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 4     Issue 5     May 2005

Members discussed their upcoming trip to Magee Marsh at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Northern Ohio. They voted to do a bird walk on the Grundy Bike Trail instead of the regular club meeting on May 9. Roger Mayhorn presented a Power Point Program on Peregrine Falcons.

Roger Mayhorn has been in contact with members of the (VDGIF) Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries concerning the hacking of Peregrine Falcons in the Breaks Park. The time has passed to be able to release young falcons this spring, but plans are being made for next year. Two members of the VDGIF are coming to the Breaks in mid-May to check out the site. They are afraid that some adult Peregrines may be in the area. Adult Peregrines will kill young falcons that are not their own. One of the VDGIF members related a story about a pair of adult Peregrines that came in to a hack box and began to feed the young through the bars. This continued until the day the young were released. The adults immediately attacked the two young falcons, knocking both of them out of the air. One young bird was killed.

The chances of finding an adult Peregrine in the Breaks are pretty slim. In all the years of birding the area members of the Buchanan County Bird Club have never found an adult Peregrine in the area during the breeding season.

The snow and freezing temperatures on April 23, and the cold damp weather that followed have dealt a blow to early nesting birds. On that date club members, Harry and Phyllis Scott of Vansant (around the hill above the Vansant traffic light) found a nest of newly hatched Carolina Wrens under an overhang inside the bag part of a hand-held fertilizer spreader. On May 4th while showing the nest to Roger Mayhorn, Harry found that all 5 of the young had died. They appeared to have frozen to death or to have died from starvation, or a combination of the two.

Roger and Lynda Mayhorns’ teenage neighbor, Nicholas Wimmer, found 4 dead bluebird nestlings on May 1 in one of the nest boxes in his yard.

On May 3 Roger Mayhorn checked the 27 nest boxes of the Compton Mt Bluebird Trail. The week before he had found 45 eggs (bluebirds and chickadees), but no young. On May 3 he found some young had hatched, but some had not. One box contained 4 eggs, but only 3 had hatched. Another contained 5 eggs and only 3 had hatched. Another box contained 4 eggs and 2 had hatched. Of course not every egg in every nest hatches, but the high number of unhatched eggs points to the extreme cold weather. On Compton Mt the temperature dropped to 29 degrees on April 23. It was also windy.

On two of the cold evenings Johnnie Ratliff found some of his 8 newly arrived Purple Martins huddling, wet and cold in the yard shrubbery. Martins are especially vulnerable to cold weather because they get their food by taking insects on the wing. When the temperature drops below 40 degrees insects do not fly. During a prolonged cold spell Purple Martins will starve. Johnnie picked up the birds and closed them up inside his martin house so they could stay warm and dry. When he released them the next morning they appeared to be okay.

3/21/05    Tree Swallow                                      Johnnie Ratliff               Mouth of Little Prater -Grundy VA
3/21/05    Northern Rough-winged Swallow        Johnnie Ratliff               Mouth of Little Prater - Grundy VA
3/25/05    Blue-headed Vireo                              David Raines                 Breaks Park entrance
3/31/05    Osprey                                                Ed Talbott III                Weller Yard
4/2/05      Barn Swallow                                      David Raines                 Breaks VA
4/2/05      Yellow-throated Warbler                    Ed Talbott III                SVCC – Tazewell County
4/3/05      Black-and-white Warbler                   Ed Talbott III                Breaks Park
4/4/05      Yellow-throated Warbler (in Buchanan) Roger Mayhorn         Mountaintop Golf Course Compton Mt
4/5/05      Ruby-throated Hummingbird               Johnnie & Betty Ratliff  Mouth of Little Prater – Grundy VA
4/9/05      Whip-poor-will                                   Todd Perkins                Vansant VA
4/10/05    Rose-breasted Grosbeak                    Michelle Talbott            Guesses Fork – First in the state
4/11/05    Black-throated Green Warbler           Todd Perkins                 Grundy High School
4/11/05    Yellow Warbler                                 Roger Mayhorn             Compton Mt
4/11/05    Ruby-crowned Kinglet                      Roger Mayhorn              Compton Mt
4/12/05    Hooded Warbler                               Roger Mayhorn              Compton Mt
4/14/05    White-eyed Vireo                              Roger Mayhorn              Compton Mt
4/14/05    Grasshopper Sparrow                       Michelle Talbott              Poplar Gap Park – First in the state
417/05     Golden-winged Warbler                    Michelle Talbott              Guesses Fork – First in the state
4/17/05    Cerulean Warbler                              Michelle Talbott              Guesses Fork – First in the state
4/18/05    Eastern Kingbird                                Ed Talbott III                 SVCC – Tazewell County
4/19/05    American Redstart                             Roger & Lynda Mayhorn   Horn Mt
4/20/05    Scarlet Tanager                                  Roger & Lynda Mayhorn    Horn Mt
4/20/05    Wood Thrush                                     Roger & Lynda Mayhorn    Horn Mt
4/22/05    Red-eyed Vireo                                  Ed Talbott III                  Weller Yard
4/23/05    Indigo Bunting                                    Sheldon Woods                 On Russell Prater near Vansant VA
4/25/05    Orchard Oriole                                  Johnnie Ratliff                  Mouth of Little Prater – Grundy VA
4/26/05    Chestnut-sided Warbler                     Roger & Lynda Mayhorn     Compton Mt
4/26/05    Yellow-throated Vireo                       Roger & Lynda Mayhorn     Compton Mt
4/30/05    Gray Catbird                                     Roger & Lynda Mayhorn     Compton Mt   
5/1/05      Yellow-breasted Chat                        Roger Mayhorn                   Compton Mt
5/1/05       Baltimore Oriole                                 Roger & Lynda Mayhorn    Compton Mt

On April 19 Johnnie & Betty Ratliff saw a pair of Tree Swallows take over a nest box from a pair of Carolina Chickadees in their yard at Little Prater. Johnnie said the Tree Swallows were very aggressive in evicting the chickadees.

On David Raines found 4 Tree Swallow nests in boxes on the Johnnie & Betty Ratliff Bluebird Trail in the Breaks area. David also found 13 Eastern Bluebird nests and 4 Carolina Chickadee nests on the trail.

The Buchanan County Bird Club is glad to welcome Joel and Josh Mead (father and son) and Cheryl Thompson as new club members. Josh is 12 years old and talked his father into coming to a club meeting after having seen a presentation about birds to the Boy Scouts by Roger and Lynda Mayhorn in February.

Cheryl and her parents run Thompson’s Enterprise at Big Rock. It is their company that is responsible for the great look of our new club shirts with the new club logo.  Thanks to Cheryl we have been getting updates on the Osprey that has been frequenting the Levisa River at Big Rock . Roger & Lynda Mayhorn drove down on a couple of occasions to watch the Osprey. Roger took some photos. They can be seen at http://users.mikrotec.com/mayhorn/BIMG/OsprP2.htm

Indigo Buntings have Returned

Bright blue Indigo Buntings have been showing up in the last few weeks at several feeders in the county. Sheldon Woods took this photo, when the first one showed up at his feeder on April 23 on Prater.

Clarence Brown had a male Indigo at his home in Hurley on May 2. On May 4 a bright blue male showed up at Harry & Phyllis Scott’s feeders at Vansant. The Mayhorns had one in their yard on Compton Mt on May 6. Some of these birds are probably just passing through, but many will find briar thickets nearby and establish territories. They will be heard singing from a treetop nearby as they try to attract a mate, and to tell other males to stay away.

Club member, Clarence Brown of Hurley called Roger Mayhorn on May 2 to tell him that Clarence and his brother, Jack had been birding that day and had found a nest on Dooley Branch. This is the hollow behind Clarence’s house. A Blue-headed Vireo had been seen near the nest site, and was thought to possibly be the bird using the nest. The next day Roger and Clarence went back to the site and found this Blue-headed Vireo on this nest. The bluish-gray upper body, and the white spectacle-like markings around the eyes were good identifying marks. The bird was not upset and remained on the nest. This photo was taken from several feet away.

On the same day and in the same area that the Blue-headed Vireo nest was found, Clarence and his brother also found a Wild Turkey’s nest. The nest was located at the base of a tree and contained 8 eggs. Since the eggs were partially covered with leaves, the hen turkey had probably not finished laying. Turkeys usually lay from 12 to 15 eggs, and, according to Harry Scott, once they start brooding (sitting on the eggs) they don’t cover the eggs when they leave the nest for water or food.

Ed & Michelle Talbott along with friend, Frank Kilgore, hiked and birded 4,689 ft Beartown Mountain in Russell County on May 1. They hiked about 10 miles and found Winter Wrens, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-throated Green Warblers, Red-breasted Nuthatches and Common Ravens. To get more info and see more great photos of the hike click here http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/2005/Beartown.htm

White-throated Sparrows have been at our feeders all winter, but their numbers are dwindling as they leave to go north to their nesting grounds in the northern U. S and southern Canada. One was still feeding on Compton Mountain at the Mayhorns’ feeders on May 4. This is a new late date for our Buchanan County records.The last reported Purple Finch in the area was also observed at the Mayhorns’ feeders on Compton Mt on April 23. Pine Siskins are still hanging around. Three were observed at the Mayhorns’ feeders on May 6. 

Dave Worley at Rosedale VA probably has the record in the area for the greatest number of Pine Siskins at a feeder this season. On April 24 he had a flock of about 40 at his feeders.

Sheldon Woods had 4 Red-winged Blackbirds, 2 Chipping Sparrows, 2 House Finches and 2 Downy Woodpeckers at his feeders on April 21 at Vansant.Clarence Brown had his first hummingbird on April 15. On May 2 he had the Indigo Bunting. He has also found Scarlet Tanagers and a Hooded Warbler.

In the past few years we have seen an increase in the number of Northern Mockingbirds in the area, but we have yet to find a successful nesting pair. Johnnie Ratliff was fairly sure that a pair was nesting near his house last year on Little Prater, but the nest wasn’t found. Well, this may be the year. A single Mockingbird has spent the winter at the Mayhorns while coming to the suet feeder. Mockingbirds have spent the winter there before, but they usually leave when spring comes. On April 15 a second Mockingbird arrived. The two have since been seen often together. On April 21, when Lynda was walking out to the mailbox, she saw two Mockingbirds hissing and aggressively chasing a third Mocker into the Forsythia shrubs and into the apple trees. Roger has been watching to see if he can locate the nest, but so far the two have been rather secretive. The best time to locate the nest will be when they start to carry food to the young. If you know of other Mockingbird pairs in the area contact Roger.

A female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has been visiting the suet feeder in the Mayhorns’ yard since April 21. You can see photos of it at this address http://users.mikrotec.com/mayhorn/BIMG/YBSap/YBSap1P.htm  Each April and May the Mayhorns put orange halves in the tree in their yard to draw in orioles. This year they had both a male Baltimore oriole and an Orchard Oriole. Photos can be seen at http://users.mikrotec.com/mayhorn/BIMG/BalOriole/BalOrioleP.htm

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have been moving through the area for the last couple of weeks. Michelle Talbott saw the first one on April 10. Ed & Michelle Talbott saw one on Beartown Mt on May 1. This species nests on the higher mountains in our area. Johnnie & Betty Ratliff have Grosbeaks coming to their feeders at Little Prater. Ed Talbott Jr. had 2 females and a male at his feeder at Big Rock on May 6. The Mayhorns had a female that came in on April 24. Then on May 5 two males and a female came to their feeders, where this photo was taken.