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CarolinaBirds for Monday, May 29, 2006
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Subject: Very Long Day for Snowy Plover
From: "JOHN WRIGHT" <johnswrighthsd(AT)earthlink.net>
Date: 29 May 2006 5:49am
Carolinabirders,
Paula and I were on a family trip to see inlaws and our granddaughter and
her parents this weekend. We left Hilton Head, SC about 8:00 in the
morning Sunday (5/28) to get on the road back home. About 9:00 am we got a
call from Pat Moore, who was watching the Snowy Plover at Cape Point. We
reached our home in Greenville, NC about 2:00 pm, unpacked the family
stuff, threw in a second pair of binos and a scope, and headed off to the
Outer Banks. We reached Cape Point about 5:00 pm, and were soon found by
Sidney Maddocks, who took us to the bird which was on the south side of the
point. We got great looks of the Snowy Plover, who was very territorial
toward the Piping Plovers nearby. We finally got home at about 9:20 pm, a
very long day.
The Snowy Plover was reached by taking the "south beach" route toward Cape
Point and stopping about 100 yards before reaching the tern/piping plover
colony enclosure. The Snowy and Piping plovers were using the flat wet
sand area just inside the enclosure.
Many thanks to Pat Moore and Sidney Maddocks.
John Wright
John and Paula Wright
1953-A Quail Ridge Rd.
Greenville, NC 27858
johnswrighthsd(AT)earthlink.net
(252) 756-5139
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Subject: Black-billed Cuckoo at Cape Point, too
From: jeff lewis <jlewis_obx(AT)yahoo.com>
Date: 29 May 2006 9:15am
Hi friends,
During our Sunday A.M. search for the Snowy Plover
Derb, Wayne, Ricky and I heard/saw a Black-billed
Cuckoo in the shrubs around the salt pond.
Also, I might mention that there is a very good
assortment of other shorebirds in the area, including
a Wilsons Plover, Piping Plovers (of course) Stilt
Sandpipers, White-rumped Sandpipers, Red Knots, and
much more. Also still hanging around at the salt pond
are a bunch of Coots, a Scaup, a Pied-billed Grebe,
and a Bonaparte's Gull.
Jeff Lewis
Manteo, NC
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
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Subject: Balsam Mts spring count results
From: mjwestphal <mjwestphal(AT)unca.edu>
Date: 29 May 2006 9:45am
The first ever Balsam Mountains Spring Bird Count was held on May 20th with 17
participants in 8 teams. Although the weather started out pre-dawn with
thunderstorms and heavy rains, fortunately it passed through before the sun
rose. Some mountain peak areas remained windy and foggy most of the morning,
but other areas cleared, and the forest trails were calm. The area covered
extended from north of Mt Pisgah to the Smokies along the Blue Ridge Parkway,
and included the Shining Rock and Middle Prong Wilderness areas. Since most
of the area is in the National Park and National Forest lands, includes
several large grassy and heath balds, and is relatively high elevation (much
of it above 4500 feet), species that dominate those areas were the most
numerous on the count. A total of 81 species were found. Most common birds in
order of abundance were: Dark-eyed Junco (326), Chestnut-sided Warbler (310),
Eastern Towhee (248), American Robin (176), Golden-crowned Kinglet (163),
Blue-headed Vireo (155), Black-throated Blue Warbler (141), Cedar Waxwing
(124), Canada Warbler (105), and Black-throated Green Warbler (100).
There were still a few late migrants coming through such as Cape May,
Bay-breasted, and Blackpoll Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and White-throated
Sparrows, and some that may or may not have been migrants such as
Yellow-rumped Warbler and Hermit Thrush. The latter two as well as the
Cerulean Warbler will be checked again in June to see if they are still in
those areas and breeding.
Thanks to all of the participants for a great count, and I hope we can all do
it again next year!
Marilyn
Bird count list follows:
Turkey Vulture - 10
Broad-winged Hawk - 8
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Ruffed Grouse - 3
Mourning Dove - 11
Barred Owl - 2
Chimney Swift - 40
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 10
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 4
Hairy Woodpecker - 8
Northern Flicker - 5
Pileated Woodpecker - 8
Eastern Wood Pewee - 19
Acadian Flycatcher - 2
Alder Flycatcher - 2
Least Flycatcher - 18
Eastern Phoebe - 5
White-eyed Vireo - 1
Blue-headed Vireo - 155
Red-eyed Vireo - 65
Blue Jay - 13
American Crow - 65
Common Raven - 20
Tree Swallow - 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 3
Carolina Chickadee - 31
Black-capped Chickadee - 23
Chickadee sp. - 6
Tufted Titmouse - 30
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 11
White-breasted Nuthatch - 11
Brown Creeper - 12
Carolina Wren - 21
House Wren - 1
Winter Wren - 34
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 163
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Blue-gray Gnatcather - 3
Veery - 93
Hermit Thrush - 2
Wood Thrush - 11
American Robin - 176
Gray Catbird - 53
Brown Thrasher - 3
European Starling - 2
Cedar Waxwing - 124
Northern Parula - 27
Yellow Warbler - 6
Chestnut-sided Warbler - 310
Cape May Warbler - 5
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 141
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2
Black-throated Green Warbler - 100
Blackburnian Warbler - 36
Yellow-throated Warbler - 1
Bay-breasted Warbler - 2
Blackpoll Warbler - 1
Cerulean Warbler - 1
Black-and-white Warbler - 78
American Redstart - 17
Worm-eating Warbler - 3
Ovenbird - 81
Common Yellowthroat - 54
Hooded Warbler - 34
Canada Warbler - 105
Scarlet Tanager - 48
Eastern Towhee - 248
Chipping Sparrow - 7
Field Sparrow - 11
Song Sparrow - 40
White-throated Sparrow - 4
Dark-eyed Junco - 326
Northern Cardinal - 9
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 54
Indigo Bunting - 60
Common Grackle - 6
Brown-headed Cowbird - 3
Pine Siskin - 9
American Goldfinch - 36
Marilyn Westphal
Environmental Quality Institute
University of North Carolina-Asheville
One University Heights
Asheville, NC 28804
828/251-6823
mjwestphal(AT)unca.edu
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Subject: Jordan Lake (NC) spring count
From: Norman Budnitz <norman.budnitz(AT)duke.edu>
Date: 29 May 2006 6:05pm
Jordan Lake Spring Bird Count 2006
There are those who would say that May 7, 2006, was an ugly day. At
5:30 AM it was 63 °F and overcast. Cool, but not too bad. It was all
downhill from there. The rains, which weren’t supposed to come until
mid-afternoon, kicked in shortly after 6:15 AM and kept most of us cold
and wet all day. By noon, the temperature had fallen to 53 °F. At
least the wind didn’t add much to the misery, only maxing to about 10
mph. But your compiler has always maintained that bad weather brings
good birds. Was that true this year? Read on.
Forty-nine observers in 22 parties counted 7,024 individuals (certainly
lower than our 10-year average: 8643) of 126 species (right on our
10-year average: 126), during 118 hours in the field (10-year average:
147). So the brave souls who hung in there found a goodly number of
species, just not as many individuals of those species. That’s okay.
In spite of the rain, or maybe because of it, we did turn up some
rather unusual birds. Ginger Travis, kayaking White Oak Creek, found a
Common Moorhen. The last time we had a Moorhen on our count was one
bird in 1979, when they were still called Common Gallinules! Will Cook
found 4 Buffleheads (1 male and 3 females) on Harris Lake. We get
Buffleheads on our Christmas count, but this is only the third spring
sighting. Mike and Lois Schultz and Tom Krakauer found 3 Pectoral
Sandpipers at the wastewater settling ponds near Poplar Point (last
reported in 1990). Bob Rybczynski turned in a thorough report of a
Gray-cheeked Thrush. Though the bird wasn’t singing, he reported its
call note and even compared it later to a recording of Bicknell’s Thrush
on Cornell’s website. Josh and Sterling Southern turned up a
Blue-winged Warbler, last seen on our count in 1998. And, having
invoked the bad weather rule, your compiler would have been red-faced if
he and Patsy Bailey hadn’t found a Wilson’s Warbler, last seen on the
count in 1996. Also, Harold Carter reported a count period Greater
Yellowlegs at Harris Lake. (Count period is 3 days before to 3 days
after count day.)
We did not generate any record high numbers for regularly occurring
species—not surprising, given the weather. But we didn’t miss many
species that we should expect to see either; Cooper’s Hawk and American
Kestrel were two.
Bad weather = good birds. I stand by it. And thank you all for
hanging in there and finding them.
--
Norman Budnitz--GSK
NTH-M2451
2512 S. TriCenter Blvd.
Durham NC 27713
919-315-4768 (TASC main line)
919-483-9889 (direct line)
919-315-4796 (fax)
norman.budnitz(AT)duke.edu
http://www.ciblearning.org
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Subject: mbbs
From: "barbara brooks" <brooksba(AT)visionet.net>
Date: 29 May 2006 7:54pm
did my second route and had a personal route high of 3 turkeys!! also had
conventions of grackles, mourning doves and starlings at one stop. I swear
it was darker than the last time but I think I did the same weekends. had a
great time. barb brooks routes in orange county.
Barb Brooks, poet
author of the chapbook
"The Catbird Sang"
Black cap, wings slate gray,
feathers dribbled with red.
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Subject: Snowy Plover still present
From: "Wade Fuller" <fuller(AT)coastalnet.com>
Date: 29 May 2006 9:01pm
The Snowy Plover previously reported was still present at Cape Hatteras as
of this morning Monday, May 29. Rich & Susan Boyd and my wife and I made
the trip out there this morning. Based on advice from yesterday, we were
headed down the east beach to the point and were making our way west on the
south facing beach toward where the roped off area meets the ocean when we
were met by Neal & Pat Moore who kindly advised us to back track and go
around the back of the salt pond (on the road that goes between the salt
pond and the high dune ridge), take the first left on this road and follow
it to the south beach then head back east to the roped off area. The bird
was much closer this morning to this (western) edge of the roped off area.
The bird was down on the sand flats near the ocean's edge when we saw it.
Checking the area between the ropes from both sides would certainly be
advisable.
Good luck,
Wade Fuller
New Bern, NC
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Subject: EUROPEAN STORM-PETRELS (again)
From: "Mike Tove" <mtove(AT)deltaforce.net>
Date: 29 May 2006 9:12pm
Greetings All,
Just got back from the Memorial Weekend pelagic set and am pleased to
report that for the third year in a row, Memorial Monday struck gold
with storm-petrels. This morning we had two sightings of 1 or 2
individual European Storm-Petrels (AKA British Storm-Petrels) out of
Oregon Inlet. This is the same weekend as last year's "invasion" of 5
birds seen on three days starting with Memorial Monday. It's also the
same time of year that Brian Patteson accidentally photographed one a
couple years ago (he was photographing a Wilson's and the European SP
showed up in the photo). Sadly, Brian's trip out of Hatteras did not see
rare birds today (although on Sunday he did rather well with Fea's and
Herald petrels). While today's sightings constitute only the 7th (and
possibly 8th) North American records for the species, one must wonder
are the birds suddenly showing up or have we been overlooking them all
these years? The're very distinctive but easy to miss in flocks of
Wilson's unless one is actively looking. Only time (and many more trips)
will tell. Our trip today also produced a Fea's Petrel and Red-billed
Tropicbird (to complement a Herald on Saturday). Not too shabby
especially for a day with NE winds at 15-20.
I'm sure Brian will post a more complete listing of the full set of
trips. I also know he's got a number of other trips planned in the
coming days (and weeks). If anyone doesn't have these birds for your
list, I'd suggest calling BRian to see about getting on an upcoming
trip. Who knows what will happen. Last year, the European Storm-Petrels
stuck around for a week. Maybe they will again this year.
PS. Memorial Monday 2004 was the Black-bellied Storm-Petrel day.
Mike Tove
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