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 11     November 2003
Poplar Gap Birding
Since there was no club meeting in October, due to the library being closed, the group decided to go to Poplar Gap on Oct. 4. Seven members turned out, hoping to find Horned Larks, that had been seen there all through the summer, but the larks were no where to be found. However, an Osprey gave excellent looks, as it rose from the valley to skim across the park. An American Kestrel gave some good looks as it hunted along the edge of the woods. The birders also got excellent looks at Palm Warblers as they fed in the weeds.
Ed Talbott Does it Again
After being a part of finding the rare Sabine’s Gull on South Holston Lake on September 7th. Ed had to do something equally impressive for October. So he went to the Pandapas Pond area of the Jefferson National Forest in Montgomery County and located another rare bird. This time it was a Red Phalarope, a waterbird that nests during the summer on tundra ponds, but spends its winters on the open ocean. The bird is a rare inland visitor, but Ed was at the right place at the right time with his video camera, as these photos show. The bird was in its winter plumage. Ed also won praise from Sue Heath, a member of VARCOM, the Virginia Records Committee, for submitting the sighting electronically, via the internet. The committee makes decisions about rare or unusual bird species seen within the state based on descriptions, notes, photos, video, etc. Because Ed submitted the information electronically with links to the photos on his web site the sighting was confirmed within two weeks instead of the 6 – 12 months it normally takes. Sue Heath is now encouraging other birders to submit their sightings in this manner. You may see more photos and info about this sighting by going to Ed’s website at http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/Fall03/Pandapas.htm   Congratulations Ed!
Are the Hummingbirds Gone?
Many of you probably noticed that the numbers of hummers decreased as we moved into middle and late September. Johnnie and Betty Ratliff kept seeing them at their house on Little Prater until their last sighting on Nov. 1. Don’t take down all of your feeders just yet. Now is the time when you may get a western hummer at your feeder. Rufous Hummingbirds are sometimes visitors to feeders during this time of the year. It’s good to leave one feeder up until the end of November.
Interesting Events
Roger Mayhorn got a new yard bird on October 8, when a Black-billed Cuckoo showed up near his yard on Compton Mtn. The bird was busy catching and eating caterpillars. Yellow-billed Cuckoos are rather common within the county, but Black-bills are a not so easy to come by. This brings Roger’s list of species of birds seen in or near his yard to 126. 
Ed & Michelle Talbott had a Northern Mockingbird and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in their yard on Oct. 6.
Johnnie & Betty Ratliff had 3 Mockingbirds in their yard on Nov. 6. The birds were coming to the Crab Apple tree to eat the fruit. They also had Chipping Sparrows feeding below the tree.
Ed Talbott III took this video photo of one of a pair of Ospreys that showed up on the Levisa River behind his house at Weller Yard on Oct. 6. One of the birds sat in a tree, and gave Ed a good opportunity to get some good video. We look forward to seeing that video at a future club meeting.  To see more photos of the pair go to http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/Fall03/Osprey.htm
Roger Mayhorn saw his first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the fall season in his neighbor’s pasture on Compton Mtn on Oct. 10. These birds spend the summer as far north as the Great Lakes and farther north in Canada, but they come south for the winter.  Johnnie Ratliff also saw a Sapsucker in his yard the week of November 5.
Todd Perkins got a lifebird on Oct. 25 on the mountain near his house. A Peregrine Falcon flew into a tree near where Todd was. As Todd began walking toward it, it flew, giving Todd a good look at it. Todd has since observed, what he believes to be the same falcon twice more near his house. During the months of September and October many raptors are migrating southward, so it’s possible to see several different species.
Johnnie & Betty Ratliff saw a flock of 5 egrets fly over their house toward the end of October. On October 29 the two got a lifebird, when they saw a Green Heron at Oakwood
Bristol area club members, Ruth Smith and Janice Martin found the first Bufflehead (duck) of the season at South Holston Dam on Sunday, Nov. 2. A flock of Buffleheads usually spends the winter in that area. These two birders also saw a Mute Swan near the weir dam, which is just below South Holston Dam. Later that same day these two joined BCBC club member, Wallace Coffey and Rack Cross for some birding. At Musick’s campground they found a White-winged Scoter, an ocean bird that does occasionally show up on inland lakes. On the lake they also saw 9 Lesser Scaup (a species of duck) , 6 American Coots, 7 Eared Grebes, 2 Common Loons, 1 Ring-billed Gull, 12 Pied-billed Grebes, 25 Mallards and 105 Canada Geese.
Michelle Gets Classroom Visitor
When Michelle Talbott entered her classroom at Hurley High on the morning of November 3, she found glass everywhere and a Ruffed Grouse standing in the room. She and fellow birder, Jack Brown captured the bird and took it to the football field to release it. Unfortunately, the bird had a broken wing and leg and did not survive.  Ruffed Grouse fly into houses, cars, electrical wires, tree branches, etc. during the fall. There are several theories as to why this happens. One belief is that these are young birds, and that this blind flight is nature’s way of dispersing the family groups, where food would be a problem during the coming winter.  Another theory is that the birds have eaten fermented fruit and are flying into objects because they are intoxicated. No one knows for sure why it happens, but it does, every fall.
While on Enoch’s Branch of Slate Creek on November 6, Ed Caudill saw thousands of Robins feeding on Autumn Olive berries.
On October 15 Ed Talbott III heard a White-throated Sparrow, like this one he later photographed, singing behind the Buchanan County Public Library in Grundy. The White-throated Sparrows had returned from their summer in the northern U.S and Canada. Each year these birds return here in October to spend the winter. Then in April they leave to go north again to nest and raise their young.
The same day that Ed Talbott heard the White-throated Sparrow, Roger Mayhorn took this photo of an immature White-crowned Sparrow at his feeder. The adult White-crowned has white stripes on the head similar to the White-throated Sparrow (above), but it does not have the white throat. Since the 15th five White-crowneds have become regulars at the Mayhorns’ feeder. This species usually stays around for a few weeks then moves on. These sparrows are really fun to watch, in part because we have them for only a short time. Russell County, just south of us, has them all winter.
As Bob Riggs of the Russell County Bird Club says, “October is the month for sparrows.” This Swamp Sparrow (left), a still taken from Ed Talbott’s video, is one of the 8 species that were found on Guesses Fork of Hurley by members of the Buchanan County Bird Club on October 24. Ed & Michelle Talbott, Shirley Justus, Johnnie & Betty Ratliff and Marie Miller were the members who birded the area. Species found were White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow and Savannah Sparrow.You can see more photos and learn more about the outing at http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/Fall03/Guesses4.htm 
Henslow’s Sparrow
The best find among the sparrows this fall has been this Henslow’s Sparrow (right) found on Guesses Fork on November 1, 2003 by members of the BCBC. Ed & Michelle Talbott, Roger & Lynda Mayhorn, Johnnie & Betty Ratliff, David Raines and Shirley Justus were the birders of the day. This bird flew up from the grass only a few feet in front of Roger Mayhorn. It then flew into a thick Multiflora Rose bush, where it sat for several minutes, while the birders watched it through binoculars, and Ed and Roger photographed it. This is only the second confirmed sighting of this species within the county. The first was during the fall of 2002 in the same area.  There are more photos and more about the outing at Ed’s web site at http://www.grundynet.net/talbott/birding/hikes/W03/Guesses1.htm
Towhee with Eye-rings
Within a quarter of a mile and a couple of hours after finding the Henslow’s Sparrow David Raines spotted this strangely marked Eastern Towhee. The male of this species normally has a black head with a red eye and no eye-ring. Nonetheless, this bird had huge eye-rings that contrasted sharply with its black face. The bird went into a thicket, where the birding group literally surrounded it. Ed Talbott was on one side and moving in to see if he could get some video. Roger Mayhorn and Johnnie Ratliff were down the hill, ready to get photos and good looks, if the bird showed itself again. The others stood ready with their binoculars. Finally, with Ed and David urging it, the bird hopped up into a shrub, where everyone could see it. Ed got some good video (top left), and Roger got several digital shots (lower right). The eye markings evidently result from partial albinism or leucism, where some feathers have little or no pigment. The Audubon Society’s Encyclopedia of North American Birds points out that partial albinism can sometimes be symmetrical, which would explain why the markings appear on both sides of the bird’s head. The eye-rings are not of a uniform shape, and are different on each side of the head. The left one is more elongated, and the right one is more rounded. Birds appearing with white areas on their feathers is a rather common occurrence.
Outer Banks Birding
During the week of October 20th Ed & Barbara Caudill and Roger & Lynda Mayhorn spent a week birding the Outer Banks of NC. During that time the four birders logged 80 species. The birders got lifebirds, when they found and photographed the Glossy Ibis and the Clay Colored Sparrow. One morning Roger & Lynda joined a birding outing at Pea Island with 9 other birders, which proved quite interesting. Ed and Roger birded the Buxton Woods trail near Cape Hatteras lighthouse where Roger got close enough to touch a Blackburnian Warbler before it flew.  Roger will do a Power Point presentation at the next club meeting on Monday, November 10, where he will show some of the 400 digital photos he took during the trip.
Clay Colored Sparrow
During the Outer Banks trip Roger Mayhorn photographed this sparrow, which he hoped was a Clay Colored Sparrow, which would be a lifebird for him. After discussing the photo with Roger, Ed Talbott suggested that he post the photo to the website and let other birders give their opinions as to the species of the bird. This was done. Meanwhile, Roger sent the photo to the Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University for their help in identifying this “mystery bird”. 48 birders from VA, WV and TN gave their opinions. 28 voted for Clay Colored Sparrow, 6 voted for Lark Sparrow and 3 voted for Chipping Sparrow. The experts from Cornell sent back their opinion that the bird was indeed a Clay Colored Sparrow. It was nice way to get a lifebird.
Vesper Sparrow
After birding Guesses Fork on November 1, looking for Sparrows, Ed & Michelle Talbott came home to find Vesper Sparrows in their yard. They also had this unusual species in their yard in April of this year. Now that’s a very good yard bird to have on your list.
 
 
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