CarolinaBirds for Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Messages are displayed in the order they were received.  Subject  From  Time   Saga of Thrasher & Fish Crow   John Connors    10:49am   arboreal blacksnake makes birds fuss     11:48am   Barred owl in Chapel Hill   Kathy Boyer   1:26pm   Yard birds, etc.   Sandy Cash    3:29pm

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Subject: Saga of Thrasher & Fish Crow
From: John Connors <John.Connors(AT)ncmail.net>
Date: 25 Apr 2006 10:49am

Hi all. This is one of those tales, sad but true, and as my wife likes 
to say everytime I report some new vignette of something eating 
something else in our backyard, "Alas, its a jungle out there".

I really like Brown Thrashers...great voice, beautiful details in their 
feathers, quirky skulking behavior. So when they began to nest 4 weeks 
ago I got excited. They built the nest, incubated and all seemed well 
til I noticed Fish Crows bringing sticks to some tall pines across the 
street. I saw them mating on top of their nest, and then they discovered 
our Bird Bath...in the middle of our garden, 30 feet from the shrubs 
with the Thrasher nest. It was only a matter of time.

For two weeks I checked the nest and all was well...the Thrashers were 
now feeding young. The Fish Crows meanwhile were wreaking havoc on nests 
across the neighborhood. I saw them rolling blue eggs down the 
street...trying hard to poke a small hole in the side of the egg so they 
could carefully extract the contents. Each day there were remains of 
dismembered nestlings which had been soaked in the Bird Bath. Legs, 
wings, entrails. They harassed and consumed eggs/nests of Robins, 
Towhees...only the Mockingbirds appeared capable of resisting. And the 
Thrashers...they were so secretive in the approach to their nest. That 
worked until the day I could hear their nestlings.

That evening on returning home from work I noticed the Thrashers were 
not around. Not on the nest. I found the remains of nestlings in the 
bath...no way to be sure but I figure it was the Thrashers.
Amazingly one hour later I heard all sorts of commotion in the 
neighborhood. When I went outside the Fish Crows were doing their best 
to defend their nest...but there was a Redtailed Hawk sitting atop the 
nest and it was eating. Another gulp, a few more dives from the crows, 
and it flew off with a crow nestling hanging from its talons.
It really is a jungle out there.

Our downtown Raleigh neighborhood is a bit more settled now that the 
Fish Crows are gone, the Thrashers are back in the yard, after 4 days 
absence, and are singing again. My sense is that Fish Crows may be more 
decidedly nest predators than American Crows...with their natural 
history being more focused on the nesting of colonial waterbirds.

John Connors @ NC Museum of Natural Sciences


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Subject: arboreal blacksnake makes birds fuss
From: <ginger_travis(AT)bellsouth.net>
Date: 25 Apr 2006 11:48am

Saw something new in the woods today:  a black ratsnake plastered against a tree
 trunk, absolutely vertical, and more or less straight -- that is, not coiled
around the tree, just stuck right up against it, as if glued. And head down like
 a nuthatch. I knew blacksnakes could climb but I had never seen this. The tree
was an old, straight-trunked maple with rough bark -- plenty of purchase there.
The snake was slightly kinked along its length -- and it wasn't a large, heavy
snake. I'd say 30 inches. I assume it was descending the tree from high above
when it riled up the little birds -- chickadees, titmice and bluebirds --
causing them to fly at it and me to look. I left the snake in peace.
Just happened to see a beautiful scarlet tanager and its mate later during my
walk. Pretty sure I heard a summer tanager singing too. And the first blue
grosbeak of the spring came to my feeder today.
Ginger Travis
Orange Co., NC


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Subject: Barred owl in Chapel Hill
From: "Kathy Boyer" <boyer.kathy(AT)gmail.com>
Date: 25 Apr 2006 1:26pm

Hi birders,

I got the best look at a barred owl I believe I've ever gotten while
driving home from work at about 4:30 yesterday.  On 54 East, about 1/2
mile from I-40 exit 273, is the New Hope Creek (I think that's the
name of it) bottomland.  A barred owl was hanging out on an extremely
low-hanging power line, which put it eye-level with me. I was able to
pull off at the New Hope waterfowl area and walk back, as there is no
good place to pull off on that stretch of road.  He "posed" for me for
quite a while.  What a great end to the workday!

Kathy Boyer
Chapel Hill, NC (work location)


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Subject: Yard birds, etc.
From: Sandy Cash <lcashjr(AT)nc.rr.com>
Date: 25 Apr 2006 3:29pm

In the last few days, I've been visited by a male INDIGO BUNTING and a 
male BLUE GROSBEAK, as well as a SUMMER TANAGER (calling from the trees, 
never saw so can't id as to gender, didn't sing).  While visiting 
preschools today with the family heard a BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER 
(Orange County for that one).  I also finally got my FOTY CHIMNEY SWIFTS 
on Saturday evening in central Durham.

Good Birding,

-Sandy

-- 
Sandy Cash
Durham, NC