Field Trip Reports 2008

FIELD TRIP REPORTS FROM 2008

Horned Grebe coming into breeding plumage
Lake Brandt, Greensboro, NC
Photo © April 2008 by Lou Skrabec

Mears Fork
Greensboro Landfill
Virginia - Augusta, Bath & Highland Cos.
Potluck #1
Potluck #2
Greensboro Lakes
A&T Farm
Easter in the Savannah River Area

POTLUCK #1
By Elizabeth Link

On Saturday, February 2, a group of 15 bird club members toured the western part of the Greensboro lakes. Buffalo Lake gave us some excellent views of Hooded Mergansers and Ruddy Ducks. The recent rain and the city's constant pumping of water from the Haw River into Lake Townsend have raised the water levels in that lake some, but there were still enough mudflats left that we were able to pick up Wilson's Snipe and American Pipit. As a change from recent weeks,
Bonaparte's Gulls were many and outnumbered the Ring-billed Gulls at some stops. Among the 13 species
of waterfowl located (including Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Bufflehead, and Horned Grebe,) we were able to score the Merganser Trifecta - Common, Red-breasted, and Hooded.

MEARS FORK WALK
January 5, 2008 By Jack Jezorek and Gregg Morris

Twelve PBC and Pearson Audubon members walked the Conrad tract on Mears Fork on January 5. The property, purchased by Guilford County in 2006, was the first acquisition as part of its Open Space Program. Approximately 50 acres, the tract is composed of bottomland forest and wetlands through which the main creek and several tributaries meander. On the south side are mixed oak/hickory/beech bluffs up to 100 feet above the wetlands below. The county is working to acquire several other parcels along Mears Fork with the intention of protecting a corridor along what has been called the cleanest creek in Guilford County.
Birding was not the primary purpose of this field trip. Rather, it was simply to spend some quality time outdoors with friends while at the same time becoming better educated about the status and goals of the Open Space Program, an initiative vital to the protection of this rapidly diminishing resource. Our group enjoyed a leisurely amble along the wide paths out to the farthest extent of the tract and down to the creek, marveling at the wonderful view out into the tops of the bottomland trees. The Conrad tract should provide superb birding and wildflower viewing during the spring.

LANDFILL
January 12, 2008 By Melissa Whitmire

     We had quite a nice morning at the landfill. In spite of the lack of garbage these days, there were plenty of good birds to see. Much to our amazement, our local celebrity Peregrine, "City Boy," was seen cavorting with some vultures. Lou Skrabec was the first to notice something smaller in among the big birds and once we all got our bins on him, we could clearly see his solar-powered antenna. Thus, we knew it was our City Boy who was seen downtown over the holidays by a variety of club members. I got a few quick shots off, and the antenna is actually visible in one of the pictures.
    We also had nice looks at a kiting male American Kestrel, such a beautiful bird, and those of us who hung around after part of the group left were fortunate to see a female Northern Harrier. We chased her around the landfill before getting great looks at the white rump patch but it was worth the bumpy ride. According to Emily Tyler, who has done the Christmas and Spring counts there for many years, that is the first Harrier to be seen out there. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of it.
    There were 38 species observed in all. Other “birds of interest” included White-crowned Sparrows.
    So the dump is still worth the trip even though the garbage, and accompanying smell are gone! It's been a great start to the New Year!

Augusta/Highland/Bath County, VA Field Trip
January 26-27, 2008
By George Wheaton

Light snow ushered in a chilly dawn on Sunday, the second day of the PBC’s rescheduled trip to northwestern Virginia. The temperature rose gradually, the sun eventually came out, and conditions approximated those of the preceding day – temperature hovering around freezing, only a slight breeze, and a few inches of patchy snow on the ground. Birding was far more pleasant than it would have been on the preceding weekend when the trip was originally scheduled – predictions of snow and ice in Greensboro, and actual highs of 10F in the Blue Grass Valley accompanied by strong winds. As a consequence of that earlier wintry blast, we found all but a few ponds completely iced over. Those that were still open contained very nice mixed flocks of waterfowl.
Five stalwart members of the PBC, toting along mounds of cold weather gear, journeyed north to Staunton, VA where we were met by two veteran local birders who attempted to help us track down birds on our very ambitious target list. Thanks to their help and the keen eyes of our group, we were able to get excellent views of most of our target species and, very importantly, we were able to get everyone on nearly all of the high priority birds. Almost everyone in the group came home with at least one life bird and some folks had several new birds. There were many “high fives.”
The weekend got off to a great start on Friday when two of our group were able to get to Staunton just before dark, and following detailed instructions, were able to locate the hoped for Short-eared Owl. Unfortunately, a vigil maintained at the same location at dawn on Saturday was unsuccessful. However, we shrugged that off and drove only a very short distance to an open pond that contained several species of waterfowl. One of our local contacts scanned the large flock of Canada Geese that was clambering up onto the ice rimming the pond and found our very much hoped for Cackling Goose – a bird only recently accorded full species status. What a way to begin the day - before having breakfast or checking out of our rooms!
After a quick breakfast we began working on additional priorities. One of these was Barn Owl. Once again, we were extremely fortunate, finding two highly photogenic specimens of this specie. Yes, they were roosting in a barn just north of Staunton. Before heading west to Monterey in the early afternoon we added several more species including the high priority targets of Loggerhead Shrike (in the Swope area), Horned Lark, including one flock of over 300 birds, and one Lapland Longspur located by one of the local birders after persistent searching. The trip to Monterey was relatively uneventful. One of us did pick up a Purple Finch in McDowell but a fast trip through the Blue Grass Valley in fading afternoon light did not produce additional target birds.
Dawn on Sunday morning found us at the famous Beverage’s feeders in Monterey. (This location has produced stunning rarities in past years e.g., Varied Thrush, Hoary Redpoll, etc.). As scripted, six Evening Grosbeaks flew in at 7:30. Shortly thereafter, this vanguard was followed by an additional 28 birds. Many were the relatively drab (but pretty) females while half a dozen were adult males in very bright, crisp plumage. Their white secondaries and bright yellow “eyebrows” were stunning. After watching them for a prolonged period, the birds moved away from the feeders and we followed suit, heading first south and then north into the Blue Grass Valley outside Monterey in search of other targets.
With diligent scanning along our route we eventually found a single dark morph Rough-legged Hawk, which provided long-range telescopic views. We missed two light morph birds that others had reported from the same general area. Just as we were debating whether to attempt travel on a treacherous looking icy road, a juvenile Golden Eagle soared low overhead, providing prolonged knockout views. The eagle was engaged in an aerial dogfight with two Red-tailed Hawks. The size differential between these two species was striking as was the acrobatic agility of the Golden Eagle, which frequently parried attacks by performing half- or full-roll maneuvers.
With lasting images of the dogfight in our minds, we began the trip home, proceeding south to Lake Moomaw in Bath County. We picked up several good birds near and on the lake (e.g., Common Merganser) and stumbled across our final target bird of the trip. For two days we had carefully searched through every promising patch of brush that might harbor an American Tree Sparrow. At our last stop, the bright eyed among us found this bird consorting with a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos. All of us had satisfying looks.
Upon arriving home, the group voted on “Bird of the Trip.” This honor went to the Evening Grosbeak, with the Barn Owl a close second. Golden Eagle received honorable mention. We had a great time and saw a total of 75 species with an additional four being tallied in the Greensboro area as we began our trek north.

POTLUCK #2
By Elizabeth Link
The pot-luck field trip on Saturday, April 12, took 11 bird club members from the Lake Brandt Marina to the Nat Green Trail, then to Peck Elementary School and back to the Bog Garden. The weather was cool and threatened to rain until just after the trip broke up, when it actually did rain. Most of the ducks, cormorants, swallows, and gulls that have been on the lakes lately had taken off in the last week – the Ring-billed Gull noted in the trip list was a single individual. We did have some bright spots, in a pair of Prothonotary Warblers singing dueling songs on the edge of Lake Brandt, along with a single hummingbird, and great looks at the Yellow-Crowned Night-Herons on their nests. A total of 47 species was seen. Other birds of interest included Lesser Scaup, Red-shouldered and Red–tailed Hawks, Chimney Swifts, Purple Martins, Tree Swallows, Blue-grey Gnatcatchers and Cedar Waxwings.

GREENSBORO Lakes
By Elizabeth Link
On Saturday, February 9, a combined group of Piedmont Bird Club members and members of the T. Gilbert Pearson chapter of the National Audubon Society looked for birds on the Greensboro lakes. A total of 11 species of waterfowl were seen, including at least a dozen Northern Pintails. We also found a few American Pipits and Least Sandpipers on the Lake Townsend mudflats west of Church St. A Northern Harrier cruising the wetlands near Plainfield Road was a surprising highlight of the trip. A Red-breasted Nuthatch was another good find, seen well in the pines along the Peninsular Trail. One of the pair of Bald Eagles was located in the vicinity of the nest, but not on it. Apparently, according to Lynn Moseley, this season's first eggs failed for some reason. Let's hope the eagles will produce a second clutch. Great Blue Herons were around in numbers, and one bird in the rookery appeared to be on a nest incubating eggs. Altogether 57 species were seen. Other “Really Good Birds” included Wood Duck, Gadwall, Hooded Merganser, Belted Kingfisher, Red-headed and Pileated Woodpeckers, Winter Wren, Golden- and Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, and Eastern Meadowlark

A & T Farm Field Trip
February 23, 2008                                                By Emily Tyler
     Fifteen birders participated in the annual trek to the A & T Farm. The weather, cool and sunny, was accommodating as were the birds. The Wilson’s Snipe around the farm pond did not disappoint; in fact they provided better views than usual coming out from the grassy edges in full view. We were treated to five snipe at this location and another five around the ponds at the Hog Farm.
     One of the most interesting sightings, thanks to Julien McCarthy, was a Brown-headed Nuthatch excavating its nest hole in a dead pine tree. The bird disappeared into the neatly prepared hole repeatedly and reappeared seconds later with a bill full of sawdust. (Pictures of the Brown-headed Nuthatch)
     Those with the keenest ears heard American Pipits overhead, though we did not find them in the usual spot in the farm fields where we could get the scopes on them.
     The ponds provided several nice ducks including Northern Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, and Bufflehead. We saw or heard four species of woodpecker, Red-bellied, Downy, Northern Flicker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Sparrow species included White-throated, Savannah, and Song. A distant Meadowlark perched on a fence post and sang with gusto. Raptors numbered four, both vultures and Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks. Altogether we logged forty species during the three-hour outing, which is on par with most of our winter trips to the Farm.

EASTER 2008 TRIP TO THE SAVANNAH AREA
By Louise Brown, Carolyn Allen and Emily Tyler

     Emily Tyler and Don and Carolyn Allen did a marvelous job of organizing our trip to the Savannah River area over the long Easter weekend. During the two-and-a-half days our group of seven logged 92 species, which was pretty good considering it was the third week in March and earlier than most of our Easter trips.
Saturday morning was a bit chilly and windy, but the wading birds and ducks didn’t seem to mind. The Savannah River NWR always provides a wide variety of bird life. The large collection of Glossy Ibis, along with their white cousins, kept our attention for some time. As always, sparrows were hard to see, but Song, Savannah and Swamp were identified. The sky was thick with thousands of Tree Swallows.
     The waters were populated with Coots, Moorhens, Ring-necked Ducks, Black Ducks, and Blue-winged Teal. We were delighted by a variety of wading birds; Tricolored Herons, an immature Little Blue Heron, Great Blue Herons, Great, Snowy and Cattle Egret, as well as a Black-necked Stilt flying over. An American Bittern standing motionless in the reeds was picked up by Don Allen’s sharp eyes.
     We had lunch about half way around the Refuge’s “Four-Mile Loop.” Silver Bell trees were in bloom; an array of yellow flowers, mustard and primrose among them, challenged our botanists. Yellow jasmine and cross vine added color in shrubs and overhead.
     On Saturday afternoon we moved to Tybee Island, a new location for a PBC trip. This was our only ocean beach birding opportunity. North Beach on its jetty provided Ruddy Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers, along with Greater Black-backed, Herring and Laughing Gulls, two Royal Terns, Sanderlings, and Willets. Northern Gannets were making their famous dives just offshore.
     On Sunday, at Harris Neck NWR, more than a 100 nests in the rookery were occupied by Wood Storks and Egrets. Nesting Anhingas (the males sporting their breeding turquoise eye- shadow) and both Black- and Yellow-crowned Night Herons were spotted nearby. Ann Walter-Fromson discovered a Merlin, and Tara O’Leary found the first of two Blue-gray Gnatcatcher nests. Other birds of interest before moving south to Altamaha WMA in the afternoon were Wood Ducks, Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireos, Red Breasted Mergansers, Chipping and Field Spar-rows and several warblers and wood-peckers.
     On Monday we visited the Webb Wildlife Center on the Savannah River. The weather was a bit too cold and we were too early in the season to enjoy the “star resident birds” of this area: Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and Bachman’s Sparrows. However, other migrants and residents gave us plenty to look at and we added several new species to the trip list. There we saw Pied-bill Grebes and heard the fantastic call of this bird with a volume way beyond its modest size!

This website is designed and maintained by Louise Brown

Calendar

Membership Application Form

Help for injured Wildlife