 Cerulean Warblers, a pair of White-eyed Vireos and a female Redstart in his backyard. One of the Ceruleans has since become a regular there, being seen every day. The White-eyed Vireos nest near the yard every year. Recently a Yellow-throated Vireo has been hanging around as well. David Raines has also had a Yellow-throated Vireo visiting his yard. |
 This Worm-eating Warbler was one of several species seen and photographed by Ed Talbott on June 22, when Ed, Michelle and Michelle's mother Shirley Justus, birded a reclaimed strip mine near Hurley. One Worm-eating Warbler was seen trying to defend its young from a snake. The snake didn't succeed.Other species seen were Kentucky Warbler, White-eyed Vireos, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a Northern Bobwhite and a Ruffed Grouse. To see more about this outing click on this link. http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/Sum03/Guesses2.htm |
| Todd Perkins got a lifebird on June 22 while golfing at Clear Creek Golf Course. He heard a Willow Flycatcher, and after some searching he saw it. Later in the day he heard the bird again singing near the club house. |
 Members of the Buchanan County Bird Club joined members of the Russell County Bird Club at Hidden Valley Wildlife Management Area for an evening of high elevation birding on June 24. The most notable birds of the day were two Cerulean Warblers and a singing Golden-crowned Kinglet.Some of the species seen were American Redstart, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, Broad-winged Hawk, Veery and Hairy Woodpecker |
 Ed Talbott III & Michelle Talbott birded Salt Pond Mountain in Giles County on June 9. The mountain has a diverse habitat at an elevation of 4,000 feet. This Ovenbird (left) was one of several species observed by Ed and Michelle. Other species observed were Blackburnian Warbler, Veery, Worm-eating Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Northern Parula and Dark-eyed Junco.To see more photos and details of this interesting trek go to http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/Sum03/SaltPond.htm |
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On June 9 Todd Perkins saw a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in front of his house. The bird flew from a downed Poplar tree to a tree near Todd's House, where he had an excellent view. Roger Mayhorn has also been seeing a Yellow-billed around his yard this summer. |
| A female Orchard Oriole was a visitor to Ed Talbott's yard at Weller Yard on July 2. |
| Club member, Clarence Brown of Hurley, saw three Baltimore Orioles in the mountains behind his house on July 21. There were two males and one female. The orange chest and underbelly along with the dark head and wings were distinctive. Clarence went back later to try to find the birds again, but was not able to locate them. |
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Bristol Bird Club Annual Picnic 2003 Several members of the Buchanan County Bird Club attended the annual Bristol Bird Club picnic on June 29 at Steeles Creek Park in Bristol. These photos, (above and below) taken by Johnnie Ratliff with his new Olympus digital camera, show how the festivities went. Before the eating got seriously under way one of the ladies noticed that a young Mallard in the park was dragging a 6 foot piece of monofilament fishing line. Roger Mayhorn, John Hay and Dave Worley (above) managed to catch the duck and clip the line close to the duck's bill. The Mallard had apparently swallowed a fishhook with line attached. In spite of this the Mallard seemed to be healthy. Wallace Coffey grilled some great tasting vegetables and Polish sausage as an appetizer before it was time for the burgers and hot dogs. There was plenty of food to go around and lots of good conversation. |
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Buchanan County Bluebird Trail Expands
heat with the help of Lynda Mayhorn and Betty Ratliff. Johnnie also erected two new boxes at his home and donated two more to Ed Talbott III. Johnnie has since built 7 more boxes, which are to be added to the Breaks section of the bluebird trail in the
future. The club greatly appreciates the
Ratliffs.
