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A beautiful day in Western NC!



Dwayne and I began the day by trying for the Lark Sparrow in Asheville, NC.
We found the Chipping Sparrows that it supposedly hangs around with---but
not the Lark Sparrow.  That means we're still at 299 and counting!!!!!  We
also visited Beaver Lake Sanctuary while there and was very impressed by the
new eco-pond that has been added.  Very nice!!!!  There were lots of little
ducklings whizzing around the pond--with their Mallard/hybrid parents
keeping a close eye on us.  We also saw a very vocal and persistent male
Yellow Warbler (who was GORGEOUS by the way!), our first Gray Catbird of the
year, and two Green Herons.  Lots of Chimney Swifts above, and Tree, Barn,
and Rough-winged Swallows over the lake itself.  There were 11 Blue-winged
Teal, 7 American Wigeon, and a male Hooded Merganser.

We headed toward Mt. Mitchell and found it to be cloudy and chilly---nothing
unusual about that!  We had Black-and-white Warblers and Black-throated
Green Warblers at almost every stop we made between Asheville and Curtis
Creek Road.  At Ridge Junction Overlook we had a singing Hermit Thrush,
Red-breasted Nuthatches and tons of Robins!  The buds on the trees aren't
even swelling yet up there---but the birds are moving back in!!!!  We came
down Curtis Creek Road and found only more of the same---Black-and-whites
and Black-throated Greens around every corner.  Once we got to the lower
elevations, Northern Parulas started joining the chorus.  The plant life on
Curtis Creek is much more progressed than on the parkway and we saw Greater
Chickweed, Foamflower, Robin's Plantain, Golden Ragwort, Solitary Pussytoes,
Wild Geranium, Large Wood Sorrel, Bloodroot, May Apple, Painted Trillium,
Large-flowered Trillium, Perfoliate Bellwort, and Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

On the way home, we stopped by We-Du Nurseries ( http://www.we-du.com )  in
Marion, NC for their semi-annual open house.  They are one of the largest
wildflower growers in the area and had some truly wonderful selections!  We
finally found some Hummingbird Clethra (that Randy Emmitt had written about
over a month ago!), some native Red Honeysuckle, and a Paw-Paw tree.  If
you're in the area---we HIGHLY recommend them!  They had lots of plants that
were wildlife and bird friendly.  While there, we heard a very persistent
Worm-eating Warbler on the hill above the greenhouses, and several Common
Yellowthroats calling from the marsh across the street.

Once we got home, we refueled and went to Riverbend Park in northern Catawba
County.  There are still fairly good numbers of Double-crested Cormorants
(and yes, Will, ours have two crests too!!!) down the river.  Blue-gray
Gnatcatchers were everywhere and we found four breeding plumaged Palm
Warblers, three or four singing Prairie Warblers, Pine Warblers, and two
White-eyed Vireos.  It's amazing how some wildflowers seem to come up over
night!  We were just at the park last week and didn't see any Wild
Stonecrop---but now it's everywhere!  Toothwort is still blooming profusely
and we found a small patch of Rue Anemone.   By accident, we found a rather
large patch of Paw-Paw.  After we saw the first one (which are blooming and
easy to find), we started looking and found around 20-25 trees.  We'll have
to keep our eyes peeled for the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly here, because
it's the food plant for the caterpillars.

*************************
Dwayne & Lori Martin
Foothills Bird Club
Claremont, NC
dlmartin@twave.net