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 5     Issue 10     October 2006

Due to unfortunate circumstances the regular monthly BCBC meeting was not held, but on Saturday, Oct. 21 club members, David and Susan Raines hosted a Sparrow Day at their home (photo) in the Breaks. The weather was excellent with blue autumn sky and colorful fall foliage. Nineteen birders were present to look for sparrows and other migrants. Fifty avian species were recorded for the day with Chipping Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows being the sparrow finds of the day, as well as Dark-eyed Juncos and Eastern Towhees, which are also considered sparrows. Seven Red-tailed hawks came out to circle in the blue and a striking Red-shouldered Hawk (pictured here) perched to give the birders a great opportunity to study it closely and to make photos. The most unusual birds of the day were two Double-crested Cormorants flying high overhead. These birds are usually seen only on lakes or along the coast.

After lunch, prepared by David and Susan with desserts brought in by others, the group drove to Beaver’s Knob near Elkhorn City, KY. There a Northern Harrier flew low over the fields, as it hunted for small rodents. Eastern Meadowlarks were found there and White-crowned Sparrows were numerous (26 counted). Ed & Michelle Talbott flushed a lone Woodcock from the grass. It was a great day to be out birding. Those present were Don Carrier, Ed & Barbara Caudill, Dan Kendrick, Molly McCutcheon with 3 of her friends from Alabama, Fred & Janice Martin, Roger & Lynda Mayhorn, Marie Miller, David & Susan Raines, Ed & Mary Talbott and Ed & Michelle Talbott. More photos of the outing can be found at http://www.pbase.com/aquilaet/raines, and at http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/sparrow_day_raines  

The club’s annual Sparrow Day at Guesses Fork, scheduled for the following week-end, was rained out.

It is time once again for the Thanksgiving Window Watch. To participate you select a circular area 15 feet in diameter that includes your feeders, bird baths, etc. Imagine that the area extends upward as a cylinder. Count the number of birds of each species that come into the cylinder of air during an hour. Try to judge the actual number of birds, not the number of visits. Count only the birds of a particular species you see in the circle at one time, then add others only if you know they are different individuals that have not been there already. Along with the bird species observed include your name and address, the time you started the count, the temperature, the weather – sunny, rain, etc. wind – none, moderate, strong, etc. and habitat – crowded residential, residential, suburban, rural. When finished mail the info to:

Thanksgiving Window Watch
c/o Susan G Wingfield
556 Lady Slipper Lane
Lynchburg, VA 24502

Or just email the info to Roger Mayhorn at mayhorn@netscope.net and he will send the info in for you.

Dec 11 - BCBC Christmas Dinner – This annual event will take place at 6:00 p.m. at Bellacino’s in Grundy. Club Secretary & Treasurer, Lynda Mayhorn, has reserved their conference room in the back of the restaurant. Those attending should bring the traditional $5.00 birding Christmas gift, as gifts will be exchanged. Members pay for their own meal.

Breaks CBC – No date has yet been announced for the Breaks Christmas Bird Count. It is usually on a Saturday in mid-December. All members are encouraged to come out and join us in finding as many birds as we can in a 15 mile radius circle within one day. Dates for the Breaks CBC and the Russell County CBC will be announced.

Roger & Lynda Mayhorn recently received a letter from VARCOM, the Virginia Records Committee. This committee reviews sightings of unusual birds found within Virginia and then decides to accept or reject them as credible sightings. The letter received by the Mayhorns informed them, that their sighting on September 30, 2005 of a Mississippi Kite in Dickenson County VA, had been accepted by the committee. The sighting was accepted as a Category Two, which is the highest level of acceptance without some physical evidence of the sighting. This is only the eighth sighting of this species in the Mountains and Valleys section of the state.

The Mississippi Kite is a raptor that is normally found in New Mexico and Oklahoma eastward along the coast to North and South Carolina.

Club member Roger Mayhorn was recently invited to join Bob Riggs and Tom Hunter, both of Lebanon, on a birding trip to the widely known birding site of Cape May New Jersey. The three arrived in Cape May on Wednesday, Oct 4 and birded through Sunday, Oct. 8. The three were met at Cape May by two other birders. The group got there just at the peak of hawk migration. Hawks and falcons were constantly in the air. One hundred fifty-two species of birds were logged during the few days there. The group birded even in pouring rain because Peregrine Falcons and Merlins were too numerous to pass up. They were flying up and down the streets and perching on houses and electrical poles. Nineteen species of warblers were seen there. Everyone in the group got lifebirds, as they had the birding experience of their lives.

On Sunday, as the three local birders were heading home, they took a detour to Bombay Hook, a wildlife refuge near Dover Delaware. There the three saw lots of Snow Geese, sandpipers, godwits and avocets.

Roger presented a Power Point program of the trip to club members at the Nov 13 club meeting.

On October 19 this female Rufous Hummingbird appeared at the feeder of Bob and Diana Riggs in Lebanon, VA. Bob was surprised because this species of hummingbird normally inhabits the western part of the United States and western Canada. This hummer nests farther north than any other hummingbird species. It nests in Alaska and even the southern Yukon. It spends the winter in southern Mexico. In recent years more and more members of this species have been found in the East during the fall and winter months. Some ornithologists believe that a new migration pattern is being established with some of these birds spending their winters in the southeastern U.S. Since more birders now leave out feeders later in the fall and winter, this provides needed food for this species. At the time of this writing (11/18/06) the little female was still coming to the Riggs’ feeder. Bob is planning to set up a heat lamp to keep the feeder from freezing.

Late Warblers in Buchanan County

Most fall warblers have migrated through the area by late September, but this year at least two species are taking their time in passing through. Ed & Michelle Talbott found a Common Yellowthroat (left) on Caney Island Branch near Weller Yard on October 11, and club members, Don Carrier of Bristol and Roger Mayhorn of Compton Mt found a Nashville Warbler (right) on October 29 at Poplar Gap Park not far from Grundy. According to Peterson’s Guide to Warblers, members of both species may be as late as late October or early November in their fall migration southward. 

A Blue-headed Vireo was found in the yard of Roger & Lynda Mayhorn on Compton Mt on October 17. Even though this is a bit late for this migrating species, it is sometimes found in the area as late as November. The late recorded date for this species in Buchanan County is November 2, 2002. That bird was found on the Billy Ray Justus and Shirley Justus farm at Guesses Fork of Hurley by members of the Buchanan County Bird Club on the club’s traditional Sparrow Day.

On October 29, when Don Carrier and Roger Mayhorn found the Nashville Warbler mentioned above, they also found several sparrow species. Vespers, a Lincoln’s, a Savannah, Field, White-crowned, White-throated, Chipping and Song Sparrows were all found. The Vesper Sparrow pictured here shows the distinctive eye ring that most other sparrows do not have. This species also has white retrices (outer tail feathers) that show when the bird is in flight. Five Horned Larks were found at Poplar Gap Park in the company of 18 Killdeer. Horned Larks at Poplar Gap numbered nearly two dozen 4 years ago, but the numbers have been dropping each year, probably due to the destruction of the habitat there, as more construction has taken place. At Enoch’s Branch on Slate Creek the birds found were a Cooper’s Hawk, an immature Red-tailed Hawk, large flocks of Cedar Waxwings, a flock of 5 Flickers and more Vesper Sparrows and several Yellow-rumped Warblers. 

The first reported Fox Sparrow of the fall season showed up under the feeders of Roger & Lynda Mayhorn on Compton Mt on November 1. This reddish-brown sparrow nests on the ground in thickets as far north as Alaska and Northern Canada. It spends the winter in our area and farther south in the U.S. This shy sparrow is also known as the Ferruginous Finch, Foxy Finch, Fox-colored Sparrow and Fox Tail. 

On October 29 Michelle Talbott and her mother, Shirley Justus, birded the Justus property at Guesses Fork. They found not one, but two rare Henslow’s Sparrows. These sparrows are very shy and secretive and do not show themselves willingly. Fortunately for these birders the two Henslow’s flew into the lower branches of a bush and thought they were hidden. Henslow’s Sparrows have been recorded only 4 times within Buchanan County. Three of those have been on the Justus property on Guesses Fork – Nov 2, 2002, Nov 1, 2003, Oct 29, 2006. The fourth was at David & Susan Raines’ home on Middlefork in the Breaks Oct 6, 2004.  Other sparrows found that day on the Justus property were Song, White-throated, White-crowned, Chipping, Swamp and Savannah.

Rusty Blackbirds in the Area

Rusty Blackbirds are in decline. The reason is not yet known, but they are becoming harder to find with each season. This fall Rusties have shown up in our area. Roger Mayhorn photographed this one of two females that were in his yard on Compton Mt on November 5. On Nov 20 nineteen Rusties came into the Mayhorn yard with some Red-wings. The one in this photo is holding a large grub. This is the first time since Nov 29 of 2004, that Rusties have been recorded on Compton Mt. Club member, Richard Kretz had 18 in his yard in Russell County on November 14. Rusty Blackbirds can be distinguished from Brown-headed Cowbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds by the bright white of their eyes and the rusty color on their backs. 

The Winter Wrens have returned from farther north or from nearby higher elevations, where they nest, to spend the winter in our area. They seem to be really numerous this year with reports of several being sighted. Ed Caudill has found more than the average number in his outings recently. They have also been found recently on Compton Mt and in the Breaks area. Don Carrier took this photo at Osceola Island in TN, where he has been seeing them in greater numbers than usual. These tiny, thumb- sized wrens are darker and smaller than the Carolina Wrens that are with us year round. The Carolina Wren has a white supercillium (stripe above the eye) and has the colors of a chipmunk, while the Winter wren looks dark brown (from a distance). Winter Wrens are often seen moving about nervously as they go under rocks, logs and roots of trees in search of insects. This wren is also known as the Alaska Wren, Aleutian Wren, Kiska Wren, Kodiak Wren and Mouse Wren.