[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

(Fwd) Odd birds in the New River area



Forwarded at Jim Keighton's request...

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date: Thu, 02 Jan 2003 14:31:22 -0500
From: Jim Keighton <brbirders@skybest.com>
Subject: Fw: Odd birds in the New River area
To: Harry Legrand <harry.legrand@ncmail.net>,
        CAROLINABIRDS <CAROLINABIRDS@duke.edu>

Harry, Will,

Below is my original email about the possible Black Phoebe (I now believe
the white spots I saw on one wing may have been snow flakes since it was
snowing pretty heavily at the time of observation):

Late this snowy afternoon a peculiar bird showed up in the shrubs near a
bird feeder surrounded by 6 or 7 juncos. It sat about 4 feet off the ground
in a Wiegelia bush as I studied it. I was able to examine it through 8 X
binoculars at about 20 feet for about one minute before it flew beyond my
view.

At first glance I thought it was a large junco, for it had largely the same
black and white pattern as the juncos. But there were some significant
differences: the bird was slightly larger - mostly longer in appearance; the
tail was noticebly longer with no white; the wings had two bright white
spots suggesting abbreviated wing bars; and the black, slightly decurved
bill was much longer and thinner than a junco's pink finch bill, more like a
flycatcher's but maybe even thinner.

I thought of Black Phoebe, which I have seen in Big Ben National Park, since
this strange bird was almost that large, but I saw no white in the tail when
it flew, no tail wagging at rest, and the Phoebe does not have any white in
the wing. Besides there has never been sightings anywhere near this far
east, let alone in this kind of cold (though this storm came from the
Texas/Mexico habitat of the Black Phoebe).

Jim Keighton
----- Original Message -----
From: "James Coman" <hillshepherd@skybest.com>
To: "Jim Keighton" <brbirders@skybest.com>
Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 8:47 AM
Subject: Re: Odd birds in the New River area


> Excellent! You should forward your note to Harry LeGrand and Will Cook.
>
> James
>
>
>
> on 12/26/02 20:22, Jim Keighton at brbirders@skybest.com wrote:
>
> > After considering all the responses I got and all the further checking
of
> > possibilities, I am increasingly confident that what I saw on December 4
was
> > a Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans, as unlikely as the bird was for this
> > area except for the prevailing origin of the storms moving into this
area.
> >
> > Jim Keighton
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "James Coman" <hillshepherd@skybest.com>
> > Sent: Wednesday, December 25, 2002 3:34 PM
> > Subject: Odd birds in the New River area
> >
> >
> >> Dear Blue Ridge Birders:
> >>
> >> We have now had three very unusual sightings in our area, two in
Alleghany
> >> and one in southern Grayson, in the last three weeks. I am not certain
how
> >> widely distributed news of these three were, so to recount:
> >>
> >> First, Betty Scott's near certain ID of a Shiny Cowbird about a week
> > before
> >> the NR CBC at her feeder near Independence.
> >>
> >> Second, Jim Keighton's mystery bird of about two weeks ago in his yard
on
> >> Bullhead Road south of Sparta, described as a Junco-patterned bird with
a
> >> longish black bill and long tail, larger than junco. My guess is a
> > tropical
> >> flycatcher of some sort, but that is just a guess. Anything that has
> > stumped
> >> Jim Keighton is quite unusual, obviously. If Jim has had any further
> >> thoughts on this ID problem, please advise.
> >>
> >> Third, the two terns that flew directly overhead of myself, Stan and
Drew
> >> Steury during the last week of deer season at my farm in Piney Creek.
> > These
> >> were small terns, all white underneath, appearing out of the fog about
50
> >> feet overhead and quickly disappearing. Unmistakable flight silhouette,
> > but
> >> in view for too short a time for a positive ID. Probably Common or
> >> Forster's.  The only terns EVER recorded in our area apparently are
> > Caspian
> >> and Black, and these were neither.
> >>
> >> Discussing these sightings yesterday, Shawn Wolfe pointed out that we
have
> >> had an unusual southern track of the jet stream since early November,
> >> crossing central Mexico, brushing the Gulf, then bring rain and storms
> > into
> >> the southeast and our little corner of Appalachia. All three of these
> >> oddballs, two of which are not positively ID'ed, appear to be from
> > southern
> >> climes and are appearing in the mountains as storm waifs or vagrants.
AS
> >> THIS WEATHER PATTERN IS LIKELY TO CONTINUE, MORE ODDITIES MAY APPEAR.
> > Please
> >> stay alert and take the second look!
> >>
> >> James Coman
> >> Piney Creek
> >>
> >
>

------- End of forwarded message -------
-- 
Charles W. "Will" Cook                  w 919-660-7423
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook            cwcook@duke.edu
Biology Dept., Duke Univ., Box 90340, Durham, NC 27708