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Bobolinks and Dickcissals



	My brother and I went out to Maple View Farm to see the Bobolinks this
morning around 8AM, but the field across from the pond was mowed.  The two
female Wood Ducks were there with their young.  We saw a White-eyed Vireo and
heard several Yellow Warblers.  A pair of House Sparrows were checking out a
Bluebird box while a pair of Bluebirds sat nearby looking concerned.  One of
the Bluebirds tried to enter the box, but we noticed that it acted as though
something was already in the box.  Soon, a House Sparrow came out of the box.
 I have seen competition between House Sparrows and Bluebirds before and almost
always the Bluebirds give way to the sparrows.
	I didn't want to give up on the Bobolinks, so we continued to drive
down Dairyland Road heading toward Route 54.  I looked at the fields on either
side of the road, hoping to see a flock of birds.  Lucky, I did spot a flock of
birds in a hilly field on the right side of the road immediately after passing
Anilorac farm.  The birds turned out to be Bobolinks.  Of course, once we had
the scope out they flew into a tree which stood between us and the sun.  But,
there were more Bobolinks in the field, and eventually we had nice views of the
birds.  My brother saw one female Bobolink, but I was surprised by how the
flock of about 100-200 birds seemed to be mostly male birds.  A Meadowlark and
Savannah Sparrow sat on the power line.  We believed we heard both Grasshopper
and Savannah Sparrows singing, but there was a moderate amount of traffic
noise.  Once, some Bobolinks landed on the road and almost got hit by a truck!
 Then two Dickcissals landed on the power line and began to sing!  I had not
expected to see Dickcissals.  Do they normally occur here?  The Dickcissals
flew from the power line further into the hilly field, so I don't know if
anyone will be able to relocate them.  I hope they will be able to be found
again.  A few Barn Swallows were also seen, and there are many Red-winged
Blackbirds throughout the area.
	The place were we saw the Bobolinks and Dickcissals is on the right
side of Dairyland Road on a right turning road curve immediately after Anilorac
farm.  This is 2.5 miles from Maple View Farm and 6.3 miles from the
intersection of old hwy 86 and Dairyland Road.  At the intersection of old hwy
86 and Dairyland Road, Dairyland Road is called Homestead Road and someone has
turned the roadsign so the name of old hwy 86 is on Dairyland Road.

	I saw another interesting sighting last night on the North Carolina
State University campus.  Two Common Nighthawks flew over the campus around 8PM
'peenting' while heading south.


Elisa Enders

-- 
Elisa Enders
student, Chemical Engineering
NC State University, Raleigh, NC
eenders@eos.ncsu.edu