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Pisgah, and Falcons



We went again to see the falcons on Devil's Courthouse. The young are no
longer white, but have a patchy rumpled look due to emerging feathers. On
the way, we saw a large black bird, too big to be a Crow, so had to be a
Raven, swoop down onto the road, snatch something up, and fly into a tree
with it. When we passed, we saw it was a small song bird, probably road
killed. (Never saw that before.) On the way back, stopped at Pisgah
parking area on West side of road. Got out to show Suzanne how the
Mountain Laurel stamens are spring loaded, and heard a strange four
pitched Warbler song. It started high, went low, went slightly higher,
then slightly lower, sort of like a warbler warbling out an imitation of
a Chickadee song. Suzanne and I went to see what it was. She started
psshting, and a male Chestnut Sided popped up, and sang this wierd song.
(I told him he should be pleased to meet me, but he obviously did not
listen.)We were out in the open, and I started to tell her we should be
partly hidden by brush (according to the books), when he flew to about 8
feet away, then was called away to persue another male who came to the
sound. She told me that anyone who could pssht up a deer, as she did last
summer at Crabtree Meadows, was not bound by such constraints.
We then saw a male Rose Breasted Grosbeak, a very sleek, chubby one, with
absolutely lovely color. My first in about 15 years. I had forgotten how
pretty they are.
Also, a Catbird came in to the calling, for the person interested in
Catbirds.
Also present at the party was a warbler sized (maybe slightly larger)
bird, yellow breast (frontal view, could not see the back), white wing
bars, and slight streaking on the breast at the sides. Was it a Yellow
Throated Vireo perhaps? I have tentatively ID'd it as such, but I have
not seen one before, and it did not match any of our native warblers.
Anyone with any ideas, please let me know.
Alex Netherton
The Appalachian Naturalist
Asheville, NC
http://www.appalachian-naturalist.com
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