Highway 54 Impoundments

[Jchat99@aol.com]

Rob Gluck and myself spent a little over an hour birding the New Hope Creek 
Impoundment about 12:15 p.m Friday.  Highlights included Spotted Sandpiper, 
several Redstarts, a Pileated (made Rob's day), a beautiful Blue Grosbeak, 
and 'learnable' birding moment with a singing Summer Tanager and a singing 
Scarlet Tanager in the same field of view.  Song comparison was interesting. 
The bird of interest was a probable late-lingering Northern Waterthush by the 
dam. We were trying to identify a very high pitched song when I decided to 
try my normally useless pishing skills.  Out popped a small brown bird with 
buff-yellow undersides.  I got my binocs on it and saw stripes and the buff 
eye-ring. It dashed back down quickly, and we did not see it again.

Around 6:30 p.m. ventured to the Little Creek impoundment.  Other than 
scaring myself to death just missing trampling a 5' black snake, I did 'spot' 
a Spotted Sandpiper and the inmature Yellow-Crowned Night Heron perched high 
on a stump. I returned to New Hope Creek trying to relocate the Waterthrush. 
Many Prothonatary Warblers and Red-Headed Woodpeckers we had missed at noon, 
plus 12 Wood Ducks and a male Hairy Woodpecker.

John Frederick
Durham, NC
Jchat99@aol.com