WAVI, DICK, and LOSHes in Orange Co.

["Will Cook" <cwcook@duke.edu>]

This morning (5:30-7:30) I did route 5 of the Orange County Mini Breeding 
Bird Survey (see Haven Wiley's web site for more details: 
http://www.unc.edu/~rhwiley/mbbs/ ).  (I don't normally use banding codes, 
but the three in the subject line sound funny WAVI = Warbling Vireo, DICK 
= Dickcissel, LOSH = Loggerhead Shrike))

This was the most birdy of the three years I've run this route, with  59 
species (11 species new to the route) and 463 birds.  Highlights were 
hearing a distant Warbling Vireo sing at Anilorac Farm on Dairyland Road 
(also got it last year), seeing the Dickcissel sing at the next stop 0.5 
miles down the road (new to the count), and seeing a family group of three 
Loggerhead Shrikes near the back entrance to Cane Creek Reservoir on 
Stanford Road (new to the count). I suspect the Loggerheads nested in the 
northmost of the three Black Walnut trees near the back entrance.  
Loggerhead Shrikes are very rare around here in the breeding season.

Most common bird: Canda Goose (52). Most frequent birds: Mourning Dove and 
American Crow (seen on 17 of 20 stops).

After finishing the route, I headed back to Cane Creek Reservoir, where I 
saw the nesting colony of Cliff Swallows on the dam as well as the shrikes 
by the back gate.  Later, I returned to the Dickcissel spot, met Cynthia 
Fox's large group, and watched the Dickcissel sing a command performance 
on the power line over our heads. Several Grasshopper Sparrows here too 
and a couple of Orchard Orioles, which didn't show up when I was doing the 
survey.

Brief directions: To get to Anilorac Farm, take NC 54 west from Chapel 
Hill for several miles, turn right on Orange Grove Road, then right on 
Dairyland Road.  The Dickcissel spot is in about 0.25 miles and the 
Warbling Vireo spot is in front of the Anilorac farm house in another ~ 
0.4 miles.

Cane Creek Reservoir is a couple of miles further west on 54, just past 
Stanford Rd.  Entrance gate on the right. May be closed Sunday before 1 
pm. (It usually seems to be closed when I want to go birding there.)

-- 
Charles W. "Will" Cook                  w 919-660-7423
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook            cwcook@duke.edu
Box 90340, Biology Dept., Duke Univ., Durham, NC 27708