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Eno update



Hello,

Brief update of migrants/summer visitors and locals doing spring-like 
stuff that I have observed at Fews Ford, Eno River SP over the last 
week. I have expanded my area of search from just the "field" at the 
bottom carpark, kinglet alley etc, to include the river by the ford 
itself (on advice from Sharon Funderburk). Short list, but I'm still 
inexperienced and bird songs are still hard for me (I'm trying to 
unlearn the British songs I know to make room for all these new ones!)

BG gnatcatchers are in force (>20)
E. phoebe (1)
N. parula (1)
full breeding plumage Y-R warblers everywhere
Singing field sparrows
Thrasher building a nest
A vireo sp: couldn't tell much more than this from the glimpse I got.
Common yellowthroat (2)

I'm still waiting for the waterthrushes, the Y-T warblers, prairie 
warblers and indigo buntings (my personal favorite).

I've got a new game to play when the birding gets slow: I have taken 
to sitting VERY still by the old house near kinglet alley and within 
30 minutes the black and turkey vultures start circling. I have even 
got them to settle in the trees nearby! I'm not aware of smelling 
like rotting meat, so do you think this a coincidence (ie on the 3 
times I've done this it just happened they were looking for a place 
to rest) or are they really looking at me as a snack? I observed the 
same behavior once at Hanging Rock when I was resting on a rocky 
outcrop during a hike. It's a bit eery but I get great views of the 
ugly brutes!

Does anyone know what they are going to do with the old house just by 
the the first carpark (the one down from the visitors center, on the 
path to the ford)? Lots of building materials and tools have turned 
up there in the past few days.

Steve Perry

Receptor Biology Lab, Duke Uni Med Center, Durham, NC

stevep@receptor-biol.duke.edu