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eagles; Biltmore Estate



I'm a new participant in carolinabirds, thanks to our friend, Tom Joyce, and
am enjoying it very much.  We were fortunate to have been able to bird
Stecoah Gap with Simon the day Clancy Ballenger and his delightful wife were
there.  What a treat!

1) Many of you may know of this site, and it may have been discussed here
before but, just in case.  www.nestingeagles.com is a site sponsored by the
American Eagle Foundation.  It features views of the nesting site used by
their two injured, captive eagles, Liberty and Justice.  There is also
information about other activities, participation options, photos, etc.
Their young eagles are, when ready, released at appropriate sites.

2) If you plan to visit the Biltmore Estate, you should allow time for more
than the house, etc.  There is a new Outdoor Center, located behind the
Winery, where one can pick up trail maps.  Bikes are also available.  They
have created and opened several new hiking trails in areas which have been
closed before.  There is one, beginning near the Center, which goes between
a gigantic kitchen garden (electric fences) and an open grassland.  It then
reaches a lovely site on the French Broad and continues , with woods on one
side and a cornfield on the other.  We have seen several warblers here, of
late--also blue winged teals and wood ducks, bobolinks, savannah sparrows,
Baltimore orioles, scarlet tanagers, nesting redtails (on the mountain
trail), and others.  The trail ends, some one and a half miles, or so, at
the lagoon where, in addition to the resident Canada geese and mallards,
other ducks can be seen during migrations.  (We once saw an immature double
crested cormarant there after a major storm had passed) It's a good walk.
There are also biking trails and another hiking trail that climbs up above
the estate.  If you plan to enter the estate more than once in a year's
time, you can buy an annual pass which costs about $7 more than a single
entrance fee and can be used for entrance to the Estate, house, inn, etc. at
any time during that year.  We enjoyed a chipping sparrow, perched on the
garden fence, watching, in apparent fascination,  male and female Baltimore
orioles(perched about 9" inches away) performing their "cleaning and
preening" routine. It went on for some minutes.  Put us in mind of a
youngster watching his/her daddy shave.  The azalea garden there always has
some warblers in it during migration season.

3)  The May 17th New York Times (page B36) has an interesting piece on
nesting redtail hawks in the city.  For those of you who have read REDTAILS
IN LOVE, the wonderful book about nesting hawks and dedicated birders in
Central Park, it is a welcome update.

Jean Hutton
Arden, NC