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Lake Butner 10/21/01



Having stumbled upon this place quite by accident a few weeks ago, I 
made a return trip yesterday to take in the leaves and check out the 
birds. Little was stirring when I arrived, including the wind, so the 
leaves looked spectacular reflected on the glassy water in the bright 
sunlight. After 30 minutes things started to pick up with regard to 
birds. A flock of 32 DC cormorants drifted in, splashed down only to 
be chased off by a fisherman in a boat a few minutes later. A single 
GB heron also came by and I got great views of a male belted 
kingfisher as it flew back and forth between the boat dock and one of 
the tree-covered islands, chattering noisily. An absence of ducks was 
ameliorated by a pair of pied-billed grebes doing synchronized dives 
close to the shore. 6 turkey vultures wheeled overhead, and I think I 
glimpsed an osprey through a break in the trees.
	Walking through the trees to the left of the store revealed 3 
YB sapsuckers playing "kiss chase" with each other: great fun to 
watch. There was one very speckled first year bird and two adults. 
Winter visitors also included a ruby-crowned kinglet and a 
white-throated sparrow. A flicker, a downy WP,  several WB 
nuthatches, C chickadees, tufted titmice, 2 Carolina wrens, a very 
drab female goldfinch, cardinals, mockingbirds and a chipmunk all 
were actively foraging.
	A flock of at least 10 pine warblers was probably the 
highlight of the day, with just about every plumage type easily 
viewed as they fed from low branches and came to the ground to feed 
on the grassy bank of the lake. They were joined there by 8 E 
bluebirds and a blue jay, as well as more WB nuthatches and a 
straggling magnolia warbler in the trees.

Best wishes,



-- 
Steve Perry

Receptor Biology Lab, Duke Uni Med Center, Durham, NC

stevep@receptor-biol.duke.edu