 |
|
|
|
|
CarolinaBirds for Tuesday, November 7, 2006
[ Prev Day
| Next Day
| Calendar Month
| CarolinaBirds Info
]
|
|
To use email addresses replace '(AT)' with '@'.
This is done to confuse the spam 'bots.
|
[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Christmas Bird Counts (last year's)
From: Chris Hill <chill(AT)coastal.edu>
Date: 7 Nov 2006 4:07pm
Hi C’birders,
Has Nate Dias already done this this year? If so excuse the
repetition. He did it last year, and I enjoyed reading the summary,
so here's my version. The American Birds CBC issue arrived a week or
two ago, and even though the bindery left out pages 33-80 in the one
they sent me, I was still able to glean some Carolinas nuggets to get
you inspired for the upcoming Christmas Count season.
First of all, the counts from the Carolinas that topped 150 species:
McClellanville, SC 171
Southport-Bald Head-Oak Islands, NC 167
Wilmington, NC 161
Charleston, SC 160
Savannah (GA-SC) 159
Litchfield-Pawleys Island SC 155
Winyah Bay, SC 150
As usual, Texas and California counts dominate the top 20 or so
highest species counts, but after that the Carolinas are right up there.
But on to the more important stuff – Christmas Counts are all about
numbers of individuals, right? So it’s interesting to see for which
species my local count recorded the highest total in the country.
It’s nice that the CBC issue prints a list of these, answering the
question “Where are the (insert favorite species) in the winter?”
After a count where I saw more Sedge Wrens than I ever had in one
day, I thought “Wow, we must be in Sedge Wren central here!" but a
quick look at the book disabused me of that – 234 on one count in
Texas told me we’re never going to compete for the national sedge
wren crown.
I’m sure I missed some, but here are some birds with high counts in
the Carolinas:
We did well with the fish-eating waterbirds:
1208 Common Loons, Litchfield Pawleys Island, SC
8620 Common Gannets, Bodie Pea Island, NC
8620 Brown Pelicans, Cape Hatteras, NC
[no that’s not a typo on my part – the exact same total was printed
for pelicans and gannets in two different places, and in each case
they led the country]
103,533 D. C. Cormorants, Cape Hatteras, NC. No surprise if you've
been there and seen them.
842 Little Blue Herons, Charleston, SC
3 Least Terns, Litchfield-Pawley’s Island, SC
McClellanville, SC, got two parts of the Longleaf Pine trifecta:
45 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, McClellanville, SC
253 Brown-headed Nuthatches, McClellanville, SC
but not the third:
9 Bachman’s Sparrows, West Pasco, FL
Does anyone else have any luck in finding them (the sparrows) in
winter in the Carolinas? I keep wondering what a vigourous effort in
the right habitat might produce (i.e. playback by someone familiar
with any little chips one might hear in response – tromping around
probably wouldn’t do it).
I guess this might qualify as another pinewoods species in winter:
Chuck-will’s Widow (Okracoke and Cape Hatteras and three other counts
tied with 1)
And how on earth did they come up with
2687 Chipping Sparrows, McClellanville, SC??
In the marshes, another place you’d think the coastal Carolina counts
could compete with anyone, Hilton Head counters evidently got their
boots muddy:
280 Seaside Sparrows, Hilton Head, SC
But bragging rights for King Rails (45 in TX), Clappers (172 in GA),
and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed sparrows (72 in VA) went to other states.
I can usually call up a dozen King Rails at dawn – seems like there
are a few SC counts that easily could challenge for the King Rail
high count with enough effort. Likewise E. Screech Owls, but most
birders here seem to be happy to let someone else do the owling...[go
ahead, prove me wrong!]
And this last one probably won’t surprise anybody:
7651 Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers, Charleston, SC
Cheers,
Chris Hill
Conway, SC
[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Re: Christmas Bird Counts (last year's)
From: Nate Dias <offshorebirder(AT)yahoo.com>
Date: 7 Nov 2006 5:19pm
Much obliged Chris. We all like to scan for our local
CBC rankings, thanks for taking up the task of
distilling it for us.
Somehow one slipped past you - Charleston having the
high count for American Oystercatchers at 1002.
A CBC from Florida - West Pasco - tied McClellanville
for the most species (171) on counts east of the
Mississippi. I sure hope the Carolina CBCs - either
Southport, Wilmington, BPI, Charleston, Litchfield or
McClellanville takes sole posession this coming year.
Southport is overdue to take the title back...
RE: the Bachmans Sparrow question, John Fussell has
developed a winter "finding" technique that he can
explain better than I. Involves forward observers,
loud playback, good fieldcraft...
The huge number of Chipping Sparrows on MCSC was a
product of 2 features: the Francis Marion National
Forest and the Santee Coastal reserve. And the
morning rain. Both the FMNF and SCR were full of
Chippies, but the Waterhorn party in the FMNF also ran
into a HUGE flock of Chippies. Plus, driving in to
the Santee Coastal Reserve to launch the boat to
Murphy Island, we came upon long stretches of roadside
puddles/streams. Water was running along the edge of
the road, confined by the banks along the side.
Chippies were lined up for hundreds of yards at a
stretch in some places. They varied in density, but
we were flushing birds constantly as we slowly drove
in the entrance road. Many Pine Warblers too.
I hope everyone supports their 4 or 5 closest CBCs.
Or 5 or 6...
Nathan Dias - Charleston, SC
--- Chris Hill <chill(AT)coastal.edu> wrote:
> Hi C’birders,
>...
> 9 Bachman’s Sparrows, West Pasco, FL
>
> Does anyone else have any luck in finding them (the
> sparrows) in
> winter in the Carolinas? I keep wondering what a
> vigourous effort in
> the right habitat might produce (i.e. playback by
> someone familiar
> with any little chips one might hear in response –
> tromping around
> probably wouldn’t do it).
> ...
>
> And how on earth did they come up with
>
> 2687 Chipping Sparrows, McClellanville, SC??
>
____________________________________________________________________________________
Sponsored Link
Mortgage rates near 39yr lows. $420k for $1,399/mo.
Calculate new payment!
http://www.LowerMyBills.com/lre
[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Rufous Hummingbird
From: Blayne and Anne Olsen <bolsen187(AT)earthlink.net>
Date: 7 Nov 2006 5:26pm
Monroe, NC
Today a single rufous hummingbird showed up at my hummingbird feeder. This is
the first time I have kept the feeder up this late in the season.
The bird is a female. I saw the central spot on the throat in very good light
so I could tell that the color was a bright orange red. Since I have seen the
bird from the front, I have had a good look at the rufous sides but only see the
green on the back from the side.
I first saw the bird about noon and have seen it from time to time all day.
Blayne came home early enough to get a good look at it.
I will be away all day tomorrow but hope it hangs around awhile. We have plenty
of hummingbird bushes with some remaining flowers and several other flowers
planted around the yard. Unfortunately, most of the best hummingbird floweres
were killed by the last frost.
Anne Olsen
[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Snowy Plover + 2 Lapland Longspurs at Huntington Beach State
Park
From: Nate Dias <offshorebirder(AT)yahoo.com>
Date: 7 Nov 2006 5:32pm
I spent an intermittently rainy morning at Huntington
Beach State Park.
Got a new county bird: the Snowy Plover that Jack and
Bob found. Thanks guys.
The Snowy Plover was in a high tide roost with
SemiPalmated and Piping Plovers, among other things
(Dunlin, Western Sandpiper). The roost was midway
down the north edge of the Tern enclosure - where the
fence has washed/fallen in and a lot of dead spartina
is scattered about.
I also had super close looks (in the rain) at a pair
of Lapland Longspurs. They were working the area
outside the northeast corner of the Tern enclosure -
where sea oats and tall grass give way to a carpet of
shorter grass. I got one poor digiscope shot of a
Longspur, but the hard rain that let me get so close
to them also complicated filming or digiscoping the
birds.
Other good birds included several Wood Storks in
Mullet Pond, a pair of Wilson's Plovers and a
Peregrine Falcon working shorebirds and Gulls around
Murrells Inlet.
Gotta run - time to go vote.
Nathan Dias - Charleston, SC
____________________________________________________________________________________
Cheap talk?
Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates.
http://voice.yahoo.com
[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Re: Christmas Bird Counts (last year's)
From: "Steve" <scompton(AT)sc.rr.com>
Date: 7 Nov 2006 5:41pm
Chris,
I past years Charleston led in Eastern Towhees
and Oystercatchers. We should be near the top in 2005
and might top the list again in 2006 for these species.
Thanks for the encouragement,
Steve Compton
former compiler, Charleston,SC Count
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Hill" <chill(AT)coastal.edu>
To: <carolinabirds(AT)duke.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 3:47 PM
Subject: Christmas Bird Counts (last year's)
Hi C’birders,
Has Nate Dias already done this this year? If so excuse the
repetition. He did it last year, and I enjoyed reading the summary,
so here's my version. The American Birds CBC issue arrived a week or
two ago, and even though the bindery left out pages 33-80 in the one
they sent me, I was still able to glean some Carolinas nuggets to get
you inspired for the upcoming Christmas Count season.
First of all, the counts from the Carolinas that topped 150 species:
McClellanville, SC 171
Southport-Bald Head-Oak Islands, NC 167
Wilmington, NC 161
Charleston, SC 160
Savannah (GA-SC) 159
Litchfield-Pawleys Island SC 155
Winyah Bay, SC 150
As usual, Texas and California counts dominate the top 20 or so
highest species counts, but after that the Carolinas are right up there.
But on to the more important stuff – Christmas Counts are all about
numbers of individuals, right? So it’s interesting to see for which
species my local count recorded the highest total in the country.
It’s nice that the CBC issue prints a list of these, answering the
question “Where are the (insert favorite species) in the winter?”
After a count where I saw more Sedge Wrens than I ever had in one
day, I thought “Wow, we must be in Sedge Wren central here!" but a
quick look at the book disabused me of that – 234 on one count in
Texas told me we’re never going to compete for the national sedge
wren crown.
I’m sure I missed some, but here are some birds with high counts in
the Carolinas:
We did well with the fish-eating waterbirds:
1208 Common Loons, Litchfield Pawleys Island, SC
8620 Common Gannets, Bodie Pea Island, NC
8620 Brown Pelicans, Cape Hatteras, NC
[no that’s not a typo on my part – the exact same total was printed
for pelicans and gannets in two different places, and in each case
they led the country]
103,533 D. C. Cormorants, Cape Hatteras, NC. No surprise if you've
been there and seen them.
842 Little Blue Herons, Charleston, SC
3 Least Terns, Litchfield-Pawley’s Island, SC
McClellanville, SC, got two parts of the Longleaf Pine trifecta:
45 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, McClellanville, SC
253 Brown-headed Nuthatches, McClellanville, SC
but not the third:
9 Bachman’s Sparrows, West Pasco, FL
Does anyone else have any luck in finding them (the sparrows) in
winter in the Carolinas? I keep wondering what a vigourous effort in
the right habitat might produce (i.e. playback by someone familiar
with any little chips one might hear in response – tromping around
probably wouldn’t do it).
I guess this might qualify as another pinewoods species in winter:
Chuck-will’s Widow (Okracoke and Cape Hatteras and three other counts
tied with 1)
And how on earth did they come up with
2687 Chipping Sparrows, McClellanville, SC??
In the marshes, another place you’d think the coastal Carolina counts
could compete with anyone, Hilton Head counters evidently got their
boots muddy:
280 Seaside Sparrows, Hilton Head, SC
But bragging rights for King Rails (45 in TX), Clappers (172 in GA),
and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed sparrows (72 in VA) went to other states.
I can usually call up a dozen King Rails at dawn – seems like there
are a few SC counts that easily could challenge for the King Rail
high count with enough effort. Likewise E. Screech Owls, but most
birders here seem to be happy to let someone else do the owling...[go
ahead, prove me wrong!]
And this last one probably won’t surprise anybody:
7651 Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers, Charleston, SC
Cheers,
Chris Hill
Conway, SC
[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Cedar Waxwing in garage
From: <sgibeau(AT)bellsouth.net>
Date: 7 Nov 2006 1:18pm
I had a lot of fun Sunday trying to coax a Cedar Waxwing out of my garage. Had
both bay doors and the back door open but it insisted on flying above the garage
doors and into walls instead. After an hour I gave up. I decided to try a
different methode. I waited till after dark and used a dim flash light to
locate him. Then threw a blanket over him and gently took him outside.
Fortunately it was a full moon so letting him fly off in the dark wasn't too
dangerous for him.
Waiting to see some reports from Wings over Water. I'll be at the OBX this
weekend for the marathon. Might attend part of the seminar while I'm there.
Probably spend most of my free time at Pea Island.
This message was paid for by no one and I approve this message!
Stu Gibeau
Black Mountain, NC
[ << | >> | ^^ ]
Subject: Visiting the Outer Banks this Thursday
From: "Tom & Lynda Blair" <tomlyn(AT)verizon.net>
Date: 7 Nov 2006 12:05pm
Fellow Birders,
I joined this mailing list even though we live in Virginia, my husband and I
do spend a lot of time birding the Outer Banks area. We stay in Corolla, but
we spend a lot of time at Pea Island. I have really enjoyed your posts and
have gotten some good info. We don't normally visit OBX this late in the
year, but a friend has offered the use of her house in Corolla whenever we
want for the winter months. A very generous offer, indeed. We'll be going
down at the end of this week for a few days and then back again to spend
Christmas.
I'm very interested in photographing White Pelicans and Snow Geese and
Tundra Swans as well as anything else I wouldn't normally see in the spring
and summer months. We plan to hit the ponds at Pea Island on Thursday hoping
for some interesting birds. We also usually bird the Currituck Banks
Estuarine Reserve, which is very close to the house.
Any tips y'all can give me would be appreciated..
Here's a link to my photo galleries, a lot of images were taken at the Outer
Banks.
http://www.pbase.com/tomlyn
Thanks in advance, and happy birding!
Lynda Blair
New Kent County
Virginia
|
|
|
|
BIRDxxxx
US:South
ARBIRD-L
CarolinaBirds