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Triangle Bird Checklist - early and late dates



Hi C-birders,

With all the hawkwatches springing up around the state, maybe I should 
start an Erwin Road hawkwatch. Had an accipiter, probably a Sharpie, 
soaring just over Erwin at the intersection with Research Drive yesterday 
morning around 11 AM as I drove Airlie to the Duke Bio Sci building. Then 
saw a second one as we stopped at the Pickens student health center that 
afternoon around 4 PM for Airlie's antihistamine prescription; the second 
bird actually appeared well north of Erwin Road, soaring in the general 
vicinity of Erwin Square on Main Street.

Lots of people seeing things they think are early or late lately, as 
always happens during migration. An easy way to check whether they really 
are early or late, at least if you live in the Triangle or vicinity, is 
to visit our listowner Will Cook's website at 
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/
and read the Triangle Bird Checklist. It has all the local bird species 
broken down by week of the year and frequency of occurrence.

So, to answer a few recent questions using the Checklist:

On Mon, 8 Oct 2001, Shantanu Phukan wrote:
>  
> Yes, indeed they are back (and not just one). This morning the farm pond
> at Dairyland Road had at least two, but more possibly three or four Yellow
> Rumped Warblers. Does anyone else have them yet? Is this about the right  
> arrival date, or are they early? 

This is just about right. Yellow-rumps are rated "rare" for all four 
weeks of September, then rise to "occasional" for the first week of 
October. This week, the second week of October, they rise to "common", so 
we should be seeing them all over the place soon...

On Mon, 8 Oct 2001, Sheila Denn wrote:
>  
> I had my first ever evening grosbeak in my yard 10 days ago. Not knowing a
> whole lot about migration schedules for birds, and knowing that evening   
> grosbeaks are fairly common here in the winter, I didn't think anything of
> it. But when I mentioned it to my dad this weekend, he was very surprised 
> and said he didn't think he'd ever seen an evening grosbeak in northern   
> Chatham County this early in the season. So I was wondering if a) this is 
> early for evening grosbeaks to show up and b) if anybody else in the 
> triangle has seen any yet.

According to the checklist, this would be the earliest Evening Grosbeak 
ever for the Triangle. They aren't supposed to arrive until the last two 
weeks of October, and even then they are rated "very rare"; they don't 
rise even to "uncommon" until the last week of November. Guess Will will 
have to edit the list again!

On Sun, 7 Oct 2001, Patrick Coin wrote:
>  
> On a New Hope Audubon botany walk this afternoon (Sunday, 10/7) at
> the North Carolina Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill, I saw a lone 
> Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female or winter plumage male) feeding on
> a cultivated red Salvia in bloom there. This is latest I can recall 
> seeing a hummer here in the Triangle. 

The checklist actually has Ruby-throats rated as "occasional" for the 
first week of October, falling to "rare" for the rest of the month 
through early November, and even lasting into late November as "very 
rare". Of course, some stay all the winter out on the coastal plain. And 
for those who are new to bird-feeding, be sure to keep those hummingbird 
feeders out all winter, even after the Ruby-throats leave; January is 
often when Rufous and other rare winter vagrants show up.

Speaking of rare vagrant hummers, I sure hope that Broad-billed hangs 
around New Bern until the Wings Over Water festival November 2-4, so I 
can come see it on my way out there! With my wedding this Saturday, I 
won't have much birding time for the next week or two. So folks who run 
out there to check on the bird, please keep the rest of us posted, and 
please be gracious guests of the Parkers (call ahead, park carefully, 
stay in their yard, don't disturb their neighbors, etc.) lest they decide 
to stop allowing birders to visit. You may think I'm being paranoid, but 
it's happened too many times before...

On Mon, 8 Oct 2001, Shantanu Phukan wrote:
>  
> This mornign I went out to Anilorac Farm and found the hedgerows full of
> SOng Sparrows and quite a few Indigo Buntings feeding on the 
> Pokeberries. Warblers included a Palm, a Magnolia, and a forlorn male
> Yellowthroat. Was surprised to see so many Indigo Buntings this late in
> the year. 

Pokeberries, huh? So that's where they get the nice blue color... The 
checklist rates Indigo Buntings as "fairly common" for the first week of 
October, falling to "uncommon", then "occasional" and finally "rare" on 
succeeding weeks, with no records for November. So while the species 
isn't unusual, Shantanu's probably correct that a large concentration is.

Just to explain, the abundance codes for the checklist are, for each 
week:
	"abundant" always present in large numbers
	"common" always present in appropriate habitat
	"fairly common" seen most days
	"uncommon" usually present but not seen most days
	"occasional" usually present but not seen most weeks
	"rare" may be present but not seen most years
	"very rare" not present most years
	"accidental" five records or fewer in last 25 years

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/