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CarolinaBirds for Tuesday, January 10, 2006
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Subject: SC Cackling Geese, good ducks, Sunset Bch
From: "Mary & Bill McDavit" <osprey1(AT)atmc.net>
Date: 10 Jan 2006 6:34am
To C'Birders:
Had much better luck finding the Cackling Geese at Bear Island, SC yesterday
than I have in North Carolina. (Hurray!) Got up really early here at
Sunset Lakes, NC and got to Bear Island and saw the geese well by 8 AM., (3
hr.+ trip - beat the construction and rush hour).
If anyone is birding Brunswick Co., both Redhead and Canvasback have been
consistently seen this month on Lake Medcalf (my backyard). The Hybrid
Black vs. Mallard returned early this winter with 3 Black Ducks in tow,
family-style, but after a few weeks he, they, apparently moved on, altho'
there is still a Black Duck or 2.
Don't know why we're talking about the Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Fla. on
Carolinabirds, but since it's been brought up, I will say that after 2
unsuccessful trips to Florida other years, I finally did see the one near
Apopka, and saw it well, both on the wires and in the big tree by the road
on Jan. 2nd. (HURRAY!)
I have much fun trying for reportable ABA thresholds lists in other states,
but have to give Ricky Davis 'THREE LOUD CHEERS' for his persistence here in
the home state.
Oh, and I have an adult-appearing male Ruby-throated Hummingbird that is
semi-regular at the feeder, if anyone is interested, banding-wise.
Good Birding,
Mary McDavit, Sunset Beach mainland, in the heart of the swamp.
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Subject: Bobby Harrison also in Columbia
From: Dan Tufford <dtufford(AT)bellsouth.net>
Date: 10 Jan 2006 7:52am
>I encourage you to go to Raleigh if that is your best option. For
>those closer to Columbia Bobby will also be here on Saturday, April
>8. This is a firm date, details of the event are still in the
>planning stages...more later.
Dan Tufford
Columbia, SC
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Subject: Urban birding
From: "Betsy Kane" <betsykane(AT)earthlink.net>
Date: 10 Jan 2006 11:37am
Yesterday I saw a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. This is the second time within
two weeks that I've seen this or another juvenile Cooper's hawk inside the
Beltline in Raleigh.
It was perched on a fence along the Raleigh Greenway that runs through the
Meredith College campus. The location is right next to Hillsborough Street,
where the greenway runs through some small trees and underbrush bordering a
very small creek, which drains the big lawn in front of Meredith College.
Other birds seen along the greenway yesterday:
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Bluebirds
Small flock of Cedar Waxwings
White-throated Sparrows
Song Sparrows
Yellow-Rumped (Myrtle) Warblers
Carolina Wrens, chickadees, Cardinal, Blue Jay, etc., etc.
The day before, there was a stag with a nice set of antlers along this
trail.
Not the sort of place to add anything to your Life List, but some pretty
good birding considering all locations were within 1000 feet of an urban
interstate highway.
Betsy Kane
Raleigh, NC
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Subject: CRBO Bull's Island trip report - 123 species seen, 2 more
heard
From: "Cape Romain Bird Observatory" <crbo(AT)dmzs.com>
Date: 10 Jan 2006 2:03pm
Due to popular demand, I have prepared a trip report / species list for a
recent outing to Bull's Island, SC.
On Monday January 2, CRBO arranged a special boat trip to Bull's Island to
look for rare and unusual birds. Field trip leaders were Nathan Dias and Will
Whitsett. The weather was less than cooperative - overnight rains passed
through the previous night / early morning and Monday afternoon was forecast
to have high winds, squall lines and even a tornado watch. But the morning
forecast was for relatively calm winds and the radar showed a break in the
rain for a few hours around Bull's Island. So we decided to go ahead with the
field trip, but to leave the island by 1:00pm or so.
Sadly, we did not refind the drake Eurasian Wigeon found the previous (sunny)
day during the Charleston Christmas Bird Count. But we were treated to
extremely close views of a Peregrine Falcon harassing a perched Merlin. The
Peregrine was quite vocal as it dove at the Merlin, but the Merlin stood its
ground and stayed perched on the dead snag beside Jack's Creek. We saw three
species of falcons during the day.
We also enjoyed extremely close views and high numbers of Canvasback Ducks.
Multiple flocks of Canvasback buzzed and circled over our party at low
altitude. Hearing the wind rushing over the wings of the Canvasbacks at close
range was exhilarating. It was very nice to see good numbers of Redhead ducks
and Pintails. We also saw around 2,500 American Coots and close to that many
Ruddy Ducks in the Jack's Creek impoundment complex alone.
We saw 19 waterfowl species in Jack's Creek impoundment (17 duck species, 1
goose, 1 swan), plus Coot and Moorhen.
The shorebirds of the day were a pair of Long-billed Dowitchers first spotted
by Martha Sherman. We also saw two of the three Wilson's Plovers that have
been wintering on the northeast tip of Bull's Island. The high tide shorebird
roost contained hundreds of the following species: Short-billed Dowitchers,
Dunlin and Semipalmated Plovers. There were dozens of Black-bellied Plovers,
Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones. We saw several dozen American
Oystercatchers on the boat ride to/from Bull's Island.
Bird Highlights:
White Pelican, Tundra Swan, 1200+ Canvasback, 100+ Redhead, Greater Scaup,
Mottled Duck, Northern Pintail, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, Wilson's Plover,
Long-billed Dowitcher (2)
Mammalian highlights included 9 Fox Squirrels and Atlantic Bottlenose
Dolphins. We also saw some very large alligators in and out of the water.
For a complete bird species list and a photo of part of the intrepid (crazy)
group that braved such nasty conditions, see the following web page:
http://www.crbo.net/Bulls1-2-06trip.html
--
Nathan Dias
Executive Director
Cape Romain Bird Observatory
http://www.crbo.net/
crbo(AT)dmzs.com
P.O. Box 362
McClellanville, SC 29458
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Subject: Carolina Bird Club meeting at VA Beach Feb 3-5
From: "John Ennis" <swampwolf(AT)thebusinessbirder.com>
Date: 10 Jan 2006 2:46pm
Please join us at Virginia Beach for the Carolina Bird Club 2006 winter
meeting, February 3-5. Trips include Back Bay NWR, Great Dismal Swamp NWR,
Craney Island, First Landing State Park, Princess Anne WMA, Mackay NWR, and
pelagic trips to the Norfolk Canyon.
Updated information concerning the meeting has been posted to the Carolina
Bird Club website (http://www.carolinabirdclub.org/; click on the Virginia
Beach in the Winter link). The article includes many links to those sites'
home page to aid your trip selection. The CBBT trips are sold out; however
there are plenty of slots left on the pelagic trips.
Headquarters will be the Ramada Plaza Resort at Oceanfront and 57th Street
(1-800-365-3032, (http://www.ramadaplazavabeach.com/). Oceanfront rooms are $68
and regular
rooms are $60; both have a mini refrigerator and microwave. The cutoff date
for reservations was January 2; however, they will honor rates based on
availability thereafter. Please tell Ramada reservations you are associated
with the CBC.
Registration for the meeting begins Thursday night, February 2, at 6-9 pm at
the Ramada.
The Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum will host an open house for the
meeting attendees on Thursday night from 7-9 pm. A decoy carver will be on
hand for demonstrations and light refreshments will be served. The museum is
at 12th & Atlantic Avenue, three miles from our hotel. Additional parking is
available at the Raven Restaurant. There are a number of good restaurants,
including the Raven, in the immediate area.
Our featured speaker for the Friday evening meeting will be Brian Patteson,
reviewing the awesome 2005 pelagic birding year. The Friday night meeting
begins at 7:30 pm.
Our featured speakers for the Saturday evening meeting will be Judy
Fieth and Michael Male, of Blue Earth Films (http://birdfilms.com/).
"A Year in the Desert" will show the filming, at Bitter Lake NWR in
New Mexico, of a bird-filled film for the refuge's new visitor
center. Their talk will be based on highlights from three seasons of
filming at the refuge, where the Chihuahuan Desert meets the short
grass prairie.
Please let me know if you have questions.
John Ennis
Leland, NC
910-371-9729
PS We still could use a few trip leaders. Please let me know if you are
interested and which sites you know fairly well. You do not have to be an
expert because you will have help. We are trying to have a CBC leader for
each trip and a Virginia leader for each trip. That should take the
pressure off since the CBC leader will know how we do trips and the Virginia
leader would know the sites.
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Subject: Hawks and Hummers
From: Tim Fenlon <tfenlon(AT)CLEMSON.EDU>
Date: 10 Jan 2006 4:30pm
Hello,
Just to clear up my last message. We had an immature male Hummer first seen
on Dec. 28th and he apparently left on Jan. 4th. We are hoping he
returns... hopefully to be banded and positively identified. On Sat. Jan.
7th we had a female Rufous come to our feeders and she has been feeding
every morning, but we rarely see her in the afternoon. I am sure due to
the warm weather.
Also have a Cooper's Hawk raiding my yard and my neighbors. I was setting
up my camera last week to photograph the male Hummer when he came flying
into my backyard with a BlueJay with a BlueJay flock in hot pursuit. He
pinned the BlueJay to the ground by the head... then spread his wings out
over it. Finally took off very slowly with it to my neighbor's yard and
out of sight. Amazing..sure wish I had a video of that!
Katie
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Subject: Purple Sandpiper (Charleston Co.)
From: "Thomas McNeil" <tsmcneil(AT)earthlink.net>
Date: 10 Jan 2006 8:39pm
09 January 2006
Charleston County, SC
Sullivans Island / Breach Inlet
On Monday (01/09), our birding group observed a single Purple Sandpiper on
the rocks at Breach Inlet.
Thomas S. McNeil
Elizabethton, TN
tsmcneil(AT)earthlink.net
tsmcneil(AT)northeaststate.edu
423-360-2970 (H)
423-354-2487 (W)
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