The Chat

Buchanan County Bird

Club Newsletter

Editors Roger & Lynda Mayhorn

The Buchanan County Bird Club meets the 2nd Monday of each month at the Buchanan County

  Public Library at 6:00 PM

      http://www.bcbirdclub.org

Volume 6   Issue 3 March 2007

 

No April Club Meeting

Due to the Easter Holiday we had no meeting on April 9th. Instead we had a birding outing in the Breaks Park on Saturday, April 14th. Five of us met at the Breaks restaurant and had breakfast. With a break in the weather we were able to bird for 3 hours. We saw 31 species before the rain moved in around noon. The most notable birds found on the outing were Louisiana Waterthrushes, Black-throated Green Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, Rough-winged, Barn and Tree Swallows, both kinglet species, Ruffed Grouse and Pied-billed Grebe.  

BCBC Has It’s Own Listserv

Thanks to the work of club member Don Carrier Buchanan County Bird Club members can now post computer messages that go to everyone in the group. Don set up the list on Freelists and spent time working out the problems. This is a great, positive leap forward for the club. It connects everyone in the group and allows bird sightings and nature stories to be enjoyed by the whole group. Thanks Don on behalf of the group. We certainly appreciate the hard work and we are already enjoying the posts.

To subscribe to the Buchanan County Bird Club mailing list by clicking here: BCBIRDCLUBLIST. This will open an email and you only have to Send the email. You will receive an email confirming your subscription.

Bald Eagle on the Levisa River

On April 10, 2007 a Bald Eagle was sighted over the Levisa River at the Vansant bridge in Vansant. The bird circled then flew under the bridge and scattered Rock Pigeons. It came out the other side with a pigeon in its talons. It then flew to a nearby tree and ate its kill. Harry Scott, who lives on the hill above the bridge saw the bird and managed to get some photos of it. Harry says that he has seen Bald Eagles in the same area during the past few years, but this is only the second confirmed sighting of the species in Buchanan County . Ed Talbott III saw the first on April 30th 2002. That eagle was flying above the ridge above the Buchanan County Public Library in the company of Turkey Vultures.

Another Visit to Bluestone Lake

David Raines wasn’t able to go with the rest of the group to bird the Bluestone Lake area on March 10th, but on the 16th he was in the area and decided to check it out. As he was looking out over the lake an adult Bald Eagle came flying by at eye level, so his day was made. He also got to see Scaup, Buffleheads and a raven.
 

The Mudhole News

Jerry Thornhill of Lebanon found a Greater Yellowlegs at the area known as the Mudhole at Elk Garden on March 21. A pair of Wood Ducks was seen on a nearby creek. His wife, Jane, saw the Wood Ducks several times.

Birder of the Month Award                                                                                          

The Birder of the Month award for the month of March goes to Ed & Michelle Talbott for their sighting of the Red-breasted Mergansers on Laurel Lake in the Breaks Park on March 24th. These very rare waterfowl (for the area) were in the company of Ring-necked Ducks.

Congratulations Ed & Michelle!

 

Here are the rules for receiving the Birder of the Month Award:

These are some rules I came up with while trying to decide how to present the award. They are open for discussion and any comments or additions would be welcome.  ( Roger Mayhorn )

 

  1. To receive the award the person must be a member of the Buchanan County Bird Club.
  2. Local birds take precedence. Birds observed in Buchanan and adjacent counties take precedence over birds found elsewhere.
  3. The rarer the bird for the area the more likely it is to win the award.
  4. A club member who photographs or films an unusual bird may receive the award, even though that  member did not find the bird originally. Of course the finding of an unusual bird would take precedence over the photographing of one that had not been found by the photographer.

5.   If no unusual birds have been sighted then the receiver of the award could be a person who gets a                        

lifebird that month. (A lifebird being a bird that club member has never seen before)

  1. A club member could receive the award for finding a rare nest site.

For example: locating the nest site of Great Blue Herons or Ospreys on any waters feeding into the Big Sandy watershed would receive the award, since neither of these has ever been found.

  1. A member could receive the award for finding the first returning migrant of the season, if a more unusual sighting has not been made that month.
 

The Swallows Return

     Johnnie Ratliff had a Tree Swallow and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow at his place at the mouth of Little Prater near Grundy on March 1st. These were the first of the species sighted in the area. Later in the month they were checking out his nest boxes, which they have used in the past.

David Raines saw the first Purple Martin of the season at Riverview Elementary below Grundy on March 6th.

     I found 8 Tree Swallows here on Compton Mt on March 21. These were the first of the season for me. They kept checking out the white plastic gourds hanging from the martin house and the bluebird boxes.

     Both Frank Belcher and Morris Wallace of Elkhorn City , KY reported that the Tree Swallows had returned to that area by March 22. The birds nest in boxes there, which were put up by the town of Elkhorn .

     Ed Talbott III had his first 6 Northern Rough-winged Swallows at his place on the Levisa River on April 1st. By April 3rd a pair of Tree Swallows had taken up residence in one of Ed & Michelle’s bluebird boxes.

     I saw my first of the season Barn Swallow at the Mountain Top golf course here on Compton Mt on April 13th.

     On April 14th at the outing in the Breaks Park we saw Rough-winged Swallows, one Tree Swallow and one Barn Swallow on Laurel Lake . The next day after the bad weather had moved in David Raines saw a flock of 100 or so of all three species at his place on Middle Fork of the Breaks.

Cold weather is especially hard on swallows. They eat flying insects, and when the temperature falls below 40 degrees the insects don’t fly. Johnnie Ratliff has told me of finding adult martins on the ground during cold wet weather suffering from the cold and lack of food.

The Ratliff Yard Birds

Here are photos taken by Betty Ratliff in her back yard. The Downy WP is one of several that come to the feeder. The Eastern Bluebird is perched on one of the many bird houses built by Johnnie. Johnnie made this house from the plastic cover that goes over 4x4 fence posts. Many of us in the club can attest to the fact that the birds will use them since Johnnie has been generous in giving them out.

More Spring Migrants

On March 19th Don and Dawn Carrier had two Summer Tanagers at their home in Bristol , TN. This was a first for them.

Michelle Talbott spotted the 1st Blue-headed Vireo of the season on March 22nd on the Geological Trail in the Breaks Park , where she and Ed were hiking. Also on the 22nd David Raines found 6 Ring-necked Ducks and a Pied-billed Grebe on Laurel Lake in the park. We also found in the park the first Zebra Swallow-tailed Butterfly of the season.

 

On March 27th Lynda and I found a pair of Wood Ducks on a pond on Compton Mt. These birds are seldom seen here on the mountain.

 

The first of the season, Yellow-throated Warbler was found by Ed & Michelle Talbott in the Breaks Park behind shelter #3 on March 24th. In addition they found 5 Pine Warblers and 8 Blue-headed Vireos. Lynda and I also found 5 Pine Warblers in the park on March 25th.

 

The first Ruby-throated Hummingbirds of the season showed up at two different locations on March 26th. One came to the feeder of Fred and Janice Martin in Bristol , VA and the other came to Debbie Jackson’s feeder in the Garden area of Buchanan County . Another hummer came to the feeder of George & Glorianna Fletcher near Bull Mountain here in the county on March 27th. Let’s hope the recent cold hasn’t done these little fellows in.

Lynda and I found the first of the season Black-throated Green Warbler and the first Louisiana Waterthrushes on March 28th in the head of Slate Creek near Compton Mt, off Rt. 83. The male Black-throated Green wasn’t singing, but the the 3 waterthrushes were loud and clear. Along the same stream we found a Great Blue Heron. I believe that is the first time I can ever remember seeing a Great Blue in that area. Of course the idea that the bird might be nesting there did occur to us. We looked for a nest, but the hollow is so long with huge trees it would be difficult to see. The area would be perfect for Great Blues since there are no houses there except at the lower part of the hollow. If any of you see or know anyone who has seen Great Blue Herons nesting in Southwest VA , KY or WV please contact me. We are looking for nesting sites.

 

On April 2nd Michelle Talbott and her mom, Shirley Justus, found the first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher of the season, while hiking on Guesses Fork of Hurley.

Shirley Justus also saw the first Ovenbird of the season on April 7th in her yard on Guesses Fork. This was a new early date for this species. The previous early date had been April 15th.
 

Unusually Marked Northern Flicker

Don Carrier took this photo in Bristol of a Northern Flicker (top bird) that has no black crescent on the breast. Both sexes of this species have the crescent even as nestlings. This bird is probably a female, since it has no black malar stripe on the side of the neck, but then again the stripe, like the crescent, may just be missing. I couldn’t find anything on the internet that would explain this condition, but unusual plumage colors often show up among birds.

 

Chippers Galore

 

On April 5th we had 15 Chipping Sparrows at our feeders here on the mountain, but on April 15th we had 28. The cause of the increase seems to be that this year for the first time I am feeding white proso millet on a platform feeder. The Chipping Sparrows definitely like it. Indigo Buntings came to it last year, when I was feeding the millet in a regular hopper feeder.

 

Aggressive Bluebird

The Eastern Bluebird that was attacking the mirrors and windows of our SUV is still filling aggressive. Folding in the mirrors or rolling down the windows does not stop this little blue-feathered ball of testosterone. Lynda had the idea that we could tape pin-wheels to the mirrors and as they turned in the wind they would frighten him away. Well, it worked, at least for a little while, then one evening I looked out of the window and noticed that one of the pin-wheels was not turning in the breeze. I also noticed something blue on it. I then realized that the bluebird was attacking the shiny pin-wheel. I walked out and photographed him in the act. He was so intent on attacking the image he saw, he hardly paid any attention to me.