The Chat
Buchanan County Bird Club Newsletter
Editors Roger and Lynda Mayhorn

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 6     June 2003
The Yellow-breasted Chat pictured above posed for some video while it was enjoying the cherries from the cherry tree just outside the Mayhorn house on Compton Mountain.

May 14 Meeting:

President Roger Mayhorn started the meeting by thanking everyone for participating in the International Migratory Bird Day on May 10.

Bob Riggs of Lebanon was the guest speaker and presented an excellent program with video on identifying raptors.  Bob emphasized using body shape and flight patterns to identify raptors, pointing out that many times the birds are in silhouette, where colors and markings may not be observed.

Bluebird Trail Gets a Boost:

The Buchanan County Bird Club and the bluebirds of the county are indebted to Johnnie & Betty Ratliff, new members of the club, for donating 12 new bluebird nest boxes to the club.  The couple bought the wood, poles and hardware necessary to build and erect the new boxes.  Johnnie cut the pieces for all of the boxes.  On June 3 several club members met at the public library and assembled the boxes.  Present were Ed & Barbara Caudill, Roger & Lynda Mayhorn, Johnnie & Betty Ratliff and Ed Talbott III.

These boxes will be erected near the Breaks community where David Raines will monitor them.  These twelve boxes make a total of 32 boxes for the county.  The part of the trail, which was established this spring on Compton Mountain, has already fledged 28 young bluebirds with 10 more bluebird eggs yet to hatch.  One nest box contains a Tree Swallow nest, which contained 4 eggs at the last check.

BCBC Members at Magee Marsh:

The week-end of May 17, 8 members of the Buchanan County Bird Club took a trip to Magee Marsh in Northern Ohio.  Magee Marsh is a part of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge located on the shores of Lake Erie.  This area is one of the top 10 birding spots in North America.  The reason for this is that the migrating birds stop there during their spring migration north to rest, feed and wait for a favorable wind from the south to help them cross Lake Erie.  The birds tend to “pile up” there.  Because of this many different species can be observed there during spring migration.

The marsh was definitely not a disappointment.  Birds were everywhere.  Several members got lifebirds.  Brilliantly colored Blackburnian Warblers, like the one on the previous page, that Ed Talbott captured on tape, Chestnut-sided Warblers, Black-throated Greens, Magnolias,  Black-throated Blues, Wilson’s Warblers, Cape Mays, American Redstarts (pictured below), Yellow Warblers, Bay-breasted Warblers, Mourning Warblers, Connecticut Warblers, Ovenbirds, Waterthrushes, Blackpolls, Common Yellowthroats, Baltimore Orioles and Scarlet Tanagers were some of the species observed from the boardwalk that meandered through the marsh.  Many of these birds were down at eye level or lower, often only 3 or 4 feet away.  Walking along the boardwalk one could also see Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Bull Frogs and Painted Turtles.

One marsh bird that many wanted to see but found it difficult to find was the small, shy, Sora.  This little species of rail stays hidden among the reeds most of the time.  After much time spent searching and seeing only glimpses most everyone finally got good looks.  This one (right) walked nonchalantly out of the reeds, as if no humans were around, which gave Roger Mayhorn a great photo opportunity.

Near the visitors center Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows were found nesting.  Sometimes they sunned themselves on the wooden hand rails of the boardwalks, and seemed to be watching the people pass by them only a couple of feet away.

 In another area of the refuge the land was more open with large water pools.  Here Bald Eagles made flybys as Dunlin, and Semipalmated Sandpipers and Plovers fed along the water’s edge.

The final total of species observed on the trip was 130.

Present on the trip were Ed & Michelle Talbott, David Raines and his son, Holden, Roger & Lynda Mayhorn and Ed & Barbara Caudill. From the Eastern KY Bird Club were Steve Sweeney and Neil Smith, David’s relatives, and Dan Kendrick with his friend, Jan.  A couple more of David’s Relatives, who lived not far from the area, joined the group.

Holden Raines (right), who had just started a lifelist on this trip, picked up at least 89 new species.

The number of birds seen in this area during spring is overwhelming.  As either Ed or Michelle Talbott put it, “ I’m suffering from warbler overload.”  No matter which direction one turned there were birds, and along with that exhilarating fact the brain was titillated with the knowledge that the next one would probably be something strange or unusual.

To see some more great video still shots of the birds at Magee Marsh visit Ed Talbott’s web site at http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/Magee/Magee1.htm
   

David Raines finds Unusual Birds in Buchanan County:

On May 10 Buchanan County Bird Club members participated in the International Migratory Bird Day count.  The county was divided into sections and members selected a section to find birds to count.

David Raines had the most interesting day when he found a Swallow-tailed Kite circling over Bull Mountain, then later found a Little Blue Heron in the marshy area on the western side of Bull Mountain.  Way to go David!  A total of 97 species were counted by club members on that day with Ed & Michelle Talbott getting the highest number of 79 species.  Participating in the count were Roger & Lynda Mayhorn, Johnnie & Betty Ratliff, David Raines and Ed & Michelle Talbott.  Ed & Michelle covered a lot of territory that day. To see photos and more about their day click below. http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/May03/IMBD.htm
  

Purple Martins Visit:

The Purple Martin sitting on the porch of this house is one of several that has been visiting Johnnie & Betty Ratliff’s martin houses.  Most of the visitors have since gone to a house in a neighbor’s yard, but one young male keeps coming back.  He keeps trying to lure a female to one of the houses, but so far has had no luck.  The female visits for awhile, but then leaves. Johnnie thinks she may be too young to nest.
(Photo by Johnnie Ratliff)

Interesting Events:  

The public library in Grundy was the area where Ed Talbott III found a Cape May Warbler in breeding plumage on May 6. Ed heard the call and went in and retrieved his binoculars. He got good looks at the colorful Warbler.

Two Broad-winged Hawks performed an aerial display over the house of Roger & Lynda Mayhorn on Compton Mountain. May 13 was a windy day on the mountain, and the hawks seemed to be enjoying it as they kept diving and soaring.

Roger also saw a White-crowned Sparrow at his feeder that same morning.  White-crowns are not common visitors to Buchanan County except during migration.
On Wednesday, May 14 Roger Mayhorn heard an unusual bird call near his home on Compton Moutain.  Upon investigating he found a Read-headed Woodpecker in a nearby field.  He attempted to get some video, but the bird did not cooperate.  Only a few birds of this species have been seen within the confines of Buchanan County in the last few years.  This bird did not stay in the area.

First Bluebirds Fledge from First Buchanan County Bluebird Trail:

On the same day, May 14, that Roger saw the Red-headed Woodpecker, he and Lynda did their weekly check of the bluebird nest boxes on the golf course on Compton Mt..  Box number one, that had been assembled by young club member, Todd Perkins, had contained the first brood of Eastern Bluebirds.  It was empty.  The nest was undisturbed and the young birds were gone.  It was time for them to fledge since they had been in the nest for 19 days.  Most bluebirds fledge between 18 and 21 days old.  Club members are working to enable hundreds more young bluebirds like these to fledge in the future.   

Dave Worley, one of our Russell County club members, along with Rack Cross and Bob Quillen of the Bristol Bird Club, had 9 intense days of birding in Texas during the first part of May.  They birded in the hill country, the Rio Grande Valley and along the coast.  They saw over 200 species.
An Orchard Oriole was heard and seen by Roger Mayhorn on Compton Mt. on May 22.  This is only the second record that Roger has for the mountain, although people in the valleys have them nest on a regular basis near their homes.  The bird, an immature male, continues to sing at the edge of the Mayhorn yard, but refuses to come to the Oriole feeder or to the orange halves put out by the Mayhorns.

Wallace Coffey and Ron Harrington, both of Bristol, conducted a Birds in Forested Landscape Survey at the Wildlife Management Area in Washington County, VA on May 23.  There they found two Blackpoll Warblers and a Magnolia Warbler.  They also saw Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Veeries, breeding flycatchers, Canada Warblers and Dark-eyed Juncos.

Wallace and Ron also found a new breeding location for the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on Iron Mt. in Smyth County on May 29.

Todd Perkins and his father, Clayton Perkins, fished and birded at Big Tumbling Creek on May 26.  The birding was better than the fishing.  Todd got a Black-throated Blue Warbler as a lifebird, and also saw several Chestnut-sided Warblers and Magnolia Warblers.  Near the top of the mountain Todd heard a Veery singing.  The two also saw several Louisiana Waterthrushes along the stream.

Todd almost got another lifebird on June 4, when he saw a Broad-winged Hawk fly over the football field at Grundy High School.  He said the bird was calling as it flew.  He decided not to add this species to his lifelist, since he didn’t get a good look at the bird’s field marks.
On May 27 Wallace Coffey and another Bristol birder, Chris O’Bryan, heard an Olive-sided Flycatcher singing on Holston Mt. in Sullivan County, TN.  They were unable to get a look at the bird. Wallace was of the opinion that the bird was probably a migrant, just passing through.
The western side of Bull Mt. and David Raines’ property near the Breaks was the area birded by David Raines, Roger Mayhorn and Ed & Michelle Talbott on May 30.   The four waded the marshy area owned by Glema Auville.  Glema was nice enough to give permission for club members to bird the area.  A total of  38 species were found for the two areas.  This marshy area was the same spot where David Raines found the Little Blue Heron on May 10.  David also found a Black-billed Cuckoo there the same day.  On June 1 Ed Talbott saw the Black-billed Cuckoo also.  Roger & Lynda Mayhorn returned to the area on Monday, June 2, hoping to see the cuckoo, but the bird failed to show.
While returning from trout fishing on May 31 Sheldon and Orpha Woods found a Snipe near Honaker.  At first Sheldon thought it was some other species, but then got a better look at the markings.  On Saturday, June 3, Sheldon saw a small flock of Horned Larks near a mudhole on Rt. 61 between Tazewell and Rocky Gap, VA.
Cerulean Warbler was the most numerous species seen on Boyd Ridge by Todd Perkins on June 2.  Todd went riding on the ridge on his 4-wheeler.  He said that Ceruleans were singing at every stop.  He also saw several Eastern Bluebirds.  One Cerulean and a Scarlet Tanager came within 15 feet of Todd, giving him good looks at the birds.  Todd also heard a strange song that he identified as a Canada Warbler.  After checking the call on a CD at home Todd confirmed that it was a Canada he had heard.
 
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