FIELD TRIP REPORTS FROM 2004

Gila Woodpecker
April 2007
Tucson, AZ
photo © 2007 by Ron Morris

GREENSBORO LAKES
2/14/04    by Dennis Burnette

     We had a great field trip Valentine’s Day, despite the heavily overcast sky and chilly temperature. This was a combined Piedmont Bird Club and T.G. Pearson (Guilford) Audubon Chapter activity that attracted 25 participants! We saw 53 species (not counting "pond pets") compared to 47 species that we saw almost exactly one year ago on a similar tour of the Greensboro Lakes. Highlights of the trip included nesting Bald Eagles and pre-nesting Great Blue Herons at Hamburg Mill Marsh (thanks to Emily Tyler and Carolyn Allen), and Common Merganser and Rusty Blackbird (thanks to Henry Link).

A & T Farm
3/6/04                     by Emily Tyler

     Despite overcast and threatening skies, 12 birders made it to the A&T Farm on March 6 for a short yet productive period of birding before the rains came. Undaunted by the weather, we then gathered under an equipment shed and enjoyed refreshments brought by Sharon and Brant Gallimore. The coffee and coffeecake warmed us despite our wet clothes and provided a great time for socializing. That afternoon, six birders returned under sunny skies to continue the field trip. As far as I know (or can remember), this is the first time we have had two local field trips in one day to the same place. There were great birds seen on both trips. In the morning we saw the Common Snipe and Common Raven, the first time a Raven has been reported at the Farm as far as we know. Among the more notable birds seen in the afternoon were the American Pipit and Savannah Sparrow. The two groups logged a total of 33 species.
    We may not have seen the Farm’s usual target bird, the Common Snipe, had it not been for Henry Link and Deidre Poe who obliged us by climbing the fence around the former farm pond to scare the birds up from the grasses that now abound where the water used to be. The Snipes did their characteristic circle around us so that everyone had a view. We have remained hopeful that the dam would be repaired so that we would once again be able to see and enjoy the interesting waterfowl found there in years past. Unfortunately, we were told recently that a building will be placed there. However, there are at least three or four other ponds on the property across McConnell Road, including the Pig Farm. With appropriate permission, it is likely that we will have access to these areas in the future. 

Whitacre’s Farm 3/20 

     Carolyn Allen led the trip to a private property where they saw 27 species, including several hawks, (Cooper’s, Red-shouldered, Red-tailed), woodpeckers (Red-bellied, Flicker, Hairy and Sapsucker) as well as Chipping Sparrows, Bluebirds and others. Henry Link then led the crew to various lake stops, where they saw a Kestrel, Red-breasted Mergansers, Bonaparte’s Gulls, and other water birds.

Weymouth Woods
4/3/04

     We had a wonderful trip to Weymouth Woods!  Although windy and a little cool, the weather was mostly sunny and very pleasant.  A small group of Piedmont Bird Club members attended, and we were joined by a delightful couple from Ottawa.  They had heard about us through our Web Site and arranged to meet us at the Weymouth Woods visitor center.
     Scott Hartley, the ranger of WW who last year gave a presentation at one of our meetings about the unique fire ecology of the longleaf pine forest, met us Saturday afternoon and led a bird walk on which we saw four Red-cockaded Woodpeckers right away.  What a treat! They were very active, foraging in the longleaf pines for insects, flying around, chattering to each other.  We got our fill of good looks at them.  Other birds encountered were White-breasted and Brown-headed Nuthatches, and the first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher I've seen all year.  Scott also showed us some of the unique plants, supported by the fire ecology, that grow in the Sandhills, in particular carnivorous plants, the tiny Sundew, which are about as big around as a nickel, and some Purple Pitcher plants.
     The next morning we drove to the Sandhills Game Area, to look for Bachman's Sparrows.  Almost immediately we found a spot where several of them were singing. They have the most beautiful and complex song of any sparrow; the pleasure it gives is on a par with the Wood Thrush. They are very elusive birds, and we never got a good solid look at one, but we spent probably an hour listening to them and pursuing them through the long leaf pine and wiregrass habitat.  They were always somewhere just ahead.  But what a wonderful hour that was!!  I have yet to find a recording of the Bachman's Sparrow that comes even close to what we heard that wonderful Sunday morning. They sang in a relaxed and prolonged fashion, clinging to the notes.   Even though we did not get a good look at the birds (which are fairly non-descript), their song far more than made up for it.
     There were Chipping Sparrows aplenty, who were cooperative enough to let us look at them, and we also found some Field Sparrows, a life bird for the Canadians.
     On the road to the Sandhills Gamelands is a great spot where it crosses a creek and there we heard in full voice several Yellow-throated Warblers, one of which gave us a good show as well.  We saw 33 species in all.
                                                                                                          -Louise Brown
   More information on Weymouth Woods and the longleaf pine forest can be found at their excellent website:
http://www.ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/wewo/do.html 
   

Easter Birding Trip
Morehead City & Vicinity 4/8 - 4/11/04
by Dennis Burnette                                                                         Check out these great pictures!

      A dozen Piedmont Birders converged on Morehead City over the long Easter weekend for three days of birding. By the time we concluded our activities just before lunch on Sunday, our stalwart group had a cumulative bird list of 101 species.
     Everyone arrived on Thursday evening and was ready to hit the bunny, er, birding trail first thing Friday morning. We spent the first several hours watching sea birds flow past the Triple S Pier where we were thrilled by a very cooperative Long-tailed Duck as well as hundreds of cormorants and a few dozen Black Scoters. Then we moved on to nearby Ft. Macon State Park where we added a lone Purple Sandpiper along with many more common birds. In the afternoon we birded from the top deck of a bright red double-decker British bus as we toured the historic town of Beaufort, and then spotted birds such as American Oystercatcher and Whimbrel along the sandy edge of the channel.
     On Saturday we worked our way along the highway through the marshes to Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge and the ferry landing, stopping along the way at the Cape Lookout National Seashore headquarters and later the refuge headquarters. After lunch the group split in half with one group taking a boat trip across the sound to Cape Lookout and the other continuing to bird the Cedar Island area.
     Sunday morning found us in the Croatan National Forest. We missed seeing Bachman's Sparrows, but we were serenaded in several places by the secretive bird's beautiful song. This is where we heard and sometimes saw several species of warblers. Possibly the most spectacular sight, however, was a tree full of about eight Peacocks and hens!
     Several folks added species to their life lists, and everyone had a good time. Great weather and beautiful spring flowers provided a wonderful setting for good birding, good food, and good camaraderie. In short, it was a really fun trip.
    

Bird Banding Trip
by Dennis Burnette

     Those who missed the bird banding demonstration on Saturday, April 17, missed a very enjoyable and informative morning! This field trip was the follow-up to our April program on the topic of bird banding. Both the program and the demonstration were presented by Tom Mowbray, ornithologist and Professor Emeritus from Salem College. Our group car-pooled to Dr. Mowbray's beautiful home and property in rural western Forsyth County where we found him already out collecting birds from four mist nests that he had erected in different habitats.
     Of the 28 species of birds that we saw and/or heard during the morning in the vicinity of Dr. Mowbray's property, we had very close views of 13 in the hand as they were being banded. We were able to study individual American Goldfinches and Yellow-rumped Warblers in various stages of molting their feathers; closely compare Carolina and House Wrens; see the brood patch on a female Blue Jay; and note the similarities and differences between a Brown Thrasher and an American Robin. In fact, everyone was given the opportunity to hold and examine some of the birds after measurements had been taken, sex and age had been determined, and a leg band had been attached. There were plenty of photo opportunities, too, not only of the banding process but also of close-ups of each bird species.
     This definitely was one of our most interesting, educational, and fun club activities in recent memory.
Photos from this event can be seen on this page:   http://www.greensboro.com/birdclub/birdbanding.htm

Randolph County Trip Apr. 24, 2004

Rose-breasted Grosbeak photo by Dan Chambers

     A remarkably large group (25) of Piedmont Birders went on a wonderful trip to the lovely solar-powered home of Jane and Mark Lewis, where they shared the treasures of their vast acreage in southern Randolph County. Well off the main road as well as the grid, their property includes woods, streams and adjacent fields and open areas, providing a wide variety of habitats for birds, reptiles and other creatures. Over the course of the day we accumulated a list of over 60 different species of birds, including 12 of warblers, 4 of vireos, both tanagers, and an Acadian Flycatcher. Ovenbirds were heard in the woods and on the way out one car full of birders actually got a good look at one. A Kentucky Warbler was spotted on a walk through the woods along a stream, a rare treat. Quite a few species were easily seen in the very bird-friendly yard, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak (proving to be the most photogenic,) Parulas, hummingbirds, Indigo Buntings and others. 
     A number of birds were in a family way- Jane had spotted a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher's nest in a branch high over the driveway, and a Louisiana Waterthrush had a nest on a nearby stream bank. After a great picnic lunch, largely provided by the Lewises, we walked to the edge of neighboring property that had been logged a few years ago. There we were treated to a quick glimpse of a Chat, a Red-headed Woodpecker working a far-off dead snag, and several Prairie Warblers among other species.
                                                                                                                        -Louise Brown

Warbler Walk, May 8 Black-throated Blue Warbler Photo © 2004 by Melissa Whitmire
Carolyn Allen sent in a list from a bird walk last spring, to Fisher Park and Starmount Forest, primarily to look for warblers and other spring migrants.  Jointly led by the Allens and the Links, it was a successful trip. They saw nine species of warbler:  Black-throated Blue, Northern Parula, Common Yellow-throat, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, Chestnut-sided, Tennessee, Black & White, and Pine.  Other notable migrants were House Wren, Great Crested Flycatcher, Veery, Wood Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo and Scarlet Tanager.  Thirty-eight species were sighted in all.
Blue Ridge Mountain Trip June 4-6		Red Crossbills click on picture for larger version photo by Dan Chambers

      For the second year in a row we took a weekend trip up to the Blue Ridge Mountains, staying at the lovely Pisgah Inn. Although Henry and Elizabeth Link could not accompany us this time, they armed us with maps and tips.
     Two Overlooks north of the Pisgah Inn turned out to be the jackpot for the Saw-whet Owls. A discordant effort between others and me turned up one, which perched on a branch and stared at us from just a few feet away.  It was an awesome heart-stopping experience! We saw the Peregrine nest at Devil's Courthouse, with an adult guarding a nearby downy chick. We also saw a Cerulean Warbler at the Bull Creek Overlook north of the Folk Arts Center in Asheville. It stayed not too high up for at least a couple of minutes. A record length sighting for everyone involved! There were quite a few other birds at that spot as well, including nesting Redstarts, and Eastern Pewees. 
     The Balsam Mountain Campground had no Crossbills, but there we had a really good look at a Blackburnian Warbler, and observed Winter Wren, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Black-throated Green Warbler, and a Black-capped Chickadee.
     We saw a variety of birds along the road up to the campground -- Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Least Flycatcher, and Canada Warbler among others.
     We came across Red Crossbills quite by accident as we descended Forest Service Road 816 (where we saw Alder Flycatchers as well as Black-throated Green Warblers.) We saw several cars stopped and people with scopes. They had spotted a flock of 50 or more Red Crossbills, which were flying around the spruce trees there. We got great looks at lots of them!
     We would not have found the Saw-whet Owl or the Cerulean Warbler without tips from Beth Brinson whom the Club met last year. Those were two of our main target birds. It was a very fulfilling experience! Altogether 68 species were sighted.
                                                                                                            -Louise Brown
 

Butterfly Count at Hagan-stone Park

Cecropia Moth Caterpillar photo by Dan Chambers

July 31, 2004
     Dennis Burnette led a very interesting trip to Hagan-Stone Park, primarily an event for the Carolina Butterfly Society but a joint event for the PBC and Audubon groups as well. It was an eclectic group, including some scientific professionals. People were naming dragonflies, butterflies and birds, as well as wild flowers and other plants. If you have no idea what it is, what thing would you say a Horace’s Duskywing is? A Pondhawk?
     Quite a few species of butterflies were counted: Tiger, Spicebush and Pipevine Swallowtails, Red-spotted Purples, Buckeyes, American Ladies, as well as numerous members of the vast Skipper family.  Ones that were identified included the obvious Silver Spotted Skipper, the similar Hoary-edged Skipper, the Fiery, the Horace’s Duskywing and the Little Glassy-winged.
    We didn’t do too shabbily with birds, one of the best being a quick glimpse of an elusive Yellow-billed Cuckoo as well as a surprising Redstart. A couple of hawks were spotted -- a Red-tailed and a Sharp-shinned.
among numerous Dragonflies.  But one of the most remarkable things we saw was a giant caterpillar. The picture above does not do it justice in this black-and-white medium. The creature was about six inches long and had the circumference of a quarter. Bright chlorophyll green, it had on its head four black-spotted orange knobs, followed by a double row of yellow knobs down its back. There was a row of tiny blue knobs down each side. We are talking bright crayon colors, nothing subdued. It looked like a cartoon.  Fortunately there was a person present who knew what it was -- a Cecropia Moth caterpillar.
-Louise Brown

    Our hawk-watching trip to Mahogany Rock Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway was cancelled Saturday, September 18^th due to bad weather. As an alternative, the trip leader, Philip Kellam, announced an impromptu hawk-watching trip to Pilot Mountain State Park on that Sunday. I got e-mails from members Doug DeNeve and Gregg Morris who reported a great day of hawk watching. Doug said that the day totals included 2700 Broad-winged Hawks, 2 migrating Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 2 Peregrine Falcons, 1 Kestrel, 4 Ospreys, and 1 Bald Eagle by 5:30 when he and Pam left. I'm chagrined; I had to stay home and grade tests all afternoon!
                                                             -Dennis Burnette

Part II  - Sept. 25

     A group of T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon and Piedmont Bird Club members enjoyed a pleasant day of hawk watching at Pilot Mountain recently.  The trip, which took place on  Saturday, September 25, featured good weather, good companionship, and, unfortunately, not all that many birds.  The peak of fall migration, at least in terms of Broad-winged Hawks, occurred the previous Sunday.     However, we did see a number of good birds, including eight Sharp-shinned Hawks, five Double-crested Cormorants, at least one Cooper’s Hawk, four Ospreys, a couple of Northern Harriers, a possible Merlin and a lone Broad-wing.  Of course, there was also the ever-present spectacle of lots of soaring Vultures (along with their nemesis, the vulture-harassing local Red-tail) and several acrobatic Common Ravens doing their Blue Angel imitation. There was also a possible Bald Eagle.  Lynn Moseley and I both thought we saw one, but it was a long way out, “at the very limits of conjecture,” as they say. 
                                                                                               -Gregg Morris

Linville Road Marsh
Oct. 16

     We had a very good exploratory trip to the Linville Road Marsh near Oak Ridge on Saturday, October 16. The marsh is in the headwaters area of the Haw River located in western Guilford County. This is a new location for our club, having been discovered recently by Dennis Burnette and Doug DeNeve on an IBA survey of the Haw River. On this Saturday the day started cool, sunny, and breezy. Although the temperature warmed rapidly, it remained windy throughout the morning.
     Since our club has never been to the Linville Road Marsh before, we scheduled this excursion as a scouting trip to see if it is worth adding to our list of local birding sites. At the end of the trip the consensus was that it definitely is. Our group of eleven PBC members spent almost an hour and a half scanning the little marsh from roadside. A highlight of this stop on the trip was that we saw every species of woodpecker possible in the county except one, the hairy. Thanks to co-leader Doug DeNeve, several of us also saw a migrating Palm Warbler. Winter birds that had arrived already included Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Swamp Sparrow. We left the marsh around 10:30 and headed downstream along the creek-like Haw River to a couple of other sites noted by Dennis and Doug on their survey. We stopped at a wet meadow on Harrell Rd. that seems like it could have pretty good potential for birding, but we didn't see many birds during this visit. We continued across Hwy 68 on Harrell Rd. about a mile to a point where we could do some birding along the Haw in a heavily wooded wet bottomland. Henry Link and several others added some species of neotropical migrants to our list including Blue-headed Vireo, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and American Redstart. This site looks like it could be excellent for migrants in the spring.
     The group's total number of species in 2.5 hours of birding these new sites was 43 species plus two more species seen by Dan Chambers before the rest of us arrived at the marsh. It was a fun morning of birding!
                                                          -Dennis Burnette

     Dan Chambers sent in a report about the field trip that he and Don Allen led at GCNMP. The day was partly cloudy, light breeze, and temperature around 60^o F. There were sixteen participants in all, including six non-members. They saw and/or heard 22 species. For those tracking the movement of birds, the summer species seen were Chimney Swift and Gray Catbird, and the incoming winter birds were Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and both the Ruby- and Golden-crowned Kinglets. They also spotted a Great Blue Heron, a Red-shouldered Hawk, and an Accipiter as well as an assortment of more common year-round birds.

Magnolia Manor, Oct. 2

    Eleven Girl Scouts and ten members of the Piedmont Bird Club enjoyed a morning of bird-watching on the new 92-acre Girl Scout Campus near Colfax.
      Of course, we were unable to explore all 92 acres, but the birds found there during the first weekend in October, such as some migrating warblers, showed the potential that the property has for future field trips.
     Experience made the difference in bird sightings. PBC member Lynn Burnette took the Girl Scouts out for their first-ever birding experience. She showed the girls a field guide and how to use it, showed the girls how to use binoculars, talked about types of habitats, discussed food preferences for birds, and other general Birding 101 topics. Consequently, the girls managed to see eight species of birds, including a Red-Tailed Hawk that the other group did not see.
      Led by Dan Chambers and by impromptu assistant leader Henry Link, the PBC members saw 31 species. Migrants included Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, Pine, Prairie, and Magnolia Warblers, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, White-eyed Vireo, Scarlet Tanager, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Everyone agreed that this place is worth a return trip.
                                                     -Lynn Burnette

Blackwater River Trip Report Nov. 6-7  by Dennis Burnette

Belted Kingfisher Photo © by Melissa Whitmire

     Members of the Piedmont Bird Club joined the T. Gilbert Pearson Chapter of the National Audubon Society on a great boat trip up the Blackwater River from Wilmington, NC, on Saturday, Nov. 6. A total of more than twenty folks participated.
     The group departed from the Wilmington waterfront in the vicinity of the USS North Carolina from where we worked our way up a branch of the Cape Fear River to the Blackwater River. Although the morning was a bit cool, the trip was very relaxing and fun. The slowly passing scenery, the gentle vibration of the boat, and the subtle sounds of the water were almost enough to lull a person to sleep when the warm sun was on your side of the boat.
     NC Audubon's Education Director, Andy Wood, narrated the first part of the trip with information about the human and natural history of the river system. After about two hours, the captain turned the boat for the return trip downstream and most folks broke out their picnic lunches. Following lunch, we were treated to a lecture and demonstration of plants and insects in the coastal region with some examples that the Education Director had brought along.
Both the weather and the habitat seemed perfect for birds, but our total number of species for the four-hour trip came to only twenty-two. More than a dozen Belted Kingfishers accompanied us along the river at different points. There were large flocks of American Robins feeding along the wooded riverbanks, and we saw several smaller flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds along the way.
     Ahead of us we spotted individual and small flocks of Ruddy Ducks several times, the only duck species we saw. We also spotted several Great Blue Herons along the shore and even one Great Egret.  Despite the smaller than expected number of bird species, however, it was a great raptor day. Our final list included Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, Cooper's, and Sharp-shinned Hawks, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, and Osprey.
     This was a fun trip and we appreciate the Audubon Society inviting us to join them on it.

Huntington Beach, SC and vicinity Thanksgiving Weekend
	Reddish Egret Photo by Dan Chambers	Red-throated Loons Photo © by Melissa Whitmire

     Dennis and Lynn Burnette led another fine trip to the Huntington Beach area of South Carolina over the Thanksgiving Weekend. The group logged 104 species of birds. Outstanding sightings included a Reddish Egret, not seen by the club at that location before, Clapper Rail (often present but rarely seen), Red-throated Loon, Black-bellied Plover, Black Skimmer, and the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker. The many shore birds and ducks are great things to see - anyone wanting to learn more about those species would find joining one of these excursions very stimulating!

Bog Garden, Nov.  13.

     Half a dozen club members came to the Bog Garden. It was cold and windy early, but after about 10:00 it started getting sunny. The Best Bird of the trip was the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Two of them were scrapping in a nearby bush and we got an excellent view of their red crowns. We also had good looks at a Golden-crowned Kinglet. There was a fairly large group of Northern Shovelers, at least eight males and that many females. They were feeding by plowing around in a circle in the shallow water. I had not been aware of this interesting behavior before. A single Coot accompanied the Mallards. A Kingfisher flew around calling overtly. A Phoebe called quite a bit and we saw it in several places in the park. We saw a total of thirty-three species.

-Louise Brown

Alamance County 12/4

     We were fortunate to have excellent weather for the trip to Alamance County led by Lynn Moseley.  We went to Lake MacIntosh to look for ducks and raptors.  The trip began with the sighting of a Common Raven, which is indeed not a common bird in these parts and was the first Lynn had seen there.  It was across the lake, but identified itself with its distinctive croak (“Nevermore!!”). We did not see a wide variety of waterfowl but enjoyed a few Buffleheads and Hooded Mergansers. A Red-shouldered Hawk called and called in a pine tree beside the lake and, after its Red-tailed relative swooped nearby, it finally flew out in view.
     Cedarrock Park is a beautiful place, on land that was a large family farm. A wonderful variety of habitats - old fields, woods, and creeks - were all great places to watch a variety of birds. The walk that we took along a couple of miles of trails was truly educational - Lynn deftly filled in birdless moments with various biology lessons, such as the succession of growth in local forests, old weedy fields to pine forests to oak/hickory hardwoods. She also discussed the reclassification of vultures to the Order that includes Storks. This occurred because these species all have naked heads, perforate nostrils, and practice a curious method of cooling off called "uro-hydrosis." This is something I was in total ignorance of up to that day. It involves urinating on one’s legs to cool off!!!
     We had good looks at Red-tailed Hawks on more than one occasion, a Kingfisher gave us a good show, and we saw numerous woodpeckers in several locations. We got especially good looks at Sapsuckers, both immature females and adult males. We got several good looks at Golden-crowned Kinglets in Cedarrock Park. Thirty-nine species were seen in all. 

                                  -Louise Brown

The Summit Conference Center

Nov. 20

     Emily Tyler led our bird walk at The Summit, a conference center run by the Episcopal Diocese, and it was well attended by fifteen PBC members. The day began heavily overcast and breezy with a threat of rain that fortunately never materialized. There was not much bird activity at first, the predominant species being vocal Carolina Wrens and many, many White-throated Sparrows working the underbrush. As the temperature gradually increased we saw several Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Flickers, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. We flushed a small flock of Wood Ducks in a swampy, wooded area accessed by a boardwalk, and in that vicinity also spotted an elusive scolding Winter Wren and a Swamp Sparrow. We saw a Phoebe and a Golden-crowned Kinglet as well as a number of more common year-round bird species.
     Most of the group went to the lakes afterward and spotted a number of water birds, including Ruddy and Ring-necked Ducks and a couple of Buffleheads on Buffalo Lake, many Ring-billed Gulls and one Herring Gull on Lake Townsend. At two different locations we had great views of Red-tailed Hawks being chased by American Crows. At that point in the early afternoon the sky was blue and partly sunny, so we got a lovely view of the red tail of that hawk. Thirty-seven species were seen in all.

                                                      -Louise Brown