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warbling vireo nesting in asheville



Donna Bailey and a friend of hers came up from S. Carolina Saturday and
located a pair of Warbling Vireos nesting in a sycamore tree alongside
Beaver Lake in north Asheville.  They also found a Cedar Waxwing nest in a
White Pine near the vireo nest.

To locate the nests, walk along Merrimon Avenue north from Beaver Lake Bird
Sanctuary until you come to a grass field bordering the lake.  Follow the
well-worn path along the edge of the lake about 1/4 mile.  The waxwing nest
is between two forks of a large pine, about half-way up. A dead leaf gives
some visibility to the nest.

The vireo nest is two or three trees further on.  If you divide the
sycamore crown into fourths, the nest is in the upper left fourth, just
above the dividing line with the lower left fourth.  Best hope of finding
it is to see one of the vireos approach the nest, but a patient search may
find it, partly concealed behind green leaves and just below a dead leaf.

As far as I know, this is the first time a Warbling Vireo nest has been
found at Beaver Lake.

Saturday morning's Audubon birdwalk at Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary found
both nests occupied shortly after Donna and her friend found them.  Tim
Lewis also pointed out a waxwing apparently removing nesting material from
a Baltimore Oriole nest.  Nearby a male Orchard Oriole was carrying a bug
in its mouth, as if he was about to feed young.

best,  Len Pardue, Asheville NC