1. Art and Diseño

HIGH COUNTRY HOOTS
High Country Audubon Society - Serving Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Watauga, and Wilkes Counties
Feb-Mar-Apr 2015
President’s Message
By Bob Cherry
Volume 7 Issue 1
HCAS eBird Big Year
I hope you all have had a chance to get out and see
some birds in this New Year. In the last Hoots, I mentioned some of the trips that Martha Cutler, HCAS’s
Program and Field Trip Chair, had lined up for us in
2015 and encouraged everyone to come along. I also
asked that you submit your observations to eBird and
share them with us when you returned home.
By Bob Cherry
Even though we are only a couple
weeks (at least as I’m writing this) into our
2015 HCAS eBird Big Year, we have already
had 106 checklists turned into eBird by 13
HCAS members. Below is a running total of
the number of species seen for various areas through January 15 of this year (first column) and a Life List showing
the number of species seen by HCAS members since we
started in 2014 (second column).
Well, many of you have done just that. Eight HCAS
members recently spent a couple days in Tennessee at
Hiwassee National Wildlife Refuge and other locations
enjoying the sight of thousands of Sandhill Cranes. When
they returned, Martha and Jane Gantt submitted nine
lists to eBird that covered 5 sites and listed 50 species.
Remember, all HCAS members who share at least
one eBird list with [email protected] will get an
HCAS key chain. In addition, starting in February, a
monthly challenge will be announced on the Yahoo group
email. February's drawing will be from all eBird lists that
include numbers for each species, and the gift will be the
BirdLog app, which is very helpful for submitting eBird
lists.
By the time you read
this, many of us will be back
from the Chapter’s field trip
to the Carolina Bird Club
meeting at Nag’s Head with
day trips to Lake Mattamuskeet, Pea Island and other
nearby sites where we hope
American White Pelican to have seen 100 or more
species of birds.
Photo by Richard Gray
2015
Life list
Total species reported
162
331
Total checklists shared
106
277
USA species
162
265
Some of our members are spending the winter in
Florida and they’ve been sending in their eBird lists. In
just a couple weeks they’ve already found 105 species,
including many birds that we never get to see around
here. And other HCAS members have been enjoying
sites in North Carolina where they’ve found 88 species.
So regardless of where you are, I encourage you to take
a walk and find some birds. Even if your day’s list only
contains the usual suspects, it will be time well spent.
And then when you get home don’t forget to take a few
minutes to submit your observations to eBird.
Peru species
0
75
North Carolina species
88
214
Florida species
105
126
Tennessee species
69
69
Maryland species
41
98
New Jersey species
0
56
Virginia species
11
23
Wisconsin species
0
16
West Virginia species
5
5
Before you know it, spring will be here and “our”
warblers and other summer birds will have returned for
another season of High Country birding. But whether
it’s a multi-day trip to the coast or a walk at Valle Crucis, it’s always a great time to be out
birding.
Alleghany species
0
10
Ashe species
23
93
Avery species
39
73
Watauga species
44
124
Wilkes species
32
80
1
Burke’s Garden, Virginia
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Year after year, Jesse
Pope
has
planned and
led the HCAS
February field
trip
to
Burke’s Garden, Virginia.
It’s always a
great trip, and
Photo by Brenda Combs
we all thank
Jesse for his
continuing leadership. If you haven’t been on this trip,
Jesse is providing another opportunity: Saturday, February 7. The details of the trip are the same as last
year, so we’re repeating Jesse’s description below.
We always have a lot of fun on this
trip, with the possibility of seeing
Golden Eagles, Rough-legged
Hawks, American Kestrel, several
other species of raptors, waterfowl, and other rarities that find
refuge in agricultural habitats. We
have seen Horned Larks and
Rusty Blackbirds in the past; and,
Photo by Monty Combs
although we didn't see them the
past couple years, we have a couple of pretty reliable spots to
look for Red-headed Woodpeckers. Overall, it’s a great trip
and an annual High Country Audubon tradition. The colder
and harsher the weather, the better for the birds up there!
So, don’t let the cold weather forecast discourage you!!
What’s Happening at
Valle Crucis Community Park?
We can’t wait to see what spring will look like at Valle
Crucis Community Park! So we asked Curtis Smalling and
Wendy Patoprsty for updates on the work at the park.
Curtis, Director of Land Bird Conservation at Audubon
North Carolina, leads weekly bird walks at VCCP which are
tentatively scheduled to start Wednesday, April 8, (keep an
eye on Yahoo for updates). Wendy is the Extension Agent
for Natural Resources and Environmental Education in Watauga County - she has been doing lots of planting (including
sloshing through deep mud!) at VCCP.
At an elevation of 3,000 feet, Burke’s Garden is Virginia’s highest valley and is completely encircled by mountains. We meet in Boone at 6:30 a.m. at the Cashpoints ATM in the New Market Center parking
lot. We will leave Boone and meet other members at
the Wilkesboro Walmart
parking area around 7
am, then up I-77 toward
Bluefield. Once we get to
Burke's Garden we usually just make the loop
around the valley, birding
from the car most of the
day. The birds and
weather conditions usually dictate how much time
Photo by Monty Combs
we spend where in the
valley. We will be keeping an eye on other list serves and
birding clubs to see what they’ve been seeing as our trip
gets closer.
Curtis had this to say: “The first round of planting has
begun and several fruit-bearing shrubs are in the ground.
The folks at the park are planning to burn some of the grass
off this winter in preparation for more plantings in the
spring.”
And here are Wendy’s
comments:
“This spring
(coming soon!!!) we should
have a wide variety of toads
and frogs at the pond! Probably starting the first warm
night rain in February. Here
is a picture of an American Toad from early spring 2014.
Something to look forward to!”
The weather this time of year can be very unpredictable, and we have had everything from deep snow to
sunny 50-degree weather. So, we usually prepare with
layers of clothes, rain gear, and lots of patience with the
weather as it can change on a dime. Once we’re in
Burke’s Garden, you can expect only primitive amenities.
Bring along all your food for the day - we’ll stop for a
picnic lunch, and (hopefully) the old outhouse at one of
the churches will still be available for a mid-day restroom
break. We will make stops on the drive up and one last
stop at a restroom just outside the valley.
“We will be building hammocks out of biodegradable
sand bags and coir logs in the spring - as soon as the weather warms. We want to create little "habitat islands" with
microtopography in the wetland. This will enhance the wetland with nesting structure for ducks and other birds, alongside a diversity of plants for food and cover, and also make
the landscape more attractive.” Thanks to Curtis and Wendy and all those who are helping to improve the park that
we (and the birds) love!
Total time between rest stops will be 3-4 hours.
2
Save the Songs:
Climate Change and Birds
Tuesday, March 17, 6:30 pm
by Bob Cherry
Heather Stark Hahn,
As you enjoy President’s Day this year, don’t forget
that the Great Backyard Bird Count is held that weekend
from Friday, February 13 through Monday, February 16.
Begun in 1998, this will be the 18th annual GBBC.
Executive Director of
Audubon North Carolina
Welcome spring and Heather Stark
Hahn who will present the program at the
first HCAS monthly meeting of 2015. She will tell us about
Audubon's new scientific findings that quantify the specific
risk to North America's birds in a greater level of detail and
clarity than has been available so far: which birds are most
threatened by climate change and where. She will discuss
what we can do together in North Carolina to protect our
birds today and tomorrow as our climate changes. Heather
says, “This new information about the threat global warming poses to birds will add urgency and clarity to our work
in a way that few things have before.”
While you are welcome to observe birds that you see
in your backyard, the GBBC is much more than that.
Counts can be done at any location you happen to be during the four days of the weekend. So whether it’s your
backyard, a local park, at the mall or wherever you may be,
your list can be included. The main thing is to get out,
watch birds for at least 15 minutes, and report what you
find.
Results from last year were very impressive with
144,109 checklists submitted from 135 countries, or about
35,000 lists each of the four days. These lists included
4,296 species from around the world and over 17 million
birds. As in 2013 the bird listed on the most checklists in
2014 was Northern Cardinal which was on 61,045 checklists. Dark-eyed Juncos and Mourning Doves remained as
numbers two and three on the list while Blue Jays replaced
Downy Woodpeckers at number four. Even though they
weren’t in the top ten of the most-listed species, the most
common bird reported was Red-winged Blackbird, with
almost 2 million birds, followed by Snow Geese and Canada Geese, both with around 1.2 million birds observed.
Please join us on
Tuesday, March 17, at 6:30 pm
at the Holiday Inn Express in Boone.
Checklists can be submitted through eBird, so this
year your lists can also be part of the HCAS eBird Big
Year. Information about GBBC in general and submitting
lists to eBird can be found at http://gbbc.birdcount.org/
Please be sure to share your lists with HCAS by clicking on
the “Share with others in your party” link and sending the
list to [email protected].
2014 GBBC Top Four
Most-listed Birds
But whether you share your observations through
eBird or by emailing the HCAS list serve, the main thing is
to get out there and do it. In addition to providing data
about the birds of the High Country, it’s a good excuse to get outside and see some birds.
Who’s in YOUR
Backyard?
Photos of the top four birds taken by Doris Ratchford.
3
On our return trip we made two stops to check
out other birding sites in east Tennessee which were
previously unknown to us. Our first stop was the Seven Islands State Birding Park. Despite the name, we
saw far more dog walkers than birders, but it was still
a successful stop. The park’s over 400 acres along the
French Broad River feature some 8 miles of trails and
a variety of habitat. Read about this park at:
http://www.tnbirds.org/birdfinding/SevenIslands.htm
Recap: Birding at Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge, TN
Article by Martha Cutler, photos by Richard Gray
Two carloads of HCAS members made an overnight
trip to east Tennessee in early January. Our primary objective was to see the wintering Sandhill Cranes at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge and we were not disappointed. According to a veteran observer, there are 15,000 to 20,000 cranes
overwintering at the refuge this year, the largest winter flock
in the southeast outside of Florida. They head out in the
morning to forage in the surrounding area and return to the
banks of the Chickamauga Lake and Hiwassee River at sunset. The sight (and sound) of numerous cranes flying in from
all directions against a darkening sky is truly amazing. With
luck, birders may spot the occasional Snow Goose or even
Whooping Cranes amidst the Sandhills. (On this trip we saw
a Snow Goose but no Whooping Cranes.)
Bald Eagle
Our final stop was Rankin Bottoms, a floodplain
east of Knoxville at the confluence of the Nolichucky
and French Broad Rivers. Unfortunately for us, the
floodplain was fairly dry and what we mainly saw
were Killdeer (dozens of them). The write-up at
http://www.tnbirds.org/birdfinding/
RankinBottoms.htm indicates that birding is best
there during late summer and early fall migration but
is dependent on water level: too little water means
fewer birds and too much means access to certain
areas may be limited. We did not explore much of
the area but will keep it in mind for future trips.
Sandhill Cranes
Other species of waterfowl abound in the refuge and
there are a couple of additional viewing spots not too far
from the main viewing platform, one at the end of Blythe
Ferry Rd. and another at the Cherokee Removal Memorial.
In the fields and woods near the viewing platform we spotted some Hermit Thrushes and a Brown Creeper among
other species. Several Bald Eagles flew overhead. HCAS
members in both cars were momentarily fooled by the 8 or
so duck decoys on a small pond near the turnoff to the viewing platform!
Further information about Hiwassee and the cranes can
be found at:
http://www.tnwatchablewildlife.org/watchareadetails.cfm?
uid=09071608273977728&region=Hiwassee_Refuge&statear
ea=East_Tennessee
Sandhill Crane addendum from
Janet and Richard Paulette:
Although we wanted to see the Sandhill Cranes,
we had not planned on going to Hiwassee. Then we
got a spur-of-the-moment call from friends who offered us their extra bedroom at Siesta Key, FL (near
Sarasota). We headed down and on the same day the
HCAS birders were at Hiwassee, we went to Myakka
River State Park, FL– and almost the first birds we
saw were Sandhill Cranes! Life bird for us and exciting to see, although only 11 noisy birds instead of
thousands. We also got to see a juvenile Bald Eagle
hover for what seemed like forever. Then it appeared to drop and sit on the water and came up flying away with an American Coot in its talons! Fun for
us (but not for the coot!) For information visit
www.floridastateparks.org/myakkariver/.
4
Come Bird @ My HotSpot
Photos by Brenda Combs
ClipArt Heaven
We are planning on expanding the
Come Bird @ Our House series of halfday local area field trips. To describe the
broader range of locations we’ll be visiting, not just around our houses, we are
renaming the series Come Bird @ My
HotSpot. In future issues look for our
intrepid HCAS birder with the “bluebird”
on his head for more articles on our
HotSpots.
4. Marley’s Ford, W. Kerr Scott Reservoir
(Guy McGrane)
We’ve got a second new bird walk on Sunday,
April 26, from 8 am – 11 am at Marley’s Ford at the
upper end of the Kerr Scott Reservoir in Wilkes
County (elevation ~ 1100 feet). There is easy walking
around an impoundment and along a river trail, which
can be a little muddy at times. Birders can walk up to
about a mile or as little as a couple hundred yards.
In addition to visits to Wilkes County, Powder Horn
Mountain in the southeast corner of Watauga County, and
Todd in Ashe County, Come Bird @ My HotSpot will include
a couple of new trips that might become regular features on
the schedule: the Mountains-to-Sea-Trail and Marley’s Ford.
If you’d like to volunteer to take a group to a favorite birding
spot, please get in touch with Martha Cutler through
www.HighCountryAudubon.org. Keep an eye on the Yahoo
group email and the HCAS calendar for updates on directions
and other details.
1. Wilkes County (Brenda and Monty Combs)
We’ll meet at the W. Kerr Scott Visitor Center
(elevation ~ 1100 feet) at 8:00 am on Saturday, March 14
and bird around the reservoir. If we’re unable to go due to
bad weather, the rain date will be Saturday, March 28.
Where Has All The Wildlife Gone?
By Beverly Saltonstall
2. Powder Horn Mountain (Janet and Richard Paulette)
This year we’re again scheduling two dates for birding
the Blue Ridge escarpment at Powder Horn Mountain:
Tuesday, April 14, (rain date Thursday, April 16) and Saturday, April 18. We’ll meet at 8:00 am at the parking lot
near the clubhouse
at Powder Horn
Mountain
then
drive to the Paulettes’
house
(elevation ~2000
feet). There’ll be
coffee and sweet
bread/muffins
there for you
while birding from the deck. Then we’ll walk a 2 ½ mile loop
along the roads (which include some fairly steep hills) and two
small lakes. We should finish by about 11:00 am.
When hurricanes have hit Florida, scientists noticed that sharks leave the protected bay for the
deeper water of the Gulf of Mexico. When the devastating tsunami hit Indonesia, there was a report of a
young tourist girl being saved by an elephant. The elephant broke away from its trainer, and with the girl
on its back, ran to higher ground just before the
waves hit.
3. Mountains-to-Sea Trail, Deep Gap BRP entrance
ramp (Guy McGrane)
This is one of the two new bird walks scheduled for this
year. We’ll meet at 7:30 am on Saturday, April 25 and
walk a total of about a mile until 10:30 am.
A Google search for Golden-winged Warblers
and tornados will provide some interesting information on how this discovery came about, how the
birds are tracked and how they came to this conclusion.
5
Now researchers are finding that Golden-winged
Warblers sense that tornados are approaching even
though they can be 600 miles away. While studying
the migratory patterns of the warblers, researchers
discovered that the birds unexpectedly left their
breeding grounds, only to return after a huge tornado
breakout was over. Barometric pressures nor any
other indications of impending tornados were detected, yet the birds left. Scientists were puzzled, but
think that the birds HEARD the approaching storms.
Meat Camp Creek Environmental Studies Area
Article and photos by Curtis Smalling
The site was included in the NC Birding Trail Mountain
Region and continues to be a popular destination, especially
with the local residents nearby and lots of fishermen using
the hatchery-supported Meat Camp Creek. The site is
open for walking during daylight hours and for special surveys and research with permission. Research has continued
to be a big part of the use of the property including bird
banding (micro habitat use); amphibian and animal behavior
research by ASU faculty; collection of freshwater leeches by
NC Museum of Natural Sciences researchers; and other
projects.
I remember the day well that I went to one of my
favorite birding spots and immediately saw a For Sale
sign on it! Quite a shock considering it was to my
knowledge about 10 acres of beaver meadow with little
to no “high ground”. After getting back home I asked
my wife Mary if I could look into it to see what they
wanted for it and maybe make an offer.
My big plan at that time (1999) was to leave Horn
in the West (where I had been working) in a couple of
years and turn the 10 acres into an environmental education center. I did make an offer which was accepted
and we were the proud owners of the soon-to-be Meat
Camp Creek Environmental Studies Area.
I put my kids to work building some simple boardwalks so you could get all the way around without hip
waders
and
opening up some
narrow paths to
allow for some
bird
watching.
We also started
making lists of
what we were
finding.
And
we
found a lot! To
date 179 species
Least Clubtail
of birds have
been seen on or from the property, and we are now up
to about a dozen amphibians, including the annual migration of Spotted Salamanders (first rainy night in late February or March); 7 reptiles; a dozen or so wild mammals;
and 30 odonates, including some state-tracked species.
Thanks to Doris Ratchford, we have documented over
150 species of plants.
And while it a challenge at times to keep
the paths mowed and
the board walks maintained, it is one of the
great joys of my life to
get to spend time out
there getting to know
the site intimately. Big
changes have occurred
including the invasion of
the site by Reed Canary
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Grass following the
drought of the mid-2000s. Thanks go to High Country
Audubon folks for helping through the years with Garlic
Mustard pulling, for picking up trash, and for entering their
sightings into eBird.
I guess some of my best highlights have been the
breeding record for Virginia Rail we had out there in the
mid-2000s; getting to band Lincoln’s Sparrows; working
with summer camp kids and putting them chest deep in the
beaver ponds (they loved it!); and seeing banded birds like a
female Cardinal I just saw who has to be at least five now.
So please visit and I might see you out there. And who
knows, once I retire, maybe I will go back to my original
plan and lead my walks and talks out there!
Directions: From the intersection of US Highway 421 N
and Hwy 194 N east of Boone, proceed north on 194 for
2.75 miles to Castleford Road on your right. Go 1.7 miles
to Appaloosa Trail on your left. At both of these turns you
should see small white signs for the Watauga Gun Club. Go
0.1 miles and cross Meat Camp Creek on a one-lane bridge.
Take immediate left into grassy parking area.
6
We’re starting a new feature in this issue of Hoots.
We’d like to highlight your favorite birding spots, and our
first one comes from HCAS member Bob Williams. If
you’d like to write a brief account of a favorite birding
trees and shrubs especially to attract birds. They have done a
marvelous job! This is the final resting place for many famous
Americans including Louis Agassiz, Charles Bulfinch, Dorothea
Dix, Mary Baker Eddy, Felix Frankfurter, Buckminster Fuller,
spot for a future issue, please contact Janet Paulette at
www.HighCountryAudubon.org
Now enjoy reading about Bob’s HotSpot!
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and
James Russell Lowell.
Of special interest to us are the famous birders interred there. Thomas M.
Brewer (1814-1880), a friend of Nuttall
and Audubon, wrote field notes from
Mount Auburn describing the sighting of a
My HotSpot:
Warblers from Heaven
by Bob Williams
"You must go to the cemetery!"
People kept telling me this as I birded my way from
Cape May, NJ, through Brigantine NWR, and into Massachusetts. I had birded a few areas in Eastern Massachusetts on previous trips but had not heard anything
about a famous cemetery. Birders are usually quite willing to help a traveler in their area, but the first couple to
mention Mount Auburn Cemetery didn't remember its
name and just knew it was "around Boston somewhere".
Once I got closer, I found it was in Cambridge about 1.5
miles from Harvard Square and quite famous for attracting warblers in migration. Since it had been recommended by birders in three different locations along the
way, I just had to go!
With visions of being alone in a cemetery, I arrived
at Mount Auburn about 7:15 a.m. during the second
week of May. I saw fifteen species of wood warblers
from about 7:30 to 10:00 a.m. but I was far from alone.
There were at least fifty other birders there on a weekday morning including some groups of six to ten led by
members of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. They
were gracious enough to let me join them. Many were
locals, but some had driven in from miles away in the
pre-dawn hours and one was even from Finland!
Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 by
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society as America's
first garden cemetery. It encompasses 174 acres, has
over ten miles of paved roads and paths, and contains
over 86,000 graves. Over the years, there has been a
Bird Committee to arrange the planting of numerous
Mourning Warbler in May, 1838. William
Brewster (1851-1919), was founder of
Photo from Wikipedia
the American Ornithologists' Union and
first President of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Ludlow
Griscom (1890-1959), curator at the American Museum of
Natural History and at Harvard's Museum of Comparative
Zoology, was noted for his expert identification of birds in the
field without having to shoot them. Harriet Hemenway (1858
-1960), one of the founders of the Massachusetts Audubon
Society, led the fight to prevent the killing of thousand of birds
to provide the millinery trade with feathers for ladies' hats.
I wasn't fortunate enough to spot a Mourning Warbler
like Thomas Brewer, but did identify the following: Northern
Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Blackthroated Blue Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blackthroated Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-and white Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird,
and Common Yellowthroat. The total species count for three
hours of birding was forty-three with one life bird sighted - a
flock of White-winged Crossbills was lingering in the cemetery, and they were new for me.
Mount Auburn Cemetery is at 580 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge, MA, and can be reached by public transportation if you
are in Boston without a car. Take the "T" Red-line to Harvard Square, then transfer to one of several buses that pass by
the cemetery. Look just inside the gates for a map and birding
information. I saw more birds in the heart of a great metropolitan area in three hours than I had seen anywhere else on
the journey. I hope you get a chance to go there, but don't
expect to be alone if it's during spring migration.
7
Recap: Birding by Boat
by Janet Palmer
Four of us went on to Judge’s Restaurant for lunch
and a short walk on the Morganton Greenway, looking for
the two Merlins that had been there the afternoon before.
The Merlins, too, had other plans.
Ah, December! Time for eggnog,
Christmas candy, and winter ducks!
Primed to search for ducks, nine of us met on December 16 at Paddy’s Creek Picnic Shelter at Lake James State
Park and walked to the boat dock, where we met our captain
(Richard Mode), first mate (Steve Gantt), and birding guide
(State Park Ranger Jamie Cameron). It was in the 40s and
overcast, but the rain had stopped about an hour earlier and
it wasn’t windy, so we were pretty fortunate with the weather.
In our two hours on
the water, we saw fewer
birds than we’d hoped, but
Great Blue Herons, Common Loons, Pied-billed
Grebes, Horned Grebes,
Ring-billed Gulls, Wild Turkeys, Mallards, and a Belted
Kingfisher cooperated.
Julia and Richard Mode were organized and gracious
hosts for our field trip. We all appreciated their work as
well as the expertise of Jamie Cameron, and we hope to
bird on Lake James again sometime!
In Search of ….
Article and photos by Don Mullaney
Lured by a posting on the Tropical Audubon's bird
board, I drove out to Canal Point, a town on the eastern
edge of Lake Okeechobee. After missing the turn off the
main north/south road a couple of times, I turned into a
gravel road which led to a gravel mining operation. The
plant was operating and huge trucks rumbled down the
road. One truck driver stopped and told me it was a dangerous place to be and I should announce myself to the
office (a trailer) and park my car and restrict my search
to that area.
Photo by Richard Mode
The turkeys were
spotted on a grassy bank
in a cove, and we were
just moving closer to them
when we spotted a River
Otter swimming in the
other direction!
We
turned to keep it in sight
Photo by Richard Mode
and saw a second one!
We were incredibly lucky to see them in the water and onshore. They chattered at us, too—great fun. We must have
spent ten or fifteen minutes watching the otters before continuing.
The Say's Phoebe was the target bird and a bird or
two were seen almost right away that resembled the description of the bird. Early sightings were against a
bright sky and the view
of the bird was silhouetted against that background.
On the way back to the dock, we got glimpses of a Pileated Woodpecker and learned a bit about the history of the
lake and local conservation practices. Good conversation and lap
blankets made for an enjoyable
ride.
After we left Richard, Steve,
and Jamie at the dock, we had our
most cooperative bird of the day:
a Sharp-shinned Hawk that made a
short flight and posed for us! We
then went from Paddy’s Creek to
check at the Ranger Station for a
Western Tanager that had been a
regular visitor for the past two
weeks. The Tanager had other
plans that day.
Say’s Phoebe
I located myself with
my back to the sun and
waited. I tried to play taped
calls - nothing. After almost
American Kestrel
two hours, I decided to walk
the road (carefully) and widen my search. A Bald Eagle
flew over and an American Kestrel landed on the telephone lines. As I almost considered leaving the location
and having lunch, the bird seen earlier reappeared, landing repeatedly on the signage along the road.
It was the target bird, the Say's Phoebe, its rufous
breast was an obvious field mark and needless to say, I
was delighted!
Western Tananger
Photo by Steve Gantt
8
Science of Birds: The Enemy of My Enemy
Kudos Corner
by Bob Cherry
Relations with a neighbor can be a tricky thing.
There might be days when they seem like they’re out to
get you. And then there are other times when they can
be your best friends. Birds have the same relationship
problem.
A great big THANK YOU to Ralph Wells for another
generous donation to the Sue Wells Research Grant fund
which has awarded grants the last three years to graduate
students conducting research on High Country birds.
We also thank Martha Cutler for her generous donation to HCAS. And we appreciate an anonymous donor
who is making it possible for a student intern to attend the
Carolina Bird Club Winter Meeting at the Outer Banks.
We have four new
members of HCAS to
welcome: Sally and Gordon Warburton of Marion and Tom and Lisa Barrie of Boone/Raleigh. In
addition, the Barries began their membership
with a donation to
HCAS, so we thank them
for their support!
Thanks to all of you who have renewed your memberships in HCAS. We always appreciate new supporters –
just visit www.HighCountryAudubon.org and click on Join/
Donate for instructions on joining or donating online or by
mail.
Photo by RainDancer Studios
In a paper published in 2014 in Biology Letters, Sarah
Goodwin, a graduate student at University of Massachusetts Amherst, and her advisor, Professor Jeffrey
Podosa, report that Chipping Sparrows often change
how they get along with their neighbors. But how they
get along depends on what kind of relationship they
start with and who else is involved.
Using audio playback of a Chipping Sparrow territorial song, Goodwin was able to get male sparrows to
aggressively attack a bird model. A faster trill would
produce a more aggressive response, suggesting that
Chipping Sparrows use the trill rate as a measure of the
threat level. This was
similar to what had been
found in other bird studies.
But what was surprising was that occasionally a neighboring
male bird would come
Chipping Sparrow
into the territory of the
Wikipedia
bird that was being
threatened by Goodwin’s model and audio playback.
This neighboring bird would help the threatened bird
fight off the perceived threat. And the threatened bird
tolerated the neighbor being in its territory, even
though under other circumstances this type of action
would result in a fight.
We Appreciate Our Sponsors!
Goodwin and Podosa found that this only happened
under certain circumstances. The neighboring bird that
came to the rescue almost always had to have a faster
trill than the bird it is helping, and the model bird that
was “intruding” had to also have a faster trill than the
resident bird.
This suggests that Chipping Sparrows prefer to have
weak neighbors (ones with slower trills) rather than
more “studly” types. So when a strong neighbor is attacked, the neighboring birds will stay out of the fight,
perhaps hoping that the strong neighbor is driven away.
But when a weak neighbor is threatened, the stronger
Chipping Sparrow neighbor will come help it repel the
intruder, hopefully keeping around the weaker neighbor
who is less likely to be able to steal a female away.
9
April
Calendar of Events
1-30
February
1 – 28
HCAS eBird Big Year
Location: wherever you find birds
HCAS eBird Big Year
Who: all HCAS members
Location: wherever you find birds
www.ebird.org
Who: all HCAS members
8
www.ebird.org
7
Field trip: Burke’s Garden, VA
Sat.
Trip leader: Jesse Pope
Rain date: Sat. Feb. 21
First of the year weekly bird walk
Wed.
Valle Crucis Community Park
(tentative)
Leader: Curtis Smalling
7:30 am
to
11 am
Audubon North Carolina
Great Backyard Bird Count
Suggested donation of $5 to Curtis
Fri.-Mon.
Where: wherever you want to do it!
Watauga Birding Hotline 828-265-0198
Who: everyone, hopefully!
http://booneweather.com/
Life+Outdoors/Birding
How: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc
TBA
March
8-11
To
Director of Land Bird Conservation
7:30 pm
13-16
1-31
8:30 am
Mid-April
HCAS eBird Big Year
8:30 am
Meat Camp Creek Environmental Studies to
Area
11 am
Garlic Mustard Removal
Location: wherever you find birds
14
Come Bird @ My HotSpot
8:00 am
Who: all HCAS members
Tues.
Powder Horn Mountain
to
www.ebird.org
Trip leaders: Janet & Richard Paulette
11 am
Almost-Spring Field Trip to SC
Rain date: Thurs, Apr. 16
Sun.-Wed. See details on Yahoo group email
when plans are finalized
14
Come Bird @ My HotSpot
Sat.
Wilkes County
Trip leaders: Monty & Brenda Combs
8:00 am
to
Rain date: Sat. March 28
HCAS monthly meeting
Tues.
Holiday Inn Express, Boone
Come Bird @ My HotSpot
8:00 am
Sat.
Powder Horn Mountain
to
Trip leaders: Janet & Richard Paulette
11 am
21
HCAS monthly meeting
6:30 pm
Tues.
Holiday Inn Express, Boone
11 am
Meet at W. Kerr Scott Visitor Center
17
18
Program: TBA
6:30 pm
25
Come Bird @ My HotSpot
7:30 am
Sat.
Mountains-to-Sea Trail
to
Deep Gap BRP entrance ramp
10:30 am
Program: Save the Songs: Climate
Change and Birds
Trip leader: Guy McGrane
Presented by Heather Stark Hahn,
Executive Director
26
Come Bird @ My HotSpot
8 am
Audubon North Carolina
Sun.
Marley’s Ford, W. Kerr Scott Reservoir
to
Trip leader: Guy McGrane
11am
Save the Date!
May 3 Sunday
Golden-winged Warbler Field Day
http://www.shady-grove-gardens.blogspot.com/
May 7 & 9 Thurs. and Sat.
Come Bird @ My HotSpot
Martha Cutler & Doug Blackford, Todd, NC
May 15 Friday, all day
Spring Bird Count
Grandfather Mountain
10
Through Our Lens
A Purple Honeycreeper seen at the Asa
Wright Lodge in Trinidad in Nov. 2013.
Ross's Goose photo taken by Dwayne
Martin along the Lenoir Greenway in
Lenoir on Dec. 2, 2014.
This Sage Thrasher photo on the
right was taken by Martha Cutler this
past June. “Doug was running the
Bryce Canyon 100-mile trail run and I
got to bird while he was out there.
The Sage Thrasher was at the start of
the run. I got called on it when I submitted it to eBird because I hadn’t
done a good job of establishing location and had posted it to a place that
was not the right habitat — luckily I
had the photo to prove I’d seen it, so
the eBird verifier helped me figure out
where I had actually been! “
Oregon Junco photo were taken by
Jessie Dale at her home in Linville on
November 4, 2014.
Adult and juvenile White Ibis photos
(right) taken by Beverly Saltonstall in
Cape Coral, Florida on Jan 13, 2015.
Photos of Fulvous Whistling Ducks and Roseate
Spoonbill in flight taken by Don Mullaney at
STA-1E water facility, west of Wellington, FL.,
on Jan. 18, 2015.
Comparison of a House and Purple Finch the feeders.
Photo by Doris Ratchford. Photo taken December 14, 2010.
11
PO Box 3746
Boone, NC 28607
www.HighCountryAudubon.org
E-mail: [email protected]
High Country Audubon Society Board of Directors
Bob Cherry - President and Conservation Chair
Richard Gray - Vice President
High Country Hoots is published four times a year by the High Country
Audubon Society, a chapter of the National Audubon Society. Group
email members receive the newsletter via electronic mail. There is also
access to the newsletter on our website.
Secretary
Richard Paulette - Treasurer
Martha Cutler - Programs and Field Trips Chair
Janet Palmer - Education Chair
Please visit our website for more information about HCAS and
birding in the High Country.
A link on the homepage has instructions for joining our
group email.
www.HighCountryAudubon.org
Janet Paulette - Membership Chair
Webmaster: Doris Ratchford
Jesse Pope
Brenda Combs
Sheryl McNair
Mary Carol Ochipa
Beverly Saltonstall
All events and meeting times are subject to change.
Bob Williams
A $5 donation is suggested for field trip participation.
Support Our Birds and High Country Audubon Society!
$10 / year / person
For sponsorship information, please email
Field trips: $5 suggested donation for each field trip you attend
[email protected].
OR
$25 / year / person
Make your donation online at www.HighCountryAudubon.org
(includes donations for all field trips you attend)
or
Please renew your support by July 31st of each year.
Mail your check, name, address, telephone number, and email
address to:
High Country Audubon Society
HCAS appreciates any additional contributions you
Attention: Membership
make to support our local efforts related to protection
PO Box 3746
of birds, their habitats, and our environment.
Boone, NC 28607
The High Country Audubon Society is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization
Donations to the High Country Audubon Society are tax-deductible as allowed by applicable law.
Donate with PayPal
You can now make donations to HCAS on our website, www.HighCountryAudubon.org, through PayPal.
You do not need a PayPal account to take advantage of this convenient way to donate.
You can donate using a credit card or using your PayPal account. Just go to the Join/Donate tab on the website, and you’ll see four
“Donate” buttons: Annual HCAS Membership; Annual HCAS Membership & Field Trips; Sue Wells Research Grant; and Other.
Choose a button and just follow instructions – it’s that easy!
12