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Sandhills, then Irvin Farm
- To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: Sandhills, then Irvin Farm
- From: Joshua Stuart Rose <jsr6@duke.edu>
- Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 18:43:38 -0400 (EDT)
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Hi Carolinabirders,
The DNHS went to the sandhills Saturday. Birds were few, but one person
saw a Red-cockaded Woodpecker (I heard it), and most of the group had
great looks at a pair of Bachman's Sparrows, one of which sang for us
too. These were both near Seventeen Frog Pond, which is frogless at the
moment due to being almost completely dry. We did find one live Broken-
Striped Newt; I normally would have left it there, but we found several
dead ones also in that vicinity, so I transplanted the lone survivor to a
wetter location... Randy and I also found and photographed a couple of
Black Widow spiders, each one with an egg sac, under two logs about 3
feet apart. Our guide, Jay Horne, led us to lots of great plants,
including Astragalus micheauxi in flower.
Next we visited Scotland Lake. Most of the interest was in the plants
(Sandhills Milkweed, sundews, etc.) and odonates (already posted to that
list by Randy Emmitt). Main bird sighting was a Summer Tanager which sang
in plain view from an overhead pine branch.
Our last stop was the floodplain of Drowning Creek further south. Plants
again took center stage, particularly the rare native holly Ilex
amelanchier and the Quillworts, genus Isoetes, members of a group of
plants that split off the plant evolutionary tree just before ferns
evolved. I heard a song which I'm almost certain was Swainson's Warbler,
but never saw the singer (which, of course, only increased my
conviction). Also had some great close looks at a pair of Prothonotary
Warblers; I handed my binoculars to a friend, they were hardly necessary
at a range of 15 feet or so!
Yesterday I took part in the Chapel Hill spring bird count. I was
assigned to cover Irvin Farm and the nearby section 26. Had a fine day.
Started at Irvin, after greeting another participant named Dave near the
Food Lion where I was forced to grab breakfast. The Black-throated
Green Warbler that Will Cook and I had heard there three weeks ago was
gone, replaced by several Black-throated Blues and a few American
Redstarts. Blue Grosbeaks had arrived since then, as had Eastern
Wood-Pewees, and Indigo Buntings had increased in abundance about
five-fold! Also heard the ever-popular Kentucky Warbler, but did not see
it. No confirmed Scarlet Tanagers, but numerous Summers; I think I
finished with 15 overall. I also heard one call which sounded
suspiciously like the "Che-bek" of a Least Flycatcher, but couldn't
visually confirm it... Did visually confirm the Solitary Vireo that we
had heard but not seen on the previous visit.
Also confirmed nesting for some birds. I walked past one log and flushed
at least three little brown balls out from underneath: newly fledged
Carolina Wrens. At another point, an Ovenbird flew in overhead with a
beak full of insects and paced along a branch watching me, until I
realized that I was probably near its nest; I scooted away so it could
feed its young ones, which I hopefully hadn't inadverdently stepped on...
Heard the familiar "tu-whi, tu-whi, tu-whititio!" of the Hooded Warbler
by the creek. Later on, heard a totally unfamiliar song, sounded more
like a Veery than anything else; pished out the singer, another Hooded! A
while later, heard another totally unfamiliar song, vaguely like a hugely
amplified Redstart; eventually spotted this singer too, which was, you
guessed it, ANOTHER Hooded! Strange to hear three individuals of the same
species singing three totally different songs.
Many good non-birds as well. Escorted an Eastern Box Turtle across Jones
Ferry Road in the morning. Shortly after noon, heard a rustle in the dead
leaves, and saw a bolt of green; Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis! Seen
them many times in the sandhills and coastal plain, but this was my first
Piedmont sighting... Not much later, found a skipper basking on a large
rock. For once it wasn't one of the baffling duskywings or cloudywings;
it had three brilliant golden rectangular patches in the center of each
forewing. Had some white on the edge of the underside of the hindwing. My
guess is Hoary Edge, Achalarus lyciades; how's that sound? As I was
leaving the tract, tried to get the dragonflies patrolling the pond in my
binoculars; on my first try, got instead a big male Broad-headed Skink
climbing a log on the shoreline. On my next few, noticed that the turtles
in the pond had red-striped legs and yellow head spots; Eastern Painted
Turtles?
Took a break for lunch, driving back into Carrboro to visit Bon's
Barbeque. Then set off for Area 26. Wasn't able to reach the former
proprietor, Pat Hobson, the previous night for tips, so I mostly drove
around and down lots of dead-end roads and stopped at places that looked
(a) promising and (b) like I wouldn't be shot at. Turned up several new
species for the day, but none unexpected: Eastern Kingbird, Eastern
Meadowlark, Eastern Phoebe, Field and Chipping Sparrow, Red-winged
Blackbird, etc. Drove slowly past several lush grassy fields, and stopped
often, but couldn't come up with any Bobolinks despite what looked like
great habitat. Also visited Niche Gardens, where I had another Summer
Tanager and my only Great Crested Flycatcher of the day, among other
things; also bought my fiance a Jack-in-the-Pulpit... My one concern is
that, looking at the map on Will Cook's website, I think I went outside
the count circle boundaries. Oh, well...
Good birding!
Josh
Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)
jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/