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bird tree



A couple of years ago, I girdled a small black cherry that had sprung up 35
feet from the front porch of our minimalist cabin in western Buncombe
County.  The idea was to prevent a big tree from growing up in an old
orchard and to provide a perch spot for small birds where they would be
easily seen.

A big payoff came the other day as I was idling on the porch.  An immature
Indigo Bunting flew into the tree (now leafless) and sat there chipping.  A
male IB followed it and joined in the chipping.  Two Carolina Wrens
followed; they chipped and fussed, too.  Then another immature/female IB.
Then male and female towhees.  And finally a Chestnut-sided and a
Black-throated Green warbler joined the group -- 10 birds at its peak.

I saw no sign of snake or other intruder to provoke the gathering.  After a
few minutes, the birds flew off one by one.

The CSW, by the way, lacked any chestnut on the flanks -- and had lime
green back and head, white wing bars and white eye ring -- a first fall
female if I read my references correctly.

During our five days at the cabin last week the other outstanding birding
moments involved male Scarlet Tanagers.  Saw and heard one in a
favorite-but-distant perch morning and late afternoon/evening every day.
Saw two males within a few feet of each other in an apple tree.  Saw a male
fluttering and gleaning a black raspberry a foot or two off the ground.
Saw a male feed a juvenile a big bug or caterpillar.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, common at and near the cabin a few weeks ago, were
nowhere to be seen or heard.  Wood Thrushes were still singing vigorously
early and late in the day.

Finally, I also saw a male Red-bellied Woodpecker (with juvenile in tow)
visit an apple tree and poke a big hole in a ripening apple.

Len Pardue
Asheville, NC
eljeep@mindspring.com