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Saturday's Knap of Reeds Creek trip, and more...



Hi C-birders,

Since I haven't seen anyone else send in a report, I thought I'd submit a 
belated report of the CHBC trip that Will Cook led to Knap of Reeds Creek 
on Saturday morning. Tom Krakauer must have arrived first, he pished up 
some White-crowned Sparrows near the gravel parking area. I arrived last, 
saw noone, and almost left when I spotted birders up Old Oxford Highway a 
ways.

I caught up with the group just as they were leaving the roadside to walk 
a sorta-paved path between the large cleared area and the thin strip of 
roadside woods. Pretty quiet walk along this stretch, mostly innumerable 
Towhees. We discovered a Black Rat Snake sunning itself on what appeared 
to be a discarded car seat; Tom pulled the snake back out when it fled 
for cover, giving us all a better look. On our way back, the sun heated 
up and vultures, including a Black, started soaring.

Next we walked the gravel road along the impoundments. Several Great Blue 
Herons took flight from the heronry as we came into viewing range, but 
others stayed at their nests, so hopefully we didn't disturb them too 
much. A flock of Rusty Blackbirds and a Red-headed Woodpecker also turned 
up here. An unfortunate Bowfin (a fish) appeared to be stranded in a 
drying pool of water. As the road continued into the woods, we 
encountered a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, another flock of Rusties, a 
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, several pairs of Wood Ducks, and on the way 
back out a Pileated Woodpecker and a Painted Turtle crossing the road. We 
also came across the first odonate of the spring, a damselfly which I 
think was a Variable Dancer (Argia fumipennis).

Part of the group left at this point, but the rest of us hiked in on a 
sewer access road that ran along the opposite side of the creek. It was a 
little smelly, and not the nicest walk thanks to the tire treads of some 
kind of heavy equipment that had torn the ground into a muddy ruin. 
However, this side of the creek was much shadier and lined with 
wildflowers and frogs (all Chorus Frogs, I think). We had another look at 
the Great Blue Heronry, and also a pond which was populated with lots of 
waterfowl including Ring-necked Ducks, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged 
Teal and Canada Geese. We also encountered three more Black Rat Snakes! 
Butterflies were in evidence as well, nearly all Falcate Orangetips but 
also one Spring Azure and a few anglewings of some sorts.

Meanwhile, back in the yard, the Purple Finch flock is at 14 birds and 
counting today, and a Fox Sparrow is still around. My personal harbinger 
of spring is that the American Goldfinches are shedding their subdued 
winter colors for the bright yellow and sharp black of breeding plumage. 
A Brown Creeper was actually singing outside my window Friday morning, 
but has not visited the suet feeder for a week or so. The Duke Forest 
Barred Owls, meanwhile, have shed all pretense of nocturnality and are 
hooting at all hours of the day and night lately.

Last words are from out of town: South Padre Island, Texas had its first 
migrant warbler fallout this weekend! Scissor-tailed Flycatchers have 
returned to Texas, and Swallow-tailed Kites to Florida. And while I don't 
think anyone in the Carolinas is quite hard-core enough a lister to 
tackle this one, birders in Quebec are reporting a Redwing! No, not the 
blackbird, but the thrush. I think this one's a first record for the New 
World! Anyone who has reason to travel up that way in the near future 
should check the Ontario birding listserv for English-language updates...

Good birding!

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

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