Big Woods Area

[Randy Emmitt <birdcr@concentric.net>]

Folks,

On Dec. 24 I`m doing the Big Woods section of the Chapel Hill Christmas 
Bird Count. Since it has been at least 2 years since I looked around at Big 
Woods I decided to make a half day trip to see what was out there. The 
biggest surprise was finding 14 Red-headed Woodpeckers(8 from one place I 
was standing) and my first of the season Fox Sparrow. I did find huge 
flocks in the mature pines with many pinecones and hoped for Red Crossbills 
but with the gun metal gray skies it was very hard to see in the tops of 
tall pines.

Surprisingly odd was that I did`nt find any Mourning Doves, Bluebirds, Gold 
Finches or House Finches. I did get a sweep of all our woodpeckers in the 
area! I also found in part of the gamelands a good number of random 
Longleaf Pine seedlings that I suspect was planted as there wasn`t any 
mature plants anywhere nearby.

Here`s my list of what I found in section 25 of the CHCBC which just gets 
into a small finger of Jordan Lake north of Farrington Point.

1     Pied-billed Grebe
8     Great Blue Heron
2      Black Vulture
8     Turkey Vulture
10   Wood Duck
1     Red-tailed Hawk (heard)
8     Killdeer
1     Bonaparte`s Gull
15   Ring-billed Gull
20   Rock Dove
1     Belted Kingfisher
14   Red-headed Woodpecker
6      Red-bellied Woodpecker
4      Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
6      Downy Woodpecker
1      Hairy Woodpecker
8      Flicker
4      Pileated Woodpecker
1      Eastern Phoebe
8      Blue Jay
25    A. Crow
25     Carolina Chickadee
12     Tufted Titmouse
1        White-breasted Nuthatch
2        Brown-headed Nuthatch
8        Carolina Wren
2        House Wren
40     GC Kinglet
25      RC Kinglet
35      A. Robin (drinking and bathing in Jordan Lake)
100+ Yellow Rumped Warbler
30      Pine Warbler
1         E. Towhee
1         Fox Sparrow
30       Song Sparrow
6         Swamp Sparrow
40       White-throated Sparrow
30       Junco
18       N. Cardinal
20       Red-winged Blackbird
2         Common Grackle

Also just out of my count circle I saw a first year Bald Eagle and about 
150 DC Cormorants along with  200+ Ring-billed Gulls. And heard an odd call 
in a thicket that I suspect was a Hermit Thrush.


Randy Emmitt
Rougemont, NC

Randy Emmitt Photography
http://www.rlephoto.com