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Durham spring count - Will Suitt Railroad



Hi C-birders,

I covered the abandoned railroad bed off Will Suitt Road for SUnday's
Durham spring bird count. I was supposed to also cover the frontage road
off NC 15 near I-85, but ran out of time. Did spend some time along Will
Suitt Road, which I later found out was out of the count circle; too bad,
had my only Hooded Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, and House Wren of the day
there. Fortunately other counters had all three of these elsewhere. Falls
Lake was typically out of sync with nature, the water level quite high
(too high for shorebirds) while the trailside ditches that often host
breeding amphibians held little more than damp mud.

It started raining just as I was about to head down the railroad bed, so I
took brief refuge in my car and found a plastic bag with which to wrap my
camera. Then counting began in earnest, aroud 7:30 PM, with rain still
falling. Around the time it died out I heard a mob of very excited crows,
followed the sound and saw them harassing a huge, brown, silent bird that
very carefully stayed low and in the trees, 98% sure it was a Great Horned
Owl. On my way there, encountered an overdue lifer dragonfly, a Painted
Skimmer that lurked sluggishly in a wet meadow. Got briefly lost after
leaving the crow mob but eventually re-found the path.

Shortly thereafter found a Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) with a severely
scarred but apparently still functional shell. My one other noted herp of
the day was the cutest baby Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus)
ever. Saw a few other dragonfly species and three species or more of
robberflies, including at least 10 bumblebee mimics (genus Laphria, I
think; more of them than real bumblebees) and a neon orange-yellow-and-
black monster. Plus a metallic bright blue-green Cuckoo Wasp. Can't be a
coincidence that while photographing some flowers of the native Coral
Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) I finally heard my first Ruby-throated
HUmmingbird of the year (my feeder at home is still virginal).

Only definite migrant was a singing male Yellow Warbler; also had what I
think was a singing Northern Waterthrush, but couldn't get visual
confirmation. A lone lingering Rusty Blackbird and a few White-throated
Sparrows remaining from the winter stock. And Yellow-rumped Warblers of
course; despite the late date, they still outnumbered all other warblers
combined, probably by a 3-1 margin or more. Otherwise, lots of probable
breeders, including several Ovenbirds, a Wood Thrush, an Eastern
Wood-Pewee, a couple of Prothonotary Warblers, a couple of Prairies and a
Black-and-white, a Yellow-throated Vireo, an Orchard Oriole or two,
singing tanagers, and a few Indigo Buntings. Ospreys were nesting in the
usual snag by the bay beside the trail, but not in the observation
platform at the end of the trail (which usually also has a pair). Most of
the action was just past the Ospreys' nest, which made life difficult, as
the Ospreys left their nest and flew around making unhappy noises until
sympathy forced me to move further away.

After the countdown, joined a Duke grad student field trip at Penny's
Bend. Highlights were plants, as they always are at Penny's Bend,
including tons of Wild Indigo and Hoary Puccoon, my first ever Green
Dragon, and a little parasitic thing called Cancer-root or something like
that (looks like a skinnier version of Indian Pipes). Heard lots of
Northern Parulas, another Ovenbird, and at least two Acadian Flycatchers.
Saw impressive numbers of bright green metallic tiger beetles (Cicindela
sexguttata) and a click beetle with big black eyespots. Also saw a couple
of Silver Checkerspots and a probable Wild Indigo Duskywing.

Good birding,

Josh


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

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