[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

GVL NC WWTP Birds #5



Thursday 3 May 2001,
Greenville Waste Water Treatment Plant,
Old Pactolus Road, Pitt County, North Carolina.
1840-2010 hrs, mostly clear and breezy, 83-74 deg. F.
“OH” = seen flying over field of view.  “HO” = heard only.

Great Blue Heron - 1 HO
Red-tailed Hawk - 1 (hunting over fields)
SANDHILL CRANE - 1

(Adult in pasture SE of cattle gate bridge. Reportedly also seen early this 
morning on Lake Glenwood, GVL. This is the 5th consecutive evening I've seen 
this crane fly in and bed down, between 7:40 and 7:50 PM. I think Harry 
LeGrand has a good theory about it being lost from a "Whooper practice run" 
Sandhill Crane relocation flock. A recent EE News posting said the feds are 
leading Sandhill Cranes from Michigan to Florida by ultralight plane, and 
(most of?) one of these flocks just recently made it on its own back north. 
This bird must be human-habituated, and lost. Maybe Pitt County could raise 
funds by charging $100 a pop to go out and have your picture taken beside 
it. Where's Anna Paquin [sp?] when you need her? Film at eleven.) ;)

Mourning Dove - 5 (fields)
Barred Owl - 1 HO (by river - boaters were imitating owls, but badly)
Belted Kingfisher - 1 HO
Common Flicker - 2 (1 in field and 1 dead on road near entrance)
Great Crested Flycatcher - 2 HO (woods)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 2 (fields)
Barn Swallow - 4 (fields)
Blue Jay - 4 (near entrance and river)
Fish Crow - 1 OH (heard)
Carolina Chickadee - 2 HO (by river)
Carolina Wren - 1 HO (in brush)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 2 HO (by river)
Eastern Bluebird - 2 (by chain link fence gate)
American Robin - 2 (near entrance)
Northern Mockingbird - 1 (near antenna tower)
European Starling - 10 (near office and tower)
Northern Cardinal - 1 HO (woods by river)
Blue Grosbeak - 1 (female, by chain link fence gate)
Chipping Sparrow - 2 (by chain link fence gate)
Savannah Sparrow - 1 (by cattle gate)
Red-winged Blackbird - 14 (fields by canal)
Eastern Meadowlark - 2 (field by canal)

Non-birds:
Bullfrog - 1 HO (canal by cattle gate)
Cooter - 1 (adult female, identified in-hand as  “Pseudemys concinna”)
Whitetail Deer - 5 (by entrance, river, and tower)

J. K. Williams, “The Inner Coastal Plain Naturalist,” Greenville NC

The Inner Coastal Plain, west of the Tidewater and east of the Piedmont
Plateau and Sandhills, is a land of “‘Carolina Bays’... blackwater rivers...
swamp forests of Bald cypress, and Tupelo and Swamp gums... Cross-
vine... Star-nosed mole, Marsh rabbit, and Rice rat... Greater Siren, Two-
toed Amphiuma...  many bird species nest here, or migrate through... the
freshwater aquatic vegetation is rich... Tape grass, Bladderwort,
Pondweed, Arrow-leaved spatterdock, Duckweed.... floodplain forests...
barbed with Greenbrier, and thickened with Poison ivy and Virginia
creeper... unique fishes and aquatic invertebrates... the endemic Neuse
River Waterdog of the Neuse and Tar rivers... Sweet pepperbush...
Sphagnum... Black bear and Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake...
Longleaf and Pond pines... famous... seasonal wildflower displays....”,
and “rumors of Panthers....” - from Cooper, Robinson, and Funderburg,
Endangered and Threatened Plants and Animals of North Carolina.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com