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GBBC; hints of spring; ATFL photos



Hi C-birders,

Updated my website again. A few photos of the Alligator River NWR
Ash-throated Flycatcher are up in the "birds" section, along with the one
halfway decent photo I got of the Tropical Kingbird at Wings Over Water.
Also from WOW, a pretty nice pic of an American Bittern stretching a wing
by a Pea Island observation deck. And in the "Hawai'i" section, a chick
and adult Hawaiian Moorhen. Under "other animals", a jellyfish from WOW,
plus a couple of formerly unidentified beetles are now identified thanks
to last week's Wake Audubon speaker, Art Evans.

Spent Saturday wandering Weymouth Woods with my wife (too bad it wasn't
Wednesday). Birds were typical wintery things, the best being a couple of
Pileated Woodpeckers, one in the Pine Island Trail area, the other at the
far end of Holly Road. No sign of any herps, but not only are the maples
flowering, as they have been for a few weeks, but the Trailing Arbutus
have big ol' flower buds just about to pop open. Found a Hexastylis
(Heart-leaf Ginger) with a flower bud too. Also found a poor moth with
a Cordyceps fungus bursting out of its body, like the critters from the
"Alien" movies...

Then spent Sunday afternoon liberating my Sycamore tree from the evil
English Ivy; a 10-year-old friend and I cleared about 3 feet or so of
height all the way around the trunk. Now it's just a matter of waiting for
everything above that to die, and digging up the parts left underneath.
The American Robins will be sad to lose all those ivy berries, but the
American Goldfinches (and maybe an odd siskin or three) will be happier to
have their supply of Sycamore seeds maintained.

For anyone else who spots potential errors or problems with the data from
the Great Backyard Bird Count, Matt McKown <MMCKOWN@Audubon.org> says
comments and questions can go to him.

On Mon, 18 Feb 2002, BILL HILTON JR Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History wrote:
>
> Just for snicks, which of the birds on the write-list do
> CarolinaBirders think would be the LEAST likely to be seen on a North
> Carolina GBBC count?
> >
> >Pine Grosbeak   42
> >Northern Hawk Owl   5
> >Great Gray Owl  4
> >Juniper Titmouse    4
> >Willow Ptarmigan    3
> >Crested Caracara    2
> >Three-toed Woodpecker   2
> >Western Scrub-Jay   2
> >Bell's Vireo    2
> >Trumpeter Swan  1
> >Iceland Gull    1
> >Snowy Owl   1
> >Canyon Wren 1
> >Wood Thrush 1
> >Northern Shrike 1
> >Saffron Finch   1
> >Lapland Longspur    1

Okay, I'll bite, just for fun... I'd say Willow Ptarmigan. The longspur,
gull, and Snowy Owl are all already on the state list; so's Northern
Shrike. Wood Thrush nests here, at least. Saffron Finch is a common enough
cage bird, which is why they're so common in Hawai'i now. Trumpeter Swan
was just reported from SC. Bell's Vireo has shown up in Georgia a couple
of times. A Caracara actually appeared in Massachusetts once (presumed an
escape), and they nest in Florida. The other two owls and the grosbeak
stage periodic irruptions that could theoretically someday reach the NC
mountains, and maybe the woodpecker could too. The wren, jay, and titmouse
are even more remote, but all are still more mobile and thus more prone to
stray out of their normal ranges than a ptarmigan. I think...

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/