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Golden-winged and Brewster's Warblers in Graham County NC



Carolinabirders,

Paula and I just returned from a short trip to Atlanta to see our son.  We
returned by way of the southwestern mountains of North Carolina.  We had an
eventful trip.  Here follows a brief description of some of our birding.
See Delorme North Carolina Atlas and Gazetteer, page 50.

A new experience for us was traveling from Telllico Plains, TN to Santeetlah
Gap, NC on the new Cherohala Skyway, a 42-mile road which crosses the higher
portions of the Unicoi Mountains.  Most all of this highway reminds you of
the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It is newly paved and has numerous overlooks.  The
North Carolina portion of this road is an18 mile new section of NC highway
143 which starts at 2700 feet (Santeetlah Gap), reaches about 5200 feet near
Huckleberry Knob (the highest point in the Unicois) and reaches the
Tennessee line at 4500 feet (Beech Gap).  There is a very nice recreation
area along TN highway 165 about 10 miles down from Beech Gap.  This site has
several campground loops and a sandy beach on the lake.  Something to
consider for the non-birding spouse and kids.  Since we crossed this area
rather quickly during mid afternoon, we did not do much birding here.

This morning (20 April 2000) we concentrated our birding near Stecoah Gap.
This is a spot along NC 143 about 2 miles south with its intersection with
NC 28, northeast of Robbinsville.  The Appalachian Trail crosses here, and
there is a gated logging road here on National Forest land which is a good
birding walk.  Along the logging road this morning we had two Cerulean
Warblers along with numerous Black-throated Greens, Black-throated Blues,
Blackburnian, Redstarts, etc.

Of greater interest is a site about 0.2 miles toward Stecoah Gap from the NC
28 intersection.  At a spot where numerous signs are along one side of the
road we looked for Golden-winged Warblers.  We found a large group of about
8 males carrying on quite a contest of territory establishment.  They were
chasing each other, usually in pairs, zooming around like hummingbirds.  We
watched them about 45 minutes, and during this time found two hybrids,
Brewster's types.  These seemed less aggressive than the other males.  One
was a typical Brewster's, with a large amount of yellow underneath.  The
other hybrid was pure white underneath, the type described as a 2nd
generation backcross between typical Brewster's and a pure Golden-winged.
The spot where these were found is an area where Golden-winged and
Blue-winged Warblers have been found in recent years.  However, we did not
see or hear any Blue-winged today during our brief stay.

All told we heard or saw 22 warbler species and 4 vireo species on this
trip.  We are now primed for the Carolina Bird Club meeting at Blowing Rock
on May 5 - 7.  See you there!

John Wright

--
John and Paula Wright     h 252-756-5139

jwright@skantech.net      Greenville, North Carolina