Date: 6/18/19 10:27 am From: cindy daudelin (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Northern Gannet- East Bend, NC 6/17/19
Hi, fyi I am a wildlife rehabber who took call this morning from the finder of this bird. This adult bird was found by side of road in Yadkin Cty last night. Bird appeared alert in photos provided to me and finder said bird was quite feisty. Bird was transported to NC Zoo today for examination and rehabilitation. - Cindy Pirson
On Tuesday, June 18, 2019, 12:32:30 PM EDT, Nathan Gatto <carolinabirds...> wrote:
Carolina Birds,A Northern Gannet was photographed yesterday in East Bend, NC. The bird was not present this morning. This Northern Gannet is a county record for Forsyth County! The bird was photographed by the property owner. I posted the photo on the Carolina Rare Birds Facebook page and Carolina Bird Club Website.
--
Nathan Gatto Lewisville, NC
Date: 6/18/19 9:32 am From: Nathan Gatto (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Northern Gannet- East Bend, NC 6/17/19
Carolina Birds, A Northern Gannet was photographed yesterday in East Bend, NC. The bird was not present this morning. This Northern Gannet is a county record for Forsyth County! The bird was photographed by the property owner. I posted the photo on the Carolina Rare Birds Facebook page and Carolina Bird Club Website.
Date: 6/18/19 6:56 am From: Jeremy Hyman <jhyman...> Subject: Common merganser, Tuckaseegee River, Jackson County, NC
Yesterday, June 17th, I spotted a female Common merganser sitting on a rock on the Tuckaseegee River, just downstream from NC 107, in Jackson County, NC. I posted a poor quality photo on ebird. Last Saturday, I think I spotted some juveniles further down the river closer to Dillsboro, but by the time I turned around, a boat of fishermen had drifted past the rock where they were sitting.
-JDH
Jeremy Hyman Professor and Assistant Department Chair Department of Biology Western Carolina University Office: NS 115 828 227 3657
Date: 6/18/19 6:03 am From: John Fussell <jofuss...> Subject: Black-whiskered Vireo at Morehead City
The Black-whiskered Vireo is still singing persistently this morning. It is in the same area on Sugarloaf Island, next to the trail that leads from the dock, within 100 meters of the dock.
I also heard a Painted Bunting.
A bonus was a small population of Dune Blue Curls (Trichostema sp).
Date: 6/17/19 4:50 pm From: Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Tropical/Cassin’s Kingbird Ft. Moultrie, Sullivan’s Island, SC
Craig posted 4 photos of the kingbird -- listed there as "Tropical/Couch's
Kingbird" -- on Carolina Rare Birds on the Facebook website (yesterday).
Both Josh Southern and I agree that this is a Tropical Kingbird, owing to
the quite long bill. Of course, we are only on the NC Bird Records
Committee, so the SC BRC needs to review the photos and any descriptions
and make an official determination.
On Sun, Jun 16, 2019 at 8:13 PM Craig Watson <carolinabirds...> wrote:
> I should say Couch’s Kingbird for possibility along with Tropical.
>
> On Sun, Jun 16, 2019 at 8:04 PM Craig Watson <jcraigw1...> wrote:
>
>> While birding and trying to relocate the Gray Kingbird at Ft. Moultrie,
>> Pam Ford located a kingbird we believe to be a Tropical Kingbird or
>> Cassin’s. We have excellent photos, the bird flew a short distance behind
>> the flagpole and a bunch of us are trying to relocate it now. We will post
>> photos on the eBird checklist. We did not hear it vocalize.
>>
>> Craig Watson
>> Mount Pleasant , SC
>>
>
Date: 6/17/19 7:54 am From: Paul Serridge (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Loggerhead Shrike at Gunter Rd, Greenville County, SC
Still no Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at Gunter Rd sp far this year but a Loggerhead Shrike made it worth the trip this morning. It was perched on a utility wire along the road near the farm gate. I saw it fly up to snag a passing insect of some sort and then return to its perch. A couple of minutes later it flew across the road and disappeared among the recently planted trees. I could not find a single Grasshopper Sparrow this morning - they are usually around through August.
Date: 6/17/19 6:57 am From: John Fussell <jofuss...> Subject: Black-whiskered Vireo at Morehead City
This morning about 0630 I heard what I was fairly certain was a Black-whiskered Vireo while I was paddling around Sugarloaf Island.
Steve Howell and I went back out there and found the bird and got good looks at it. It is a Black-whiskered Vireo. It is singing almost constantly. (With the SW wind, some persons might be able to hear it from the Morehead waterfront.)
The bird is near the island dock (which is on the Morehead side of the island).
(This is the first year in several years that I haven't heard a Painted Bunting on the island.)
Date: 6/17/19 6:51 am From: Pamela Ford (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: NO Tropical/Couch’s Kingbird Ft. Moultrie, Sullivan’s Island, SC
> On Jun 17, 2019, at 9:28 AM, Craig Watson (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
> I searched for the Tropical/Couch’s Kingbird observed last evening for over 2 hrs this morning just after daylight without any luck. I and others will keep searching.
>
> Craig Watson
> Mount Pleasant, SC
Date: 6/17/19 6:29 am From: Craig Watson (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: NO Tropical/Couch’s Kingbird Ft. Moultrie, Sullivan’s Island, SC
I searched for the Tropical/Couch’s Kingbird observed last evening for over
2 hrs this morning just after daylight without any luck. I and others will
keep searching.
I should say Couch’s Kingbird for possibility along with Tropical.
On Sun, Jun 16, 2019 at 8:04 PM Craig Watson <jcraigw1...> wrote:
> While birding and trying to relocate the Gray Kingbird at Ft. Moultrie,
> Pam Ford located a kingbird we believe to be a Tropical Kingbird or
> Cassin’s. We have excellent photos, the bird flew a short distance behind
> the flagpole and a bunch of us are trying to relocate it now. We will post
> photos on the eBird checklist. We did not hear it vocalize.
>
> Craig Watson
> Mount Pleasant , SC
>
Date: 6/16/19 5:05 pm From: Craig Watson (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Tropical/Cassin’s Kingbird Ft. Moultrie, Sullivan’s Island, SC
While birding and trying to relocate the Gray Kingbird at Ft. Moultrie, Pam
Ford located a kingbird we believe to be a Tropical Kingbird or Cassin’s.
We have excellent photos, the bird flew a short distance behind the
flagpole and a bunch of us are trying to relocate it now. We will post
photos on the eBird checklist. We did not hear it vocalize.
About 4:15 this afternoon my partner, Carol Cole saw a Turkey Vulture fly over our yard in Plantation Landing (Porters Neck area of Wilmington) that had white patches on both its wings. She drew a sketch which showed rectangular patches in the area where patagial tags would go. she was not able to see any numbers or symbols. Does anyone know of a study involving white patagial tags on Turkey Vultures?
Date: 6/16/19 7:59 am From: Fred Vir (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: An uncommon but not rare song of Northern Parula sounds only a bit like a Cerulean Warbler when listened to carefully
Date: 6/15/19 3:41 pm From: Sam Cooper <dmcooper2...> Subject: Cerulean-like song of Northern Parula
I don't think it is uncommon for Northern Parula to sing a Cerulean-like song and there are plenty of online and app recordings of a "dawn" or "type b" Northern Parula song that can at times (..to my ears) sound just like a Cerulean. I have been fooled several times by Northern Parulas when I was sure I was onto a Cerulean in the mountains (Trout Lake and Lewis Fork overlook) and it is not uncommon to hear in coastal plain bottomlands.
Sam Cooper Wilmington, NC
Subject: N.Parula singing Cerulean Warbler song Date: Sat Jun 15 2019 11:44 am From: carolinabirds AT duke.edu
After seeing an eBird report yesterday of a Cerulean Warbler (recorded song only, not apparently seen) at the Swepsonville River Park., Bruce Young and I decided to try to relocate the bird this morning. I arrived just before 8 a.m. to find Bruce trying to see a singing bird in the trees bordering the little parking lot. At exiting my car, I immediately recognized the song as that of a Cerulean Warbler. We tried to see the singer for several minutes after which a small warbler-sized bird flew from the trees and crossed the road, landing in a row of trees further from the road than the pines immediately bordering the other side of the road. We heard the Cerulean song again from that area and Bruce glimpsed a N. Parula in the general area from which the song seemed to originate. Before I could see the bird, it dropped down and then flew closer to the road (and us). It continued to sing a Cerulean Warbler song, but we again couldn't see the bird. Being suspicious about the singer' s identity,I decided to do a playback of a Cerulean song. Very quickly a small bird flew across the road and landed in the open on the lowermost branch of a tree, directly above us. It was a Parula and we watched it as it sang a Cerulean Warbler song several times. We only saw it from below but I saw nothing in the plumage that might indicate a hybrid.
I've had this experience a couple of times before. Doug Shadwick and I chased down what we thought was a Black-throated Green Warbler in the Green Swamp area, only to discover the singer was a Prothonatary Warbler. And, when I lived in Connecticut, I found, two years in a row , a Blackburnian Warbler singing a Worm-eating Warbler song.
All- While running my Dudley BBS route (runs due west from 117 near Dudley, south of Goldsboro, NC) this morning, I found a singing male dickcissel singing from a powerline over a cornfield about 8 miles in to my run. This would put it about a mile east of the intersection of Dudley (O'Berry) Rd and Corbett Mill Road. It was conveniently sitting about 20 feet from an Eastern meadowlark sitting on the same powerline. The cornfield is on the south side of the road in a bend, with a couple well maintained rural residences across the road.
Beyond this remarkable bird, I had a number of other write-ins for this route: two barred owls, a belted kingfisher, a black vulture, Louisiana waterthrush, N. parula, and two pine warblers. Also had one Mississippi kite and only three bobwhites (on two successive stops). The pine warblers were in a large block of regrowth pine that finally got mature enough, I suppose; these weren't the first ever, but I've never understood the paucity of this species on this route in the 20 or so years I've been running it.
On 6/15/2019 3:26 PM, jcox3222 (via carolinabirds Mailing List) wrote: > Sounds like a chat to me. > John Cox > Mount Pleasant SC > > Sent from XFINITY Connect Mobile App
Date: 6/15/19 9:43 am From: Robert Rybczynski (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: N.Parula singing Cerulean Warbler song
After seeing an eBird report yesterday of a Cerulean Warbler (recorded song only, not apparently seen) at the Swepsonville River Park., Bruce Young and I decided to try to relocate the bird this morning. I arrived just before 8 a.m. to find Bruce trying to see a singing bird in the trees bordering the little parking lot. At exiting my car, I immediately recognized the song as that of a Cerulean Warbler. We tried to see the singer for several minutes after which a small warbler-sized bird flew from the trees and crossed the road, landing in a “row” of trees further from the road than the pines immediately bordering the other side of the road. We heard the Cerulean song again from that area and Bruce glimpsed a N. Parula in the general area from which the song seemed to originate. Before I could see the bird, it dropped down and then flew closer to the road (and us). It continued to sing a Cerulean Warbler song, but we again couldn’t see the bird. Being suspicious about the singer’s identity,I decided to do a playback of a Cerulean song. Very quickly a small bird flew across the road and landed in the open on the lowermost branch of a tree, directly above us. It was a Parula and we watched it as it sang a Cerulean Warbler song several times. We only saw it from below but I saw nothing in the plumage that might indicate a hybrid.
I’ve had this experience a couple of times before. Doug Shadwick and I chased down what we thought was a Black-throated Green Warbler in the Green Swamp area, only to discover the singer was a Prothonatary Warbler. And, when I lived in Connecticut, I found, two years in a row , a Blackburnian Warbler singing a Worm-eating Warbler song.
Birding - always a chance for a surprise!
Date: 6/14/19 3:43 pm From: Christopher Hill (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Kites
10 kites (3 Mississipi, 7 Swallow-tailed) in a big soybean field south of Conway on highway 701 today. Some time early in my two decades here someone told me that was a great place to see kites, so for 20 years I’ve looked above that field when I drive by. I think this was maybe the first time I’ve ever seen a flock :-). Patience for the win?
Date: 6/14/19 2:14 pm From: Christopher Hill (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: mystery sound
I’m not sure if the replies I’m seeing are going to the list, too, but in case they didn’t and you’re interested, the suggestions are:
Northern Cardinal (5)
Yellow-breasted Chat (4)
and one lovely person commented on how it has qualities of Canyon Wren. Definitely my favorite suggestion!
As I told Kent, if it’s a cardinal I’ll eat my hat, but I’m looking around for an edible hat just in case.
Thanks for the suggestions and comments. There were, of course, subtleties and anecdotes I passed over in my “vote summary." Thanks for those, too.
I don’t get stumped that often on bird songs but this one, from an overgrown clearcut, did not stimulate my synapses along any well worn path. It was in an overgrown clearcut in coastal SC this morning - other birds in the area included common yellowthroat, indigo bunting, a towhee, perhaps a chat. The call was a slow descending series of about 8 whistles, repeated without any variation for about 5 minutes, so maybe 100 iterations of the song. I could not see the singer. You can hear it here (or here it hear?):
Appreciate any thoughts anyone has. I guess Chat is the species that is most likely to make weird slow whistled noises, but the same thing over and over again like this?
Date: 6/14/19 12:17 pm From: Christopher Hill (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: mystery sound
I don’t get stumped that often on bird songs but this one, from an overgrown clearcut, did not stimulate my synapses along any well worn path. It was in an overgrown clearcut in coastal SC this morning - other birds in the area included common yellowthroat, indigo bunting, a towhee, perhaps a chat. The call was a slow descending series of about 8 whistles, repeated without any variation for about 5 minutes, so maybe 100 iterations of the song. I could not see the singer. You can hear it here (or here it hear?):
Appreciate any thoughts anyone has. I guess Chat is the species that is most likely to make weird slow whistled noises, but the same thing over and over again like this?
Date: 6/13/19 6:34 pm From: <hilton...> <hilton...> Subject: Hilton Pond 04/29/19 (Birds & Nature in West Virginia)
Each spring I depart the Carolina Piedmont and Hilton Pond Center for a stay in one of my favorite OTHER places: The lush green mountains of Wild, Wonderful West Virginia. There, at the highly acclaimed New River Birding and Nature Festival, I get to band birds and help guide folks with a mutual appreciation for natural wonders of the Southern Appalachians. Things we saw and experienced this year are included in my latest “This Week at Hilton Pond” for 29 Apr-4 May 2019. Of particular interest was a bird in a special shade of blue—a rare and elusive species I captured and banded for the first time ever.
This installment has lots of images of habitats, bird life, wildflowers, small mammals, and other flora and fauna—many of which occur at some time of the year in the Carolinas. There’s also a word about the late Bill Thompson III (former editor of Bird Watcher’s Digest and a regular lecturer and guide at the Festival).
DR. BILL HILTON JR., Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA
office & cell (803) 684-5852
The mission of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is "to conserve plants, animals, habitats, and other natural components of the Piedmont Region of the eastern United States through observation, scientific study, and education for students of all ages.
"Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise or too busy to watch the sunset." BHjr.
Date: 6/13/19 2:33 pm From: Cynthia Fox (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Nesting material surprise
Every spring I load up a suet feeder with alpaca wool (purchased @ bird store) and hang it up off my deck. It stays there through rain etc until August or Sept when everything, including the wool, is dry. Repeat next spring. I have seen titmice and chickadees loading up their bills. Todays surprise has been a Northern Parula grabbing beak fulls. Maybe she has been on it in years past and I just didn’t see her. Regardless, very nice to have one so close.
Cynthia Fox
Orange County NC
This morning I relocated the Dickcissels and the Male Bobolink. He is very easy to see once you hear him singing. Please do not use playback, I took me two hours but I got hear early.
I only reported 3 Dickcissels because I saw 2 males at one time singing and a female and observed breeding. However I think there may be at least 5 birds here.
See note on report on where to look for them.
Good luck if you chase after them.
Good Birding Always
Baldwin Rd. (Guilford Co.)
Jun 13, 2019
7:10 AM
Traveling
1.00 miles
120 Minutes
All birds reported? Yes
Comments: By car and walking around
NOTE the spot to find the Dickcissels and Bobolink is where there is a dip in the road and coming from Sockwell on your left is a single small tree or bush with Orange plastic tape on bottom limbs. This is where you need to stop and look. I saw both species in this tree this morning.
Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.9.0 Build 9
5 Mourning Dove
1 Chimney Swift
1 Black Vulture
1 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee
15 American Crow
1 Common Raven -- Heard calling.
10 Northern Rough-winged Swallow
15 Barn Swallow
1 Tufted Titmouse
1 Carolina Wren
1 Eastern Bluebird
4 Northern Mockingbird
20 European Starling
1 Grasshopper Sparrow
1 Field Sparrow
1 Bobolink -- Continuing male singing. I first saw him in the same bush that I saw the Dickcissel in on 11 June 2019 and got pictures. He flew off into the field on east side of Baldwin Rd about .3 mile from the turnoff of Sockwell Rd. Drive down to dip on the road a line of trees runs perpendicular to the road and a piece of farm equipment in field with a large roll of hose.
3 Eastern Meadowlark
1 Common Grackle
4 Northern Cardinal
2 Blue Grosbeak
4 Indigo Bunting
3 Dickcissel -- Continuing bird this time sing at top of Cedar across the road where I saw one on 11 June 2019. Male 2 Female 1
Number of Taxa: 23
From my iPhone
May God Bless and Keep You
Jeff Blalock
103 Elizabeth Court
South Boston VA 24592
434-470-4352 Cell
<jcbabirder...>
Date: 6/13/19 4:37 am From: Jeffrey Blalock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Confirmed Breeding of Dickcissels
Greetings
This morning I returned to Baldwin Rd for the Bobolink that I missed the other day. I was at the other end of the road when it was found. So this morning I returned to give it a go
In so doing I found 2 Dickcissels and saw copulation to confirm breeding.
From my iPhone
May God Bless and Keep You
Jeff Blalock
103 Elizabeth Court
South Boston VA 24592
434-470-4352 Cell
<jcbabirder...>
Date: 6/12/19 1:43 pm From: Marilyn Westphal <mjwestph...> Subject: Black Mountains/Mt Mitchell Spring Bird Count Results
The Black Mountains spring count covers the Blue Ridge Parkway from NC 80
to Walker Knob overlook (BRP mile 360) as well as Mount Mitchell State Park
and the forested area between the park and NC 80 down to the Black
Mountains campground. Most of the area is heavily forested and high
elevation, so the great majority of birds found are typical Canadian Zone
species with some exceptions especially for those found in the campground
area. There are no populated areas included in the count. It is entirely
National Forest and State Park. This count is always held the fourth
weekend in May which is generally the time that leaves finally appear on
the deciduous trees and all the breeding birds have returned. Summary
follows:
Weather was mostly favorable this year, so all teams were able to complete
their sections with relative ease. However, two areas usually covered,
Forest Roads 472 and 2074, were closed and were only partially covered.
Total species (62) was one above average and total birds (1785) was only
slightly higher than the average 1734, but lower than the previous three
years, possibly because the forest roads weren’t covered.
There were a couple of surprises on the count including a
Swainson’s Warbler, both heard and seen, in the Toe River watershed, a
first for Yancey County during the breeding season. Although this species
is fairly common on the other side of the high ridge in the Catawba River
watershed, it has never been found breeding on the other side of the divide
in this area, so if it does decide to breed in this area it would be a
range extension. Another surprise was a Swainson’s Thrush along the Bald
Knob Ridge trail. Swainson’s Thrushes had been found in the Black
Mountains during the breeding season for several years, but the population
dwindled and they had not been found the last couple of years. Perhaps
this was a late migrant, or possibly a remnant of the former population.
There were a couple of high count records for the count
including 101 Blackburnian Warblers (average is 62), and 78 Winter Wrens
(average is 56). A record low 135 Dark-eyed Juncos were counted (average
216). A record low number was also found on the Pisgah/Balsam Mountains
count along the parkway south of Asheville. The reason for the unusually
low numbers of Juncos this year in the southern mountains is unknown. Most
abundant species found on the count were Black-throated Green Warbler
(187), Golden-crowned Kinglet (145), Dark-eyed Junco (135), Blue-headed
Vireo (131), Blackburnian Warbler (101), Canada Warbler (90), Winter Wren
(78), Black-throated Blue Warbler (76), Veery (71), and Red-breasted
Nuthatch (60).
Finally, just a few other observations, although one or two
Alder Flycatchers are usually found in this area, there were four this year
all in different locations. Also, although Pine Siskins and Red Crossbills
were notably absent from the Pisgah/Balsam Mountains count a week earlier,
they were present in good numbers on this count with 20 Pine Siskins and 27
Red Crossbills. Pine Siskins are fairly reliably present every year here,
but Red Crossbills are always unpredictable and this year they returned
shortly before the count period, which was much later than usual.
Yellow-rumped Warblers were also present once again this year as they have
been for the past several years during the breeding season. Lastly, note
that the total Ruffed Grouse number of 13 includes a family of newly
hatched chicks. The last week of May is a very typical time to find newly
hatched Ruffed Grouse chicks in the Black Mountains.
Thanks again to all the participants. This can be a
challenging area to cover because of the always unpredictable weather and
some steep and rocky trails, so their efforts are always greatly
appreciated.
Date: 6/12/19 8:22 am From: Marcia Mandel (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: possible avian pox at feeder in Durham
I saw a mourning dove at my feeder that I think may have avian pox virus, based on an Internet search. It has large, dark, round masses at the end of the beak - on top and bottom. Looking for suggestions for what I should do. Thanks. Marcia
Date: 6/12/19 8:22 am From: Stewart Gibeau <sgibeau...> Subject: Re: [External] Re: "Exploring the possibility" of an NC Breeding Bird Atlas
Owls are all over the state. Just pick a stretch of the Mountains to the Sea trail and start walking it after dark. Bring an led headlamp. I’ve seen and heard them from Mt Mitchell to the outer banks. Don’t limit yourself to State Parks. For goatsuckers camp a night at Hattaras Campground on Billy Mitchell Road in May or June. Both Whips & Chucks. I’ve also had nighthawks breading in Asheville. Look for buildings with flat roofs with gravel. Used to get them on top of the United Way building. I parked for work next door and would hear them at 6AM. Sadly they remodeled and changed the roof surface.
You might also try asking the staff if you can do a night bird survey of a state park and offer to give them your results. They might just say yes.
Stu Gibeau
Black Mountain NC
On Jun 12, 2019, at 10:34, Corey, Ed <ed.corey...> wrote:
Date: 6/12/19 7:35 am From: Corey, Ed <ed.corey...> Subject: RE: [External] Re: "Exploring the possibility" of an NC Breeding Bird Atlas
Jeff,
I'm sorry to hear that the Parks System has ticked you off. While we have expanded our hours of operation at many of our park units, particularly during the summer months, we are hampered by the overall number of staff required to operate the parks. Oftentimes, open positions leave rangers and maintenance mechanics working more than they should, to keep the parks going. Rest assured, though, this is something the Division is working on.
As far as trying to find owls and goatsuckers at various parks, one way to do this is to opt for overnight camping or cabin stays, where available. In those situations, you can hit the trails at your earliest convenience.
Also, while there may be some great birding records being overlooked, I'd argue that NC State Parks have generated many good birding records as well. And rest assured, NC State Parks will be involved in any future atlas efforts.
If any birders feel that they need 24 hour access to a protected site, I'd recommend certain game lands, or state or national forests. They are better set up to allow for such activities. Or, if you have a particular research idea, our Division has a Research Activity Permit process which may suit your needs.
Thanks, and as always, good birding.
Ed Corey
Inventory Biologist, NC Division of Parks and Recreation
NC Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources
919 841 4037 Office
919 208 7864 Mobile
<Ed.Corey...>
12700 Bayleaf Church Road | Raleigh, North Carolina 27614
Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
-----Original Message-----
From: <carolinabirds-request...> <carolinabirds-request...> On Behalf Of Jeffrey Blalock
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2019 5:05 PM
To: Harry LeGrand <hlegrandjr...>
Cc: Carolina Birds <carolinabirds...>
Subject: [External] Re: "Exploring the possibility" of an NC Breeding Bird Atlas
CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless you verify. Send all suspicious email as an attachment to <report.spam...><mailto:<report.spam...>
Harry
I really have enjoyed birding in NC in the past few months and have seen some great birds and been to many eBird Hotspots.
However there is one thing that really ticks me off and that is the NC State Park System.
I have been hampered many time in trying to find Owls and Goatsuckers and early morning song birds because the parks gates are locked up and they don’t open to 0800 hrs. By then most of the birds have slowed down their singing.
Also some of the State Parks are completely closed and don’t allow any access even by Foot in the winter.
Many of great bird records are being overlooked just because the Park service caters to every other outdoor activities except birding. It’s a down right shame.
If the NC birders plan on doing another atlas then the state parks need to be opened at an earlier time to allow birders access to the parks.
Good Birding Always
From my iPhone
May God Bless and Keep You
Jeff Blalock
103 Elizabeth Court
South Boston VA 24592
434-470-4352 Cell
<jcbabirder...>
> On Jun 11, 2019, at 11:57 AM, Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
> To address Dr. Enders' last point in his Fish Crow posting: "Sooner or later we may get the second NC atlas started, though, as I frequently think, progress is (often) made by the death of old people."
>
> Yes, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is "exploring the possibility" of starting a North Carolina Breeding Bird Atlas. Here is what I copied from a message sent by WRC's John Carpenter to a number people, mostly in various agencies and universities. There is an initial planning meeting to be held in July. But, as the message and the Proposed Timeline says "start date of 2021", it may well indeed begin after the "death of old people" like Frank and me!
>
> "The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is now exploring the possibility of conducting a breeding and wintering bird atlas with a tentative start date of 2021. A state-wide atlas would require volunteer surveys of over 800 survey grids, engaging approximately 1,400 citizen scientists over 6 years of survey effort. Successful atlases in other states cost upwards of $2 million and employ full-time staff whose duties are primarily to recruit, deliver, and implement the Atlas. An effort on this scale requires strong partnerships and involvement from a diverse group of stakeholders."
>
> Stay tuned, you "citizen scientists"!
>
> Harry LeGrand
> Raleigh
Today my goal was to try and get Dickcissels in both Guilford and Rockingham Counties.
Thanks to Marty and Matt I knew exactly where I needed to look for them
Baldwin Rd in Guilford County was my first stop and as I just received a text from Matt I realized I was exactly where I needed to be and I replied that I was in the spot and then I heard a Dickcissel singing and after I little searching I found him in the tree behind me and I was able to get some pictures.
Now onto Rockingham County using the GPS location that Marty had reported them at on Benaja Rd. I thought I heard one singing but it was a good way from the road near the pond and there was a good breeze blowing. I stayed for 2 hrs and no luck.
I drove down Beville Rd and soon returned back to Benaja hoping to hear one since the breeze had lighten up some but still no luck
While looking for the Dickcissels I had a nice showing of Raptors, first two RT Hawks, a RS Hawk and a Cooper’s Hawk and later an adult Bald Eagle.
I ended up adding 2 species for each county for the day Guilford the Dickcissel and a BG Gnatcatcher.
For Rockingham, I added a Grasshopper Sparrow and RW Blackbird
It was a really nice day to be out
Good Birding Always
jeffblalock
eBird Checklist Summary for: Jun 11, 2019
Number of Checklists: 7
Number of Taxa: 44
Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Lake Cammack Park and Marina
Date: Jun 11, 2019 at 7:25 AM
(2): Baldwin Rd. (Guilford Co.)
Date: Jun 11, 2019 at 7:40 AM
(3): 1410–1604 Benaja Rd, Reidsville US-NC (36.2543,-79.7031)
Date: Jun 11, 2019 at 9:10 AM
(4): 160 Beville Rd, Reidsville US-NC (36.2539,-79.7087)
Date: Jun 11, 2019 at 11:10 AM
(5): 1410–1604 Benaja Rd, Reidsville US-NC (36.2543,-79.7031)
Date: Jun 11, 2019 at 11:50 AM
(6): Lake Reidsville
Date: Jun 11, 2019 at 12:30 PM
(7): Service Rd, Ruffin US-NC (36.4647,-79.5319)
Date: Jun 11, 2019 at 1:15 PM
Date: 6/11/19 2:05 pm From: Jeffrey Blalock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: "Exploring the possibility" of an NC Breeding Bird Atlas
Harry
I really have enjoyed birding in NC in the past few months and have seen some great birds and been to many eBird Hotspots.
However there is one thing that really ticks me off and that is the NC State Park System.
I have been hampered many time in trying to find Owls and Goatsuckers and early morning song birds because the parks gates are locked up and they don’t open to 0800 hrs. By then most of the birds have slowed down their singing.
Also some of the State Parks are completely closed and don’t allow any access even by Foot in the winter.
Many of great bird records are being overlooked just because the Park service caters to every other outdoor activities except birding. It’s a down right shame.
If the NC birders plan on doing another atlas then the state parks need to be opened at an earlier time to allow birders access to the parks.
Good Birding Always
From my iPhone
May God Bless and Keep You
Jeff Blalock
103 Elizabeth Court
South Boston VA 24592
434-470-4352 Cell
<jcbabirder...>
> On Jun 11, 2019, at 11:57 AM, Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
> To address Dr. Enders' last point in his Fish Crow posting: "Sooner or later we may get the second NC atlas started, though, as I frequently think, progress is (often) made by the death of old people."
>
> Yes, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is "exploring the possibility" of starting a North Carolina Breeding Bird Atlas. Here is what I copied from a message sent by WRC's John Carpenter to a number people, mostly in various agencies and universities. There is an initial planning meeting to be held in July. But, as the message and the Proposed Timeline says "start date of 2021", it may well indeed begin after the "death of old people" like Frank and me!
>
> "The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is now exploring the possibility of conducting a breeding and wintering bird atlas with a tentative start date of 2021. A state-wide atlas would require volunteer surveys of over 800 survey grids, engaging approximately 1,400 citizen scientists over 6 years of survey effort. Successful atlases in other states cost upwards of $2 million and employ full-time staff whose duties are primarily to recruit, deliver, and implement the Atlas. An effort on this scale requires strong partnerships and involvement from a diverse group of stakeholders."
>
> Stay tuned, you "citizen scientists"!
>
> Harry LeGrand
> Raleigh
Date: 6/11/19 9:01 am From: Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: "Exploring the possibility" of an NC Breeding Bird Atlas
To address Dr. Enders' last point in his Fish Crow posting: "Sooner or
later we may get the second NC atlas started, though, as I frequently
think, progress is (often) made by the death of old people."
*Yes, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is "exploring the possibility"
of starting a North Carolina Breeding Bird Atlas. *Here is what I copied
from a message sent by WRC's John Carpenter to a number people, mostly in
various agencies and universities. There is an initial planning meeting to
be held in July. But, as the message and the Proposed Timeline says "start
date of 2021", it may well indeed begin after the "death of old people"
like Frank and me!
"The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is now exploring the
possibility of conducting a breeding and wintering bird atlas with
a tentative start date of 2021. A state-wide atlas would require volunteer
surveys of over 800 survey grids, engaging approximately 1,400 citizen
scientists over 6 years of survey effort. Successful atlases in other
states cost upwards of $2 million and employ full-time staff whose
duties are primarily to recruit, deliver, and implement the Atlas. An
effort on this scale requires strong partnerships and involvement from a
diverse group of stakeholders."
Date: 6/11/19 2:56 am From: Frank Enders (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: RFI FIsh Crow roost Fayetteville
Cross Creek mall .June 11 starting at 7PM and flying east 8PM across All-American Freeway, at least 300 Fish Crows. Staging around old Sears building (30 lined up on roof edge), heading over JC Penney store, just a handful at a time (while storm coming in). Probably hundreds (?) more comng in from other direction. Roost must be in stand of taller trees on east side of freeway.
I really despise "shopping", and being forced to drive there. But, sometimes one finds unexpected birding delights. Motivates me to make time to get out and search for the winter Common Crow roost to the west of where I live. The crow roosts in Norfolk VA and along I64 east of there are even more impressive. People in Fayetteville area probably know of this FIsh Crow roost, but I have always been more impressed by numbers of birds than by twitching a list. Around 1969 I was gratified that my mother similarly appreciated the blackbird roost in Garner, though I never got to show her birds I netted or more "beautiful" species.
[By the way, I myself can hardly control all the "improvements" to my email accounts made by the tech giants. We all do shoot ourselves in the foot, from time to time. Also, the Birds of NC accounts by Dr. Legrand are quite important (even though I have complained that it lacks the detailed numbers that the VSO "books" and nationwide Breeding Bird Atlases provide, since his work is a one-man-show). It is hard to herd us cats who watch birds (in different ways). The so-called community of birders has not rallied to the flag (Birds of NC) which Legrand raised. There is a real need for leaders to subtly get people together to work on things. Sooner or later we may get the second NC atlas started, though, as I frequently think, progress is (often) made by the death of old people. Or, to be more positive my son/daughter "it's all left up to you!"]
The LIMPKIN is still present at the Neck Road boat access on Mountain Island Lake, as of around 6 pm this evening. Water levels are very high (reaching second-highest ever recorded). It was working along the shoreline between the boat ramp and fishing area, though the fishing "beach" is under water. Kevin MetcalfHuntersville, NC
Date: 6/10/19 6:16 pm From: <sshultz...> Subject: Kites 'n Plovers
Took an opportunity to visit NCs southeast corner this past weekend. While
the weather prognosticators suggested that would be a bad idea, the weather
prognosticators are not always (or even often) right. It was actually quite
nice! And the forecast kept the crowds away!
Anyway, started by searching for kites along the lower Cape Fear River.
Found 4 Swallow-tailed Kites (being harassed by a crow) at the intersection
of NC87 and Baltimore Rd (3426'51.2"N 7823'50.9"W). Various Mississippi
Kites and more-than-strictly-necessary numbers of Anhinga in the general
area. This was about 11 a.m., which I find to be a reasonably good time of
day to look for such things.
Needed a year bird Clapper Rail, so stopped at the end of the road at Ft.
Fisher. Within a reasonable period of time one popped up and flopped
through the air for 5 yards. And these things migrate?! Also had a few
Gull-billed Terns among the more common. Lots of ternish activity to the
south east in a (newer?) spoil island in the Cape Fear. Probably decent
looks from the ferry.
Struck out on Painted Bunting at Carolina Beach State Park, but on the road
near the aquarium, found one standing in the middle of the road. Not where
I normally look for them.
The Shell Island end of Wrightsville Beach provided great looks at both
flavors of Wilsons Plover. Least Tern chicks are mobile, and strangely
rodent-like as the skitter amongst the dunes. They look to have had a
productive year. Not many lingering shorebirds, as one would expect, but a
few Semipalmated Plovers either missed their Greyhound to the Arctic, or
simply decided to stay for the golf.
Not a bad weekend, and no waiting in line at the restaurants!
I spent about two hours in the general location where the Gray Kingbird was observed yesterday with no luck. Another birder was around the same area looking as well without any luck. I'll keep checking the area, and no frigatebirds were seen in the harbor or from Breach Inlet south to Ft. Moultrie.
Craig Watson Mount Pleasant, SC
On Sun, Jun 9, 2019 at 6:14 PM jcox3222 <carolinabirds...> wrote:
> Looked for the gray kingbird reported by Craig Watson and Pam Ford earlier > today at Fort Moultrie between 1730 and 1800 today. Could not relocate the > bird however. > John Cox > Mount Pleasant > SC > > Sent from XFINITY Connect Mobile App >
--
*Of all the paths you take in life, make a few of them are dirt - John Muir*
Date: 6/10/19 10:50 am From: Marilyn Westphal <mjwestph...> Subject: Pisgah Ridge/Balsam Mountains 2019 Spring Count Results
This count is held the third weekend in May and covers the Blue Ridge
Parkway roughly from Mount Pisgah to the southern end of the parkway as
well as adjacent trails and Wilderness areas, thus most of the area is
higher elevation, mostly above 4500 feet, with some lower spots in a couple
of gaps. Summary follows:
We had some unusually fine weather throughout the count period, which made
for great fun birding in this beautiful area. Unlike last year’s cold and
wet spring, this spring returned to normal weather conditions and normal
migration arrival dates. This count has been conducted since 2006 and
since the date for the count is relatively late in May for most migrants
and the count period is always over the third weekend in May, the total
species show little variation from one year to the next and this year was
no different. Average total species is 80 and this year it was 81.
Average total individuals is 3078 and this year the total was 3035. The
number of participants (22) and party-hours (67.25) was also average.
Although the total number of species was average there are
always some surprises. This year there were a few late migrants seen
including Bay-breasted, Blackpoll and Palm Warblers as well as a Cerulean
Warbler, which may or may not have been a late migrant. Yellow-rumped
Warblers also continue to be present and singing along Black Balsam Road
for several years in a row now. Another big surprise was a Northern
Bobwhite in the Mount Pisgah area. Notable absences were Pine Siskin, which
have been scarce in the area this year, and Red Crossbill, which arrived
unusually late this year and after the count period.
There were also a few record high and record low counts for
some species. Anecdotal evidence from birders of large numbers of Canada
Warblers in the area this year proved to be true on the count with a total
of 177 compared to the average of 120. Black-throated Green and
Black-throated Blue Warbler as well as Common Yellowthroat numbers were
also at records of 204, 147 and 68. Other species with record highs
included Red-eyed Vireo (150) and Northern Parula (45) (one wonders if
these species may be expanding their ranges farther upslope), and Least
Flycatcher with a surprising 52 compared to the average 22.
Anecdotal evidence of abnormally low numbers of American Robins
in this area also proved to be the case with only 106 compared to the
average of 149. One of the most surprisingly absent birds was Ruffed
Grouse with only one found compared to the average six. Fewer chickadees
were also found with only a total of 30 compared to the average 59. It is
always difficult to label many of these chickadees as Black-capped,
Carolina or hybrid as many if not most sing the Black-capped song and often
look more like Black-capped than Carolina. The most surprising low numbers
were for Dark-eyed Junco with only 209 found compared to the average 325.
Once again the most abundant species found was Chestnut-sided
Warbler (329) followed by Dark-eyed Junco (209), Black-throated Green
Warbler (204), Eastern Towhee (181), Canada Warbler (177), Blue-headed
Vireo (170), Red-eyed Vireo (150), Black-throated Blue Warbler (147), Veery
(134), and Golden-crowned Kinglet (124).
Thanks again to all the participants who make this Important
Bird Area count possible. Thirty, forty, or fifty years from now,
considering our changing climate, these data could provide some important
comparisons.
Date: 6/10/19 6:34 am From: \Herbert, Teri Lynn\ (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Mississippi Kites, West Ashley, Charleston
A pair of Miss. Kites can be seen at the end of Campbell Dr., West Ashley. There might be two pairs – they seem to stay in different trees at the end of the street, just not all 4 seen at once (3 have been seen at once, but not 4). Nice!
Teri Lynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message was secured via TLS by MUSC.
Date: 6/10/19 1:17 am From: Jeffrey Blalock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: eBird Trip Summary - Rockingham Co NC
Greetings all
With up to 80 % chance of rain today, I figured that I had a 20% chance to be in the right place to miss the rain.
Starting at 0500 hrs I made my way down Town Creek Rd hoping to get Chuck or Whips but with it being cloudy I knew the chance was slim to none and I was right but I was blessed to hear a chorus of three Barred Owls calling back and forth to each other boy you just can’t start a day any better then that. Love to hear them, plus they were a new species for the county. One down and 6 to go to reach 100 species for Rockingham Co.
I soon reached Mayo River SP - Tyne Rd Track. Where I tried for the BB Cuckoo while dealing with a slight rain shower, nothing really major and I never had to retreat back to the car for shelter.
Later on I would be joined by Marty Wall, Matt, Linda and Paul but we only heard an occasional YB Cuckoo calling around Gibson Cemetery.
After about an hour and half we moved across to Tyne Rd and drove to the end of the road and birding as we went. The best bird was a Kentucky Warbler that we first heard and finally everyone got excellent looks at it.
When we made our way to the end of the road Marty and his group parked near the barrier while I drove past them and parked. It took me a little while to gather my stuff and joined the and Marty said we got the BH Vireo already. Boy that was fast. It only took a few for minutes and Marty called it out for me which I could hear singing.
While at the barrier we heard this odd sound. So we walked around the barrier and down the trail when we heard it three more times. We discussed what it might have been and I said a Fawn Deer. When Marty found a spot that he could walk down into the woods and almost stepping on a Fawn in the grass. How cool is that my second Fawn in just two weeks.
After leaving Mayo River SP my next stop was going to be Mebane Bridge Rd but as I neared Stoneville I saw Stoneville Municipal Park so I decided to give it a shot hoping to find a House Wren. To my surprise this is a great little park that wasn’t a Hotspot. It has a paved trail that loops around the outer edge of the park that is completely surrounded by hard woods and it has a stream running on one side. There is a baseball field in the middle and it has huge lights for night games which should be great to attract migrant Common Nighthawks.
Even though I didn’t get to stay long I found a pair of Gray Catbirds on the way out for a new county species.
On leaving the park there is a subdivision on the left so I decided to drive through it a try for a House Wren. No luck but the road goes to Randolph Rd and at the intersection of Randolph and Glenn I heard a House Wren.
My next stop was Mebane Bridge Rd. Where I hope to add an Osprey and perhaps a Prothonotary Warbler but no luck with either but I did get Purple Martins. Thought I saw two the other day but it was a quick look and was not able to relocate so I didn’t count them. Today I got a much better look as they flew right over my head.
All out in the golf course and along the fence of the water treatment plant I looked for Eastern Kingbirds but not a one.
Before heading home I decided to give the Osprey a final shot at Reidsville Lake but not a one was seen but there was a pair of Eastern Kingbirds #101 for the county.
Time to head home as I have already been up over 13 hrs and it was now 1600 hrs and I still had an hours drive home. But at least today it’s not in a pouring down rain storm.
I added 8 species to my county list and now have 11 counties in NC with over 100 species. I have one more county near 100 that I might try to get in June but after that I have to buckle down to study the birds of Panama as August will be here before you know it.
Good Birding Always
jeffblalock
eBird Checklist Summary for: Jun 9, 2019
Number of Checklists: 7
Number of Taxa: 61
Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Town Creek Rd, Eden US-NC (36.4801,-79.6947)
Date: Jun 9, 2019 at 5:00 AM
(2): Mayo River SP--Tyne Rd. Tract
Date: Jun 9, 2019 at 6:45 AM
(3): Mayo River SP--Tyne Rd. Tract
Date: Jun 9, 2019 at 9:50 AM
(4): Lake Reidsville Park
Date: Jun 9, 2019 at 3:25 PM
(5): Stoneville Memorial Park, Stoneville US-NC (36.4605,-79.9220)
Date: Jun 9, 2019 at 12:30 PM
(6): Glenn St & Randolph St, Stoneville US-NC (36.4616,-79.9098)
Date: Jun 9, 2019 at 1:05 PM
(7): Mebane Bridge Rd.
Date: Jun 9, 2019 at 1:25 PM
Looked for the gray kingbird reported by Craig Watson and Pam Ford earlier today at Fort Moultrie between 1730 and 1800 today. Could not relocate the bird however. John Cox Mount Pleasant SC
Date: 6/9/19 1:45 pm From: Sam Cooper <dmcooper2...> Subject: Tree Swallow nest - Beaufort County, NC
On 5 June 2019 I observed two adult tree swallows apparently trying to nest in a wood duck box on a piling over the open waters of South Creek south of the NC 33 bridge near Aurora. The nesting box is missing a top and open to the elements. One bird sat on a nearby piling and the other bird repeatedly entered the box using the hole on the side. I was able to view inside the box from a boat and saw a fresh layer of mostly straw/hay. It appeared the nest was still under construction as there were no feathers, eggs, or young. I did take a photo. The birds were present and continued to enter the cavity during a second visit to the site a few hours later in the day.
There is a Gray Kingbird at the 12th St beach access now, bird perched in tree on Ft Moultrie side in parking lot in dead tree at beach. I have cell phone photos, bird flew and trying to relocate now.
The Titmouse/Cardinal mystery bird has been identified as a young Northern Cardinal. I agree that this is the only thing making sense in this instance. Mae Howell
Powered by Cricket Wireless
------ Original message------
From: Harry LeGrand
Date: Sat, Jun 8, 2019 8:33 PM
To: Frank Enders;
Cc: <Carolinabirds...>;
Subject:Re: Bobwhite aggregated
WTF is going on here with c-birds reports? Let's see -- the last 4 items:
aggregated Bobwhite
Canada Geese in a corn field
Rough-winged Swallows at Charleston
Cardinal vs. Titmouse mystery bird
I can't wait to see what is going to be reported next.
Well -- at least with Dook and Big Maize both having games starting at 9 PM, there is something real to stay up for.
On Sat, Jun 8, 2019 at 8:23 PM Frank Enders <carolinabirds...><mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
The quail i earlier reported include at least three singing males. One day there were some strange, varied noises from what i imagine to be a pair of quail. Males singing until after sunset; the nearest singing male can sometimes be heard from my mailbox (hundreds of feet west of box). Usually no singing between 11 AM and 6 PM, more of less.
One day I drove around to find quail early in AM, and found at least two in another cutover, two miles southwest. Probably it is good for there to be several male quail at each site, to avoid the females having a sterile male.. I wonder if there is evidence of extrapair paternity in quail clutches; Birdzilla online contains Bent's life histories and the statement that quail depend upon large clutches and second clutches, r, to maintain its population.
I found the Bent's life hitory interesting for two reasons:
(1) evidence of migration by Bobwhite, and "weak" flight, such that many were found drowned when trying to go south over big rivers.
(2) statement by Stoddard (classic study of quail) that what one hears is unpaired males.
The Whippoorwill I reported near my home (where the species was extirpated a decade ago) continues to sing in halflight (dusk, dawn, moonlight) but moves around as much as 1000 feet, day on day.
Sorry, folks. I sent this message in jest, meaning it for several friends. You can delete.
Harry LeGrand
On Sat, Jun 8, 2019 at 8:30 PM Harry LeGrand <hlegrandjr...> wrote:
> WTF is going on here with c-birds reports? Let's see -- the last 4 items: > > aggregated Bobwhite > Canada Geese in a corn field > Rough-winged Swallows at Charleston > Cardinal vs. Titmouse mystery bird > > I can't wait to see what is going to be reported next. > > Well -- at least with Dook and Big Maize both having games starting at 9 > PM, there is something real to stay up for. > > On Sat, Jun 8, 2019 at 8:23 PM Frank Enders <carolinabirds...> > wrote: > >> The quail i earlier reported include at least three singing males. One >> day there were some strange, varied noises from what i imagine to be a pair >> of quail. Males singing until after sunset; the nearest singing male can >> sometimes be heard from my mailbox (hundreds of feet west of box). Usually >> no singing between 11 AM and 6 PM, more of less. >> >> One day I drove around to find quail early in AM, and found at least two >> in another cutover, two miles southwest. Probably it is good for there to >> be several male quail at each site, to avoid the females having a sterile >> male.. I wonder if there is evidence of extrapair paternity in quail >> clutches; Birdzilla online contains Bent's life histories and the statement >> that quail depend upon large clutches and second clutches, r, to maintain >> its population. >> >> I found the Bent's life hitory interesting for two reasons: >> (1) evidence of migration by Bobwhite, and "weak" flight, such that many >> were found drowned when trying to go south over big rivers. >> (2) statement by Stoddard (classic study of quail) that what one hears is >> unpaired males. >> >> The Whippoorwill I reported near my home (where the species was >> extirpated a decade ago) continues to sing in halflight (dusk, dawn, >> moonlight) but moves around as much as 1000 feet, day on day. >> >> >> >> Frank Enders, Halifax, NC >> >
WTF is going on here with c-birds reports? Let's see -- the last 4 items:
aggregated Bobwhite Canada Geese in a corn field Rough-winged Swallows at Charleston Cardinal vs. Titmouse mystery bird
I can't wait to see what is going to be reported next.
Well -- at least with Dook and Big Maize both having games starting at 9 PM, there is something real to stay up for.
On Sat, Jun 8, 2019 at 8:23 PM Frank Enders <carolinabirds...> wrote:
> The quail i earlier reported include at least three singing males. One > day there were some strange, varied noises from what i imagine to be a pair > of quail. Males singing until after sunset; the nearest singing male can > sometimes be heard from my mailbox (hundreds of feet west of box). Usually > no singing between 11 AM and 6 PM, more of less. > > One day I drove around to find quail early in AM, and found at least two > in another cutover, two miles southwest. Probably it is good for there to > be several male quail at each site, to avoid the females having a sterile > male.. I wonder if there is evidence of extrapair paternity in quail > clutches; Birdzilla online contains Bent's life histories and the statement > that quail depend upon large clutches and second clutches, r, to maintain > its population. > > I found the Bent's life hitory interesting for two reasons: > (1) evidence of migration by Bobwhite, and "weak" flight, such that many > were found drowned when trying to go south over big rivers. > (2) statement by Stoddard (classic study of quail) that what one hears is > unpaired males. > > The Whippoorwill I reported near my home (where the species was extirpated > a decade ago) continues to sing in halflight (dusk, dawn, moonlight) but > moves around as much as 1000 feet, day on day. > > > > Frank Enders, Halifax, NC >
The quail i earlier reported include at least three singing males. One day there were some strange, varied noises from what i imagine to be a pair of quail. Males singing until after sunset; the nearest singing male can sometimes be heard from my mailbox (hundreds of feet west of box). Usually no singing between 11 AM and 6 PM, more of less.
One day I drove around to find quail early in AM, and found at least two in another cutover, two miles southwest. Probably it is good for there to be several male quail at each site, to avoid the females having a sterile male.. I wonder if there is evidence of extrapair paternity in quail clutches; Birdzilla online contains Bent's life histories and the statement that quail depend upon large clutches and second clutches, r, to maintain its population.
I found the Bent's life hitory interesting for two reasons: (1) evidence of migration by Bobwhite, and "weak" flight, such that many were found drowned when trying to go south over big rivers. (2) statement by Stoddard (classic study of quail) that what one hears is unpaired males.
The Whippoorwill I reported near my home (where the species was extirpated a decade ago) continues to sing in halflight (dusk, dawn, moonlight) but moves around as much as 1000 feet, day on day.
Date: 6/8/19 5:12 pm From: Frank Enders (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Canada Geese in cornfield May 27th
I usually see these feral geese in pastures. The corn this day was perhaps a foot tall, and very cleanlyweeded between the rows, but no evidence of major damage from the geese.
BTW, somebody near Charlottesviille, VA recently reported large numbers of geese flying over a few days ago (june 5?) thought to still be migrants.
Date: 6/8/19 5:05 pm From: Frank Enders (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Martins seeking new sites?
On May 27 7:30 AM I pulled into the parking lot of the Halifax County Airport and was immediately buzzed repeatedlyby what I think is a subadult male Purple Martin.
A Starling flew by, no other martins, and no martin gourds nor nestbox that I could see. Perhaps the weird roof of the airport office had attracted this bird to a potential new colony site?
Also, over several years we have had a few martins to investigate and even nest (total of 3 nests?) in the forty martin gourds hanging , at my home, esome 8-15 feet off the ground on cables. But, in spite of having up to 6 martins at one time, a "colony"never has settled here; presumably returning to the large (scores) colony about 800 feet north.
This month, the colony near us has many fewer martins (15?) due perhaps to the early weather. In spite of this, yesterday I saw three martins near the gourds at my home, low (5 feet) over the barnyard (gravel loading space, some 100 feet in diameter) about 100' from the gourds. inn the past, when martins nested here, they often would land on the barnyard to pick up materials (for nests).
It might make sense for subadult (first year) birds to colonize new sites, partly to avoid harassment and extra-pair matings by more dominant adult males.
Date: 6/8/19 4:16 pm From: M Howell (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Crested Gray Bird with Orange Bill
Yesterday, I found an all gray bird with crest and an orange bill in Carolina Beach, NC. The gray was of a Tufted Titmouse color. The crest was Titmouse- or Cardinal-like. The bill was colored and structured Cardinal-like. The size was between Titmouse and Cardinal. There was no red in the feathering. The bird appeared healthy. Sorry, I wasn't able to get pictures. Does anyone have thoughts of what this might have been?
Date: 6/8/19 4:04 pm From: jcox3222 (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Northern rough winged swallows at Patriots Point
A mixed flock of northern rough-winged swallows and barn swallows was feeding over the open area between the round-about and the driving range at patriots point between 1800 and 1830 this evening.
Date: 6/7/19 8:41 am From: \Johnson, Matthew\ (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: NO Limpkin at Beidler Forest yesterday (Dorchester County, SC)
Hi All,
Just wanted to send a quick message to let everyone know that several birders looked for the Limpkin yesterday (June 6th) at the Beidler Forest Audubon Center. As far as I know, none were able to find it. Hopefully it will be seen again today or over the weekend. As a reminder, the center is open Tuesday-Sunday from 9:00-5:00.
Yesterday I made a foray into Rockingham Co first to try for the BB Cuckoo at Mayo SP - Tyne Rd Track, and second to add species to my county list trying to reach 100 species.
I really was planning on going anywhere because of the forecast of rain. After checking the weather app and seeing that the weather for the next few days was calling for rain and even Saturday that was just the other day was forecast for being cloudy, I had to get out.
Having never been to the park before I was thinking it was like all of the other NC state parks that I have been to locked up until 0800 hrs. However this SP is more like a WMA there is nothing there Tyne Rd is about a mile long and Hawk Rd is only about .3 of a mile.
After making a pit stop at the Visitor Center on Hwy 29 in Caswell county just inside NC and as I was leaving Google Map said go right not left to get back on Hwy 29. So I said ok I’m game let's see where this takes us because I was thinking I had an extra 30 minutes to bird along the way anyway.
My first find of the day was three Wild Turkeys and then after a little drive I turned onto Town Creek Rd which was a gravel road but it paid off greatly by adding 8 species for the county.
Upon reaching Mayo River SP - Tyne Rd, I drove up the road to the end passing a barrier on the left on a road to what must be the cemetery as mentioned on an earlier eBird Report. There is a track down the road pass the barrier but the middle is very weedy and you can only see down the track a few yards as it bends.
I was not up to trying my luck without and boots to tuck my pants into with a trip coming up to Panama, I didn’t need to catch poison ivy or get bitten by a tick and get sick. Therefore I stayed on Tyne Rd and birded from it.
I did hear a YB Cuckoo and I had another Cuckoo calling as well but I couldn’t say 100 % it was a BB Cuckoo so I didn’t count it.
After a couple of hours Birding Tyne Rd, I went to Hawk Rd but only added Pine Warbler.
One the way back I stopped at Mayo River SP that does open at 0800 hrs and also stopped at other places along the way.
By late afternoon it had reach a nice 92 degrees and it felt great but at Mebane Rd Bridge the clouds began to darken and turn into Thunderstorms. With lightning in the distance I got in my car and started for home and within 10 minutes it began to rain and it poured down with visibility poor and standing water on the road I inched my way only doing less than 40 mph. It finally let up as I reached Caswell Co on Hwy 29 N.
I started the day with 75 species for Rockingham and ended up at 93 and I added a Kentucky Warbler for my NC Life List
Following is a summary of the days efforts using the Trip List tool on my eBird app.
I like using it but for some reason it has a major bug to me. It doesn’t list your eBird Reports in the order of the time they were started which I think they should.
BB Cuckoo No - Great day Birding Yes
jeffblalock
eBird Checklist Summary for: Jun 6, 2019 at 6:30 AM to Jun 6, 2019 at 5:00 PM
Number of Checklists: 8
Number of Taxa: 52
Checklists included in this summary:
(1): 6011 NC Highway 700, Eden US-NC (36.4823,-79.6522)
Date: Jun 6, 2019 at 6:50 AM
(2): Mayo River SP
Date: Jun 6, 2019 at 1:30 PM
(3): Town Creek Rd, Eden US-NC (36.4801,-79.6947)
Date: Jun 6, 2019 at 7:00 AM
(4): Leaksville Boating Access, Eden US-NC (36.4752,-79.7504)
Date: Jun 6, 2019 at 2:45 PM
(5): Mebane Bridge Rd.
Date: Jun 6, 2019 at 3:30 PM
(6): 1496–1498 Bennett Rd, Stoneville US-NC (36.5000,-80.0036)
Date: Jun 6, 2019 at 12:50 PM
(7): Mayo River SP--Tyne Rd. Tract
Date: Jun 6, 2019 at 8:35 AM
(8): 1411 Victory Hill Church Rd, Stoneville US-NC (36.4985,-79.9889)
Date: Jun 6, 2019 at 8:25 AM
This location is now an eBird hotspot, "Mountain Island Lake--Neck Road Access Area." Please use the hotspot for future eBird reports. If you have already reported the bird, it would be great if you can merge your personal location into the hotspot. Please let me know if you need any help doing this.
I apologize for the delay in setting up the hotspot. I've had a death in my family and I have been out of town most of the last two weeks.
Shelley Rutkin NC eBird Hotspot Editor
From: <carolinabirds-request...> [mailto:<carolinabirds-request...>] On Behalf Of Will Cook Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2019 6:36 PM To: <Carolinabirds...> Subject: Limpkin in Mecklenburg Co., NC
The bird is in the usual spot now, feeding along the shoreline across from the boat ramp. Neck Road boat ramp north of Charlotte.
Date: 6/6/19 3:36 pm From: Will Cook <cwcook...> Subject: Limpkin in Mecklenburg Co., NC
The bird is in the usual spot now, feeding along the shoreline across from the boat ramp. Neck Road boat ramp north of Charlotte. Will Cook - near Charlotte NC
I am going to be in Vancouver in July and would appreciate any tips, suggestions, etc., especially ways/places to see Tufted Puffins. Please reply offline. Thanks! Marcia
Date: 6/6/19 8:19 am From: Jeannie Kraus (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: N. Harrier, Bodie Island, NC
A group of us saw a male flying over North River Preserve in Carteret County on May 30. (The preserve is closed except for limited Coastal Federation groups while reconstruction of wetlands is taking place.)
Jeannie Wilson Kraus
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jun 5, 2019, at 3:33 PM, Linda Ward (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
> Today we had a flyover of a male northern harrier at Bodie Island NC. We had previously seen one at this location on May 8, 2019. Is this out of season for them?
>
> Linda Ward
> Skip Hancock
> Coinjock, NC
Date: 6/5/19 6:59 pm From: \Johnson, Matthew\ (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Limpkin at Francis Beidler Forest (Dorchester County, SC)
Hi All,
Around noon today (June 5th), a visitor at the Francis Beidler Forest Audubon Center (Dorchester County, SC) photographed a Limpkin near the lake at the end of the boardwalk. This bird was relocated in the same area later this afternoon by staff and a few other visitors.
We tried to get a message out to the list serve earlier today, but I'm not sure it went through. If it did, I apologize for the duplicate information. The Beidler Forest center is open to the public Tuesday-Sunday, 9:00-5:00.
Date: 6/5/19 12:33 pm From: Linda Ward (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: N. Harrier, Bodie Island, NC
Today we had a flyover of a male northern harrier at Bodie Island NC. We had previously seen one at this location on May 8, 2019. Is this out of season for them?
Date: 6/4/19 6:27 pm From: M Howell (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Late birds at Ft. Fisher, New Hanover County, NC
Hi. I've checked in at Carolina Beach State Park for 3 nights. I plan to visit Ft Fisher, the Aquarium, the lake east of Carolina Beach, and the CBSP tomorrow. Both ends of Wrightville Beach and the pier Thursday. And the area around the USSNC Battleship Friday. Are there any must see birding sites nearby that I'm missing? I can extend my visit into Saturday if the birds make it worth my while. Thanks for your input.
Mae Howell
Goldsboro NC
919-580-8330<tel:919-580-8330>
Powered by Cricket Wireless
------ Original message------
From: Bruce Smithson
Date: Tue, Jun 4, 2019 8:04 PM
To: <Carolinabirds...>;
Cc:
Subject:Late birds at Ft. Fisher, New Hanover County, NC
The wife and I took a bit of a walk this afternoon down at the Ft. Fisher State Historic Site south of Kure Beach. We parked at the ocean overlook and walked towards the gazebo on the ocean front. Halfway to the gazebo I spotted a group of about 25 Black Scoters feeding just beyond the surf. There was one adult male and the balance were females or immature birds.
We later crossed over to the river side where the visitor center is and I found a female "myrtle" warbler foraging in one of the Live Oak trees on the grounds there
Date: 6/4/19 5:04 pm From: Bruce Smithson (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Late birds at Ft. Fisher, New Hanover County, NC
The wife and I took a bit of a walk this afternoon down at the Ft. Fisher State Historic Site south of Kure Beach. We parked at the ocean overlook and walked towards the gazebo on the ocean front. Halfway to the gazebo I spotted a group of about 25 Black Scoters feeding just beyond the surf. There was one adult male and the balance were females or immature birds. We later crossed over to the river side where the visitor center is and I found a female "myrtle" warbler foraging in one of the Live Oak trees on the grounds there Bruce Smithson
Wilmington, NC
Date: 6/4/19 11:30 am From: Edith Tatum (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Caswell County BBS
I did my Caswell County BBS this morning. I awoke at 4:00 to make it to my starting point by 5:28. To my amazement I only had one Yellow-Bill Cuckoo at stop number 40. Usually I have several. I had however a bunch of Yellow-Breasted Chats. I usually get one or two but today I had 6+.
The Durham BBS will be next week.
Edith Tatum
Durham, NC
Date: 6/4/19 6:17 am From: David Ross (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Kentucky Warbler --yard bird :-)
I've a Kentucky Warbler on territory, singing regularly off of Guess Rd. just south of South Lowell Road. He's on my property so I'm thinking of him as mine.. though he might actually belong to the credit union :-) I've been making mortgage payments here for more than 10 years, but this is the first season I've heard/ had Kentucky Warbler singing. Prior to this, my spot for them has been up in the NCSU Hill Forest.
Date: 6/4/19 6:10 am From: Stacy and Natalie Barbour (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Mecklenburg, NC Limpkin continues
Seen this morning between 8:30-9:00am feeding along the lake shore between the paved boat ramp and the ‘Danger No Swimming ‘ sign to the left of the ramp.
Date: 6/4/19 6:04 am From: David Ross (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: 6/2 Mackay Island NWR King Rails and Least Bitterns
Made my first visit to Mackay Island NWR in an attempt to capture some King Rail audio. Heard the King on Saturday Afternoon, and then in the early morning (post dawn) along Mackay Island Rd.
Sunday morning had individuals down near the Mackay Island Road terminus (impoundment, and parking lot intersection area) Two rails walked across the road and flew across the canal from the impoundment side towards the marsh to the north. Got beautiful looks, naked eye (one eye on the rails, the other on the digital recorder meter).
Date: 6/4/19 6:03 am From: David Ross (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: VOA Site A 5/26 & 6/1 Henslow's Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrow
Observed Henslow's Sparrow this past Saturday 6/1 and on Sunday 5/26. On 6/1 I arrived at dawn to hear a few Henslow's Sparrow songs, but soon after no more song. Managed to get a recording of Henslow's call notes and little more. Did not hear any Henslow's singing after that point. Walked around the main building, and hiked a few hundred yards beyond to hear Grasshopper Sparrows. It sprinkled and was overcast much of the early morning--not enough to put off the Grasshopper Sparrow.
On 5/26 Henslow's Sparrows sang well past 8:00 a.m. --managed a few stereo recordings. Glassed one with some color bands... That morning there were lingering showers, and even a passing thunderstorm, but Henslow's Sparrows sang throughout most of it, before and after. The Henslow's were heard from the main access road just past the area where the yellow-gated side road is. It looks like there may have been some spraying of saplings / woody herbaceous vegetation under/ near the power lines in the interim, as well as some new gravel put down on the gated access road.
Date: 6/3/19 1:55 pm From: Josh Southern (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Call for Spring 2019 reports for the "Briefs for the Files"
Dear Carolinabirders,
It's now time to submit your Spring 2019 (March 1st through May 31st) reports of noteworthy NC/SC bird sightings for the "Briefs for the Files" part of "The Chat."
If you already posted your sighting to the carolinabirds listserv or submitted a checklist through ebird, then it's not necessary to send me a separate report, though all direct submissions are welcome.
I'm most interested in reports of very rare species, very late or very early migrants, species in extremely unusual habitat, incredibly high counts, and nesting far outside typical range. For all reports, please include the bird's full common name (no abbreviations), the name of the observer(s), the date, the location including the county if known, and an attached photograph if available. For very rare or hard-to-identify species, please include a written description if not attaching a photograph. For the most unusual sightings, I may ask you to fill out a Rare Bird Report Form for submission to that state's Bird Records Committee.
Please email your report to me at <joshsouthern79...> by the end of June. If you send your report as an attached document, please also "cut and paste" it into the body of the email.
Thanks and Good Birding, Josh Southern Holly Springs, NC
Date: 6/3/19 1:47 pm From: Lex Glover <GloverL...> Subject: Scarlet Tanager & possibly Common Raven at Lake Wateree, Fairfield County, SC
Carolina Birders,
Yesterday, 2 June 2019, I ran the Ridgway BBSR in Fairfield County, SC. This route begins just east of the town of Ridgeway, runs eastward to Lake Wateree and then runs north along the lake.
Approximately 1.5 miles southeast of Longtown, I had a Scarlet Tanager calling at one of the stops. Though the bird was not visible, it called repeatedly, a distinctive "chik-brrr", for about 40 seconds.
Another interesting encounter I had at one of the stops, was a vocalization - a long deep horse "kraaah" of a Common Raven. It called about 10 -12 times. Had I been in the mountains, I wouldn't have given it any other thought. Knowing it was completely out of range, I tried to find the bird. The bird appeared to be perch, as the calls were consistent in location and volume. It sounded fairly close and was quite loud, but I was unable to see the bird through the canopy. While trying to see the bird, 3 American Crows flew in to where the raven calls was coming from and the crows seemed agitated. Gave me the impression of mobbing. The raven call stopped and I could hear the American Crows flying away, as their calls grew faint.
I know crows have a variety of calls and young crows can make a similar call, but I have never heard one be as low and deep as a classic raven "kraaah". It was such a classic raven call, I'm finding it difficult to let it go. Has anyone encountered a call like this from another bird, possibly a fledgling raptor, crow or possible something else? I would appreciate any comments, either privately or on the list.
Date: 6/3/19 11:52 am From: Marilyn Westphal <mjwestph...> Subject: Mountain Birding
Just a few notes for those in the Asheville area or visiting this area:
Red Crossbills have finally returned and can be found in both the Black Mountains (Mount Mitchell area) and in the Balsam Mountains although quite scattered there. I expect them to stick around in the Black Mountains at least because the spruce cones look pretty good in places there. Not sure yet where they might be good in the Balsams.
For a photo op, I found a Least Flycatcher nest this morning at the Pisgah campground. It is in an oak tree along a wide, grassy walkway above campsite B-20 between the A and B campsite roads. It's about 35 feet up and about 2 feet from the end of a branch and can be seen fairly well from campsite B-20 and a little way up the grassy walkway. If you get too close you won't be able to see it. The tree is about half way between the A and B campsite roads. I think the female is sitting on eggs or just hatched chicks as the male is bringing in food while she sits there. You can park outside the campground and walk in. The A and B roads are near the main entrance.
Yellow-rumped Warblers (5) are singing along Black Balsam Road again this year in the same places they were last year in the area where the Art Loeb trail crosses the road. Spent over an hour looking for signs of nesting, but, as usual, couldn't find a thing, not even a female. This is the third year they have been in that area during the breeding season, but have had no luck finding signs of nesting. If you're in that area I'd appreciate it if you kept an eye out and let me know if you see any females or birds carrying food. Marilyn
Date: 6/3/19 11:43 am From: Kent Fiala (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Limpkin
Note that eBird protects your privacy by hiding your track from everyone except the creator of the checklist, and those it is shared with. No one else can see your track.
Kent Fiala
On 6/3/2019 12:35 PM, eli way wrote:
> Hi All,
> I recently saw the Limpkin at Sparkleberry Swamp in Sumter County, SC, on May 28th. I was kayaking with Jay Grant and 1 other who also saw the bird. I will share the list to show the track that we took. The start and finish are just the landing where we put in and took out. The birds we encountered were about 2-1/2 miles into the track and the interior of the swamp, quite a ways from the landing. I suggest that any trip into this area be facilitated by someone experienced as the flooded forest is difficult to navigate. The company I work for, Nature Adventures, in the Charleston area is available.
>
> Thank you,
> Elizabeth Anderegg
> 843-568-3222
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__ebird.org_view_checklist_S56844532&d=DwIF-g&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=ymRCw6Q-sBitug_rdeO1Tokz-I_SX2LQN2_Ocvlal9U&m=cCvAfGj4Z6A7tES0l8xOUh9oA5Lzz-G8MN9sPrw0yb4&s=mtFUv2ZxrU4kHIoxyEba53rXEd5c_OYIwuHxR4o2csY&e= <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2 /url?u=https-3A__ebird.org_view_checklist_S56844532&d=DwMFaQ&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=ymRCw6Q-sBitug_rdeO1Tokz-I_SX2LQN2_Ocvlal9U&m=sYekoc_OSqYL8CYh9aI8wICZiqZi9CCbCKdFruWOl-E&s=fm6i3PltRTcowMwP1ql19txRFaGfTx26hYn_L01jrOI&e=>
"These days I prefer to hunt with a camera. A good photograph demands more skill from the hunter, better nerves and more patience than the rifle shot." -- Bror Blixen
Date: 6/3/19 7:57 am From: <badgerboy...> Subject: Call BBS (Wilkesboro)--First time for Raven
Not too much of note on this BBS yesterday, except for the first time a Raven has been seen, and also a calling Eurasian collared-dove at Roaring River(has been recorded on the survey once before).
Seems like the Common Raven is expanding its breeding range in many places.
Thursday afternoon I birded Sandy Creek Park in Durham and found a black objective lens cap cover about 2” in diameter with the part that slides onto the binocular barrel.
Someone else found it and hung it up on a sign. I knew that NHAS was there on Wednesday and I sent a text to a member of the group but haven’t heard from anyone.
If this is your lens cap you can call me at my number listed below.
From my iPhone
May God Bless and Keep You
Jeff Blalock
103 Elizabeth Court
South Boston VA 24592
434-470-4352 Cell
<jcbabirder...>
Date: 6/2/19 10:11 am From: Paul Serridge (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: No STFL at Gunter Road, Greenville County so far this year
The first report of STFL at Gunter Rd was on June 15 2010 after a pair was seen to be nesting there. Through 2017 Gunter Rd was practically a sure bet for adding STFL to a life or year list. But last year there was only one sighting - on May 7 when Anthony Martin got a photo of one bird. Since then - no STFL.
The good news is that the large number of reports from Gunter Rd (557 on eBird) have resulted in 117 species being reported from a small stretch of country road. It's Greenville County's version of the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect (Google it!).
Date: 6/2/19 6:42 am From: KEN LIPSHY (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Grasshopper sparrow- came and went
Had a grasshopper sparrow in our yard and field next to us for one hour. I went inside to download the photos and when i came back outside to take another look there was a tractor mowing the field.
From: kenneth lipshy via eBird <ebird-share...><mailto:<ebird-share...>> Date: June 2, 2019 at 9:36:40 AM EDT To: <Wuzupdoc12...><mailto:<Wuzupdoc12...> Subject: kenneth lipshy has shared an eBird checklist with you from Salisbury, NC HOME on Jun 1, 2019 - 12:00 PM Reply-To: <wuzupdoc12...><mailto:<wuzupdoc12...>
To accept this checklist into your eBird account, click on the link below:
Date: 6/2/19 5:07 am From: Jeffrey Blalock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Color of BH Nuthatches
Greetings all
On Thursday morning I spent some considerable time birding in Chatham Co along Transis Camp Rd and Jordan Game Land Mason Point.
While there I saw up close 8 Brown-Headed Nuthatches. At first I didn’t pay too much attention to them and then it struck me that they were odd looking and it was the cap of their heads.
Instead of being dark brown as they are in my yard and in Virginia, they were a sort of bleached tan color. A punk rock star hair do.
Has anyone else notice this either in NC or from Chatham Co NC.
From my iPhone
May God Bless and Keep You
Jeff Blalock
103 Elizabeth Court
South Boston VA 24592
434-470-4352 Cell
<jcbabirder...>
I forgot to add that it was near the shore across from the boat ramp.
Anne
Sent from my iPad
> On Jun 1, 2019, at 5:45 PM, Anne Olsen <olsena187...> wrote:
>
> We saw the Limpkin late this afternoon about 4:30pm. There was a lot of activity around the Neck Rd boat ramp in Mecklenburg County, NC. The Limpkin was close to the shore behind the plants, standing in shallow water. Movement indicated probable hunting for snails. Entered in eBird.
>
> Anne Olsen
> Mecklenburg County, NC
>
> Sent from my iPad
Date: 6/1/19 2:46 pm From: Anne Olsen (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Limpkin still present Neck Rd boat ramp
We saw the Limpkin late this afternoon about 4:30pm. There was a lot of activity around the Neck Rd boat ramp in Mecklenburg County, NC. The Limpkin was close to the shore behind the plants, standing in shallow water. Movement indicated probable hunting for snails. Entered in eBird.
Date: 6/1/19 8:10 am From: Robert Biller (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Limpkin still present at Mountain Island Lake in Huntersville, NC
June 1, 2019
Limpkin - Huntersville NC - Neck Road Boat Ramp (Duke Access Rd) - Mountain Island Lake
Present Between 8:15-9:00. David Kirschke had located the bird. Just before I had arrived. Was also with 2 other birders.
Went Birding up Duke Access Rd and when I got back to my car at 9:45-10ish couldn’t relocate bird. From first gravel parking area but presumably is still around , out of sight.
Other Birds:
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Summer Tanager 3
Acadian Flycatcher
Great-crested Flycatcher
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3
Pine Warbler 2
Osprey (calling from nest on power tower)
My son saw what looked like 4 or 5 kites (thinking Mississippi most likely) circling above mid peninsular Charleston about 2:45 pm today, feeding and heading west toward some hopeful thunderheads.
Peggy Schachte
Date: 5/31/19 4:19 am From: Marilyn Westphal <mjwestph...> Subject: Re: Bluebird question
As long as the unhatched eggs don’t crack, and they usually don’t, they’ll be fine. I’ve found weeks old unhatched eggs that you’d never know were that old except for knowing when the birds were there.
Marilyn
Sent from my iPhone
> On May 30, 2019, at 7:37 PM, Krystyna 00 (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
> Agree leave them...it's nature, no need for human intervention. If not already gone, you can throw them out when you clean the box.
> Further, from experience with an abandoned BB nest due to a bothersome mockingbird, the eggs don't "rot" ...just kind of bake/dry up in the heat.
>
> Krys Ochota
> Leland NC
>
>
> Get Outlook for Android
>
>
>
> From: Christopher Hill
> Sent: Thursday, May 30, 5:44 PM
> Subject: Re: Bluebird question
> To: oksanaduck
> Cc: Carolinabirds
>
>
> The birds are good at keeping the nest temperatures moderate even when the outside temperatures are extreme. And they do deal with unhatched eggs all the time. I’d leave them.
>
> Chris Hill
> Conway, SC
>
>> On May 30, 2019, at 5:08 PM, oksanaduck <Carolinabirds...> wrote:
>>
>> On Wednesday the 22nd two of the 4 bluebird eggs in one of my houses hatched. The other two never hatched and the growing babies are crowded and I worry about the extreme heat causing the eggs to rot. Should I remove the unhatched eggs or mind my own business?
>> Patty Tice
>> Raleigh NC
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
>
>
>
The Limpkin was feeding near the boat launch Thursday evening.
Jeff Lemons Charlotte, NC
-----Original Message----- From: Anne Olsen <olsena187...> Sender: <meckbirds...> Date: Thu, 30 May 2019 15:15:59 To: carolinabirds<carolinabirds...>; <meckbirds...> Subject: [meckbirds] Limpkin - No
Blayne and I were at the boat ramp this morning at 8am. There was no sign of the Limpkin. We hung around for a half hour but it was a no-show. Anne Olsen
Agree leave them...it's nature, no need for human intervention. If not already gone, you can throw them out when you clean the box.
Further, from experience with an abandoned BB nest due to a bothersome mockingbird, the eggs don't "rot" ...just kind of bake/dry up in the heat.
From: Christopher Hill
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: Bluebird question
To: oksanaduck
Cc: Carolinabirds
The birds are good at keeping the nest temperatures moderate even when the outside temperatures are extreme. And they do deal with unhatched eggs all the time. Id leave them.
On Wednesday the 22nd two of the 4 bluebird eggs in one of my houses hatched. The other two never hatched and the growing babies are crowded and I worry about the extreme heat causing the eggs to rot. Should I remove the unhatched eggs or mind my own business?
Patty Tice
Raleigh NC
Date: 5/30/19 2:44 pm From: Christopher Hill (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Bluebird question
The birds are good at keeping the nest temperatures moderate even when the outside temperatures are extreme. And they do deal with unhatched eggs all the time. I’d leave them.
On Wednesday the 22nd two of the 4 bluebird eggs in one of my houses hatched. The other two never hatched and the growing babies are crowded and I worry about the extreme heat causing the eggs to rot. Should I remove the unhatched eggs or mind my own business?
Patty Tice
Raleigh NC
On Wednesday the 22nd two of the 4 bluebird eggs in one of my houses hatched. The other two never hatched and the growing babies are crowded and I worry about the extreme heat causing the eggs to rot. Should I remove the unhatched eggs or mind my own business?Patty TiceRaleigh NCSent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
High Country Audubon is having a bird walk in Elkin on Saturday morning at 8AM as part of the Elkin Trail Days festival. Anyone in the area is welcome to attend.
We will start at the Big Elkin Creek public fishing access parking area, located at 181 N. Front Street, Elkin NC, at 8AM. GPS coordinates 36.244570, -80.855762.
The walk follows the Overmountain victory Trail down to and along the Yadkin River for about a mile each way on the round trip. There is some good bottomland habitat, and some interesting historical sites.
Date: 5/30/19 1:04 pm From: \Wayne Hoffman\ (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Black-billedCuckoo at Singletary Lake SP.
Hi-
This morning between 9:00 and 9:30 AM a Black-billed Cuckoo called off and on in the trees along the lakeshore at the SE end of the lake. The location was near the canoe/small boat access point at the end of the State Park's paved road. I heard the bird repeatedly, but could not see it.
Other birds present included Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Mockingbird, Gnatcatcher, Great-crested Flycatcher, Carolina Wren, Parula Warbler, Pine Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Prothonotary Warbler.
The park is a bit smoky from a still-smouldering controlled burn.
Date: 5/30/19 12:16 pm From: Anne Olsen (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Limpkin - No
Blayne and I were at the boat ramp this morning at 8am. There was no sign of the Limpkin. We hung around for a half hour but it was a no-show.
Anne Olsen
Date: 5/30/19 5:20 am From: ann maddock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Link to post memories of Mary Jo
bit.ly/RememberingMJB
-- Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and Caribbean Hummingbirds!
Ann Maddock <am.hummingbird.photos...> Hatteras Island, NC -- Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and Caribbean Hummingbirds!
Ann Maddock <am.hummingbird.photos...> Hatteras Island, NC
While the BBS data is certainly useful, it focuses on breeding birds, and doesn't really address the patterns associated with migrants through the Carolinas, which was the original subject of the thread, and that is probably why folks were turning to ebird instead.
My personal anecdotal evidence is this year was far and away the worst spring migration I've ever seen. The Watauga county spring count, which is only in its second year, found only 5 migrating warblers of 2 species (4 Yellow-rumps and a Tennessee) in about 50 party hours of birding on May 4. In years past we would have expected many blackpolls, magnolias, blackburnians, and at least a few other species on that date with that amount of effort. And it wasn't just a slow day, the whole spring season was similar. I'm wondering if the many spring counts in the region will show similar results.
On a better note, however, our populations of breeding warblers seem to be at similar levels to many past years.
Guy McGrane, Deep Gap, NC
On 5/26/2019 4:46 PM, Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) wrote: > Why are folks on this thread using *eBird* for data crunching on > trends? That tell me commenters are not aware of the *Breeding Bird > Survey* or have never conducted any BBS routes. It has been going on > since about 1966 in the US and Canada, with standardizing of routes, > observers, and trend data that eBird cannot come close to approaching. > _Its primary function is to detect long-term trends._ I have done > dozens of routes over the years, in many areas of NC, and was the BBS > coordinator for NC for about 10 years in the 1980s and 1990s. Yes, I > am well aware that Northern Bobwhite is down roughly 90% in NC from > when it started in the late 60s. Wood Thrush is probably down 75-80%, > based on my recollections of BBS data. (A lot of times the data are > reported as declines per year, which is tricky to use --- like -1.57 > per year.) So, how does that translate into a 30-year or 50-year > trend? Hopefully, some of you can get that information, such as > 10-year, or better 25 or 30-year trends, etc. > > So, those of you who have previously commented can check the website, > and get some Rangewide trends or NC/SC trends -- then we might have > some real meat to chew on. > > Harry LeGrand > Raleigh > > On Sun, May 26, 2019 at 4:04 PM Gary Harbour <carolinabirds...> > <mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote: > > Hi Kevin, > > I think we all agree with your analysis. It is a crisis in the > making. In addition to deforestation, some scientific estimates > are that habitats are moving poleward at a rate of 15 ft/day*. > Many animals and plants just can’t keep up. Birds are of course > are more mobile than most animals and plants, but when their > habitat can’t keep up and it disappears, then it doesn’t matter. > > Gary > > *Chen et. al., Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High > Levels of Climate Warming, Science > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__science.sciencemag.org_content_333_6045&d=DwMFaQ&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=ymRCw6Q-sBitug_rdeO1Tokz-I_SX2LQN2_Ocvlal9U&m=GoqObE2ZrNW9tKTWj9wVPI6ZCmw3QoReKiEECJ3gbIA&s=_rZ1AxAlz4apnGa35JE_I8uR-_-_aFpL9d6MDgf9ow4&e=>Vol > 333, Issue 6045 > > >> On May 26, 2019, at 3:01 PM, Kevin Metcalf >> <skermetcalf...> <mailto:<skermetcalf...>> wrote: >> >> I recieved an email on this topic from Jack Rogers, who is going >> to school at LSU. I feel it is worth sharing. Jack relayed to me >> that this spring in Louisiana was noted by Dr. James van Remsen >> (Louisiana's most knowledgeable ornithologist and birder, AOU >> board member since the 70s), that this was the "worst spring in >> his memory as far as total migrant numbers go." I put a lot >> weight into such statements when they come from one of the >> Country's most recognized Ornitholgists. >> >> Whether the past year or two represented an abrupt drop of bird >> numbers, or the culmination of a long decline is probaby not as >> important as recognizing that many birds - by various measures - >> are far fewer than they used to be. That "wall of sound" that >> many of us long-time birders remember in the Eastern US was >> probably made up largely of Red-eyed Vireos. Roger Tory Peterson >> stated that he felt they were the most abundant summering bird on >> the Eastern US. That was then. I suspect that our perception of >> the decline may of just hit the point were it was easy to >> recognize the silence - kind of like slowly turning off a faucet. >> You might not notice that the flow is seriously declining at >> first because there is still plenty of water coming out. But, you >> hit the point of only hearing drips and it is then easy to tell >> the difference. This year seemed be like that for many birders. >> >> There are many problems with using eBird for scientific analysis, >> especially when it comes to BIRDER behavior and how rare vs. >> common birds are represented (Rare birds are over-represented), >> but that is another large topic. But, thanks to Gary for >> crunching the eBird numbers to give that perspective. >> >> >> Kevin Metcalf >> Huntersville, NC >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Gary Harbour_ >> Sent: May 19, 2019 7:26 PM >> To: Kevin Metcalf_ >> Cc: Carolina Birds_ >> Subject: Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC >> >> Hi Kevin, et. al., >> >> Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I >> thought I would check some records. I used eBird and looked >> at the Average Count for the weeks of May 1, May 8, and May >> 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on >> average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number >> of observers from the number. In general we are talking >> about 10s of thousands of birds in each data point. I looked >> every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont >> which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia, >> South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at >> all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from >> a number of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the >> Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average >> more data and help wash-out migration timing a little. This >> large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give >> pretty good averages. >> >> Now before looking too carefully please realized that this >> years data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has >> two more days. So those numbers will come up. But I can >> already see that there is not a drastic drop in any species >> this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a long-term >> consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, >> Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining >> over these data points. I’ll publish the final data when >> this eBird week closes. >> >> It’s nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of >> eBird to answer questions like these, and it’s good to see >> that there is not a general drastic decline in migrating >> species in our region this year. >> >> Good Birding, >> Gary >> >> >> 201920142009200419991994 >> ____________________________________________________________ >> Red-eye Vireo2.913.403.924.327.727.85 >> Magnolia1.521.921.711.661.861.44 >> BTGRN1.732.342.211.912.712.10 >> Wood Thrush2.482.643.383.525.023.66 >> RTHHumming1.351.341.481.611.321.62 >> EAWOPewee1.591.731.921.932.412.54 >> GRCRFlycatcher1.721.802.162.271.951.92 >> >> >>> On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via >>> carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> >>> <mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote: >>> >>> North Carolina Birders, >>> Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, >>> but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some >>> experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, >>> including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if >>> not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - >>> and some of us have been birding for around half a century. >>> I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the >>> same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one >>> Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I >>> didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am >>> concerned that this is more than just an off year. >>> >>> _Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of >>> spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after >>> detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests >>> seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, >>> and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can >>> drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood >>> Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In >>> years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to >>> focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It >>> was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos. _ >>> __ >>> __ >>> __So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst >>> - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same >>> thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting >>> migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at >>> the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer >>> breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also >>> takes some historical perspective, and t here are relatively >>> few people out there in the population that were actively >>> birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you >>> are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are >>> you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding >>> Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by >>> Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they >>> already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many >>> species, have already been tracked. You can't have that >>> downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the >>> abyss. __ >>> __ >>> __ >>> __The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. >>> Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in >>> 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect >>> armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects >>> in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a >>> critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of >>> Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on >>> insects for foo d. The connection seems clear. Why are >>> insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence >>> indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just >>> like Carson warned. __ >>> __ >>> __ >>> __So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the >>> numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it >>> would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we >>> hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still >>> hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not. __ >>> __ >>> __ >>> __Kevin Metcalf__ >>> __Huntersville, NC__ >> ___ >> > ___ > ___ >
Date: 5/28/19 9:06 am From: Marty Wall (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Black-billed Cuckoo, Rockingham County, NC
Hi All,
I had a Black-billed Cuckoo this morning in the Gibson Cemetery, adjacent to the Tyne Road tract of Mayo River State Park. It was in the same spot as two birds last year. It is possibly a returning bird, or hopefully one of a pair.
I also had two singing Blue-headed Vireos at the top of Tyne Road, where there is a good mix of pines and hardwoods. They seem to be annual summer residents and probably breed in places along the upper reaches of the Mayo River.
Date: 5/28/19 4:15 am From: eli way <eli_way...> Subject: Re: Limpkins (2)- Pinewood, SC
Hi All,I spoke with a fellow paddler last night who is familiar with limpkins. He was with me in maybe 2012 when we found one and documented it, but he is not on any listserv or eBird. He told me that they have been in the swamp since spring and continue to be present. I'm hoping to get better location information.
Elizabeth Anderegg843-991-1036
From: "Michael McCloy" (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...>
Date: May 27, 2019 at 3:14:37 PM EDT
To: Carolina Birds <carolinabirds...>
Subject: Limpkins (2)- Pinewood, SC
Reply-To: Michael McCloy <mwdmccloy...>
Hi all,
I received word of two more LIMPKINS in the Carolinas, this time at the upper end of Lake Marion in a cypress swamp near Sparkleberry Landing Road, just west of Pinewood. Three reliable birders/naturalists who are familiar with this species from FL (but are not on this listserv or eBird,) reported hearing two individuals vocalizing yesterday (5/26) about 1/2 mile apart while canoeing. Unfortunately they weren't able to get any documentation as the birds were in a dense, inaccessible area but any other birders in the area should keep their eyes and ears open. Who knows how long these birds may stick around.
Good birding,
Michael W.D. McCloyEcology & Evolutionary Biology Doctoral Program
Applied Biodiversity Science ProgramTexas A&M University
WFES 277, 2258 TAMU
College Station, TX, USA 77843
(910) 690-3142mmccloy.com
I received word of two more LIMPKINS in the Carolinas, this time at the upper end of Lake Marion in a cypress swamp near Sparkleberry Landing Road, just west of Pinewood. Three reliable birders/naturalists who are familiar with this species from FL (but are not on this listserv or eBird,) reported hearing two individuals vocalizing yesterday (5/26) about 1/2 mile apart while canoeing. Unfortunately they weren't able to get any documentation as the birds were in a dense, inaccessible area but any other birders in the area should keep their eyes and ears open. Who knows how long these birds may stick around.
Good birding,
*Michael W.D. McCloy* Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Doctoral Program Applied Biodiversity Science Program Texas A&M University WFES 277, 2258 TAMU College Station, TX, USA 77843 (910) 690-3142 mmccloy.com
Date: 5/27/19 11:36 am From: ann maddock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: From Mary Jo’s son; future plans on the sanctuary
Hi Birders
Mary Jo’s son, David, just texted me more information to share with you:
“Ann
I'll also be setting up a link when I can to allow folks to leave thoughts,
wishes, and to submit contact info so we can keep people updated on future
happenings. I'll try to remember to send you the link once it's ready... if
you haven't gotten it by tomorrow, please remind me. “
As soon as I receive the link I will post it for everyone.
I agree with what someone else posted on here today... it is probably going
to take big grass roots effort from all over the country to get her
property permanently set up for a sanctuary..
So please keep in touch as we may need many emails , statements about how
exceptional a place it is, etc, to help make this happen.
Take care
--
Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and
Caribbean Hummingbirds!
Ann Maddock
<am.hummingbird.photos...>
Hatteras Island, NC
From: <carolinabirds-request...> <carolinabirds-request...> On Behalf Of Harry LeGrand
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2019 4:47 PM
To: Gary Harbour <gharbour...>
Cc: Kevin Metcalf <skermetcalf...>; Carolina Birds <carolinabirds...>
Subject: Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC
Why are folks on this thread using eBird for data crunching on trends? That tell me commenters are not aware of the Breeding Bird Survey or have never conducted any BBS routes. It has been going on since about 1966 in the US and Canada, with standardizing of routes, observers, and trend data that eBird cannot come close to approaching. Its primary function is to detect long-term trends. I have done dozens of routes over the years, in many areas of NC, and was the BBS coordinator for NC for about 10 years in the 1980s and 1990s. Yes, I am well aware that Northern Bobwhite is down roughly 90% in NC from when it started in the late 60s. Wood Thrush is probably down 75-80%, based on my recollections of BBS data. (A lot of times the data are reported as declines per year, which is tricky to use --- like -1.57 per year.) So, how does that translate into a 30-year or 50-year trend? Hopefully, some of you can get that information, such as 10-year, or better 25 or 30-year trends, etc.
So, those of you who have previously commented can check the website, and get some Rangewide trends or NC/SC trends -- then we might have some real meat to chew on.
Harry LeGrand
Raleigh
On Sun, May 26, 2019 at 4:04 PM Gary Harbour <carolinabirds...><mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
Hi Kevin,
I think we all agree with your analysis. It is a crisis in the making. In addition to deforestation, some scientific estimates are that habitats are moving poleward at a rate of 15 ft/day*. Many animals and plants just can’t keep up. Birds are of course are more mobile than most animals and plants, but when their habitat can’t keep up and it disappears, then it doesn’t matter.
I recieved an email on this topic from Jack Rogers, who is going to school at LSU. I feel it is worth sharing. Jack relayed to me that this spring in Louisiana was noted by Dr. James van Remsen (Louisiana's most knowledgeable ornithologist and birder, AOU board member since the 70s), that this was the "worst spring in his memory as far as total migrant numbers go." I put a lot weight into such statements when they come from one of the Country's most recognized Ornitholgists.
Whether the past year or two represented an abrupt drop of bird numbers, or the culmination of a long decline is probaby not as important as recognizing that many birds - by various measures - are far fewer than they used to be. That "wall of sound" that many of us long-time birders remember in the Eastern US was probably made up largely of Red-eyed Vireos. Roger Tory Peterson stated that he felt they were the most abundant summering bird on the Eastern US. That was then. I suspect that our perception of the decline may of just hit the point were it was easy to recognize the silence - kind of like slowly turning off a faucet. You might not notice that the flow is seriously declining at first because there is still plenty of water coming out. But, you hit the point of only hearing drips and it is then easy to tell the difference. This year seemed be like that for many birders.
There are many problems with using eBird for scientific analysis, especially when it comes to BIRDER behavior and how rare vs. common birds are represented (Rare birds are over-represented), but that is another large topic. But, thanks to Gary for crunching the eBird numbers to give that perspective.
Kevin Metcalf
Huntersville, NC
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Harbour
Sent: May 19, 2019 7:26 PM
To: Kevin Metcalf
Cc: Carolina Birds
Subject: Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC
Hi Kevin, et. al.,
Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would check some records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the weeks of May 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number of observers from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of thousands of birds in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average more data and help wash-out migration timing a little. This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give pretty good averages.
Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So those numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a drastic drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data points. I’ll publish the final data when this eBird week closes.
It’s nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to answer questions like these, and it’s good to see that there is not a general drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year.
On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...><mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
North Carolina Birders,
Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year.
Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned.
So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
Date: 5/27/19 9:53 am From: scompton1251 <scompton1251...> Subject: Re: AZ ASH CANYON
Birders,It is wonderful to hear that Mary Jo's property and legacy will be preserved. The last week of April Richard Hayes and I visited many of this country's best birding locations in Southeastern Arizona: in private homes in Portal, at the Nature Conservancy Preserve at Ramsey Canyon, and at Mary Jo's. So there are many ways these sites are administered and preserved. I am confident that a way will be found to preserve Mary Jo's wonderful site, much improved since I sat on a circle of folding chairs there at dusk in 2010. I invite you to examine eBird lists from "Ash Canyon B&B". Some of my photos, and I think some by Richard Hayes, can be found in lists from late April. Steve ComptonGreenville, SCSent from my Verizon LG Smartphone------ Original message------From: ann maddockDate: Mon, May 27, 2019 9:30 AMTo: carolinabirds;scompton1251;Cc: Subject:Re: AZ ASH CANYONTo give those that were never able to visit Mary Jo’s a glimpse of the variation of species in her yard, my first day at her place I saw SEVEN SPECIES OF HUMMINGBIRDS - five of which were adult males! On Sun, May 26, 2019 at 11:00 PM scompton1251 <scompton1251...> wrote:
Birders,Richard Hayes and I were at Mary Jo's one day the last week of April. What a great place. We saw her briefly with,her parrot. Maybe Tucson Audubon can take on another place.Steve ComptonGreenville, SCSent from my Verizon LG Smartphone------ Original message------From: ann maddockDate: Sun, May 26, 2019 8:40 AMTo: carolinabirds;Cc: Subject:AZ ASH CANYONHi every oneMany of you know of, or had the pleasure to meet mary Jo Ballator of Ash Canyon B&B? Phenomenal place for all kinds of birds but especially for hummingbirds. I heard this morning that Mary Jo passed yesterday in a hospice facility near Ash Canyon. She was a wonderful person and an encyclopedia of knowledge. I know she had few relatives, and she herself ( last year) was uncertain as to what would happen to her birding sanctuary after she is gone. We donated the water garden fountain at her place , which many of you may have watched the hummingbirds bathe in. Her parrot, Cookie, was more than 35 years old, and when Mary Jo had back surgery about two years ago, she had a friend take Cookie until Mary Jo could be on her own. She told me last year that if anything should happen to her she would want to put Cookie down because Cookie had such a bad time without Mary Jo for two months. If anyone hears anything as to what will happen to her birding sanctuary please keep us posted? Take care Ann -- Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and Caribbean Hummingbirds! Ann <Maddockam.hummingbird.photos...> Island, NC
-- Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and Caribbean Hummingbirds! Ann <Maddockam.hummingbird.photos...> Island, NC
Date: 5/27/19 6:30 am From: ann maddock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: AZ ASH CANYON
To give those that were never able to visit Mary Jo’s a glimpse of the
variation of species in her yard, my *first day *at her place I saw SEVEN
SPECIES OF HUMMINGBIRDS - five of which were adult males!
On Sun, May 26, 2019 at 11:00 PM scompton1251 <scompton1251...>
wrote:
> Birders,
>
> Richard Hayes and I were at Mary Jo's one day the last week of April. What
> a great place. We saw her briefly with,her parrot. Maybe Tucson Audubon can
> take on another place.
>
> Steve Compton
> Greenville, SC
>
> *Sent from my Verizon LG Smartphone*
>
> ------ Original message------
> *From: *ann maddock
> *Date: *Sun, May 26, 2019 8:40 AM
> *To: *carolinabirds;
> *Cc: *
> *Subject:*AZ ASH CANYON
>
> Hi every one
>
> Many of you know of, or had the pleasure to meet mary Jo Ballator of Ash
> Canyon B&B? Phenomenal place for all kinds of birds but especially for
> hummingbirds.
>
> I heard this morning that Mary Jo passed yesterday in a hospice facility
> near Ash Canyon. She was a wonderful person and an encyclopedia of
> knowledge.
>
> I know she had few relatives, and she herself ( last year) was uncertain
> as to what would happen to her birding sanctuary after she is gone. We
> donated the water garden fountain at her place , which many of you may have
> watched the hummingbirds bathe in. Her parrot, Cookie, was more than 35
> years old, and when Mary Jo had back surgery about two years ago, she had a
> friend take Cookie until Mary Jo could be on her own. She told me last year
> that if anything should happen to her she would want to put Cookie down
> because Cookie had such a bad time without Mary Jo for two months.
>
> If anyone hears anything as to what will happen to her birding sanctuary
> please keep us posted?
>
> Take care
> Ann
> --
> Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and
> Caribbean Hummingbirds!
>
> Ann Maddock
> <am.hummingbird.photos...>
> Hatteras Island, NC
>
--
Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and
Caribbean Hummingbirds!
Ann Maddock
<am.hummingbird.photos...>
Hatteras Island, NC
Date: 5/27/19 5:48 am From: ann maddock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Fwd: AZ ASH CANYON
Stephany just sent this - a wonderful tribute to Mary Jo and some info
about the status of the sanctuary
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Stephany McNew <carolinabirds...>
Date: Mon, May 27, 2019 at 8:38 AM
Subject: Re: AZ ASH CANYON
To:
CC: ann maddock <carolinabirds...>
This is copied information from Tony Battiste and the status of the Ash
Canyon B&B on Facebook. Please share with the whole group if you’d like.
“A kind and gentle spirit left our worldly presence yesterday morning.
Mary Jo Ballator, creator and steward of Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary passed,
away surrounded by her family, at Pepe's Place Hospice in Tucson yesterday
morning. Mary Jo loved and cherished and was knowledgeable of everything
to do with the natural world. She was a master gardener, enthusiastic bird
watcher, protector of everything living, creepy crawlers, insects,
reptiles, mammals. She created a garden especially for the birds, but the
banquet that she served daily drew every other kind of living thing,
raccoons, ring-tailed cats, fox, javelina, deer and pesky Black Bears that
often destroyed her feeders. Mary Jo could easily have ended their
behavior by calling in Game and Fish to have the bears removed, but that
was not in her nature. She knew that the end of her nuisance would also
mean the end of the bears existence and that would be contrary to all she
believed in. If she couldn't kill a spider, she surely could not live with
the thought of being responsible for the death of a bear. Mary Jo became
instantly famous back in 2003, when a Plain-capped Starthroat Hummingbird
showed up in her garden. Birders came from across the country to see this
rarity. Soon it was discovered that Lucifer Hummingbirds could be seen here
like nowhere else in SE AZ. Mary Jo opener her unique garden to the
general public from dawn to dusk from that time to her passing, graciously
sharing her birds and her knowledge to all that visited. In recent years,
She had to give up her bed and breakfast business due to health reasons,
but the birding Gods smiled down on her by sending Montezuma Quail to her
garden, one of the Holy Graile birds that all birders seek to add to their
life list. The bird sanctuary became the one sure spot to be able to see
this secretive species. Mary Jo was my first friend when I moved to AZ.
She was my BEST friend. She was a friend of EVERYONE that ever met her.
Mary Jo will be missed, but her legacy will live on through the avian
garden bird sanctuary she poured her life and soul into creating. The MARY
JO BALLATOR BIRD SANCTUARY, formally known as the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary
, will be closed until at least July 1. Presently, we are working with the
family to find a way to re-open the garden until such time a buyer can be
found willing to preserve what Mary Jo has created. We are looking for
local (Sierra Vista/Hereford area) volunteers willing to maintain feeders,
maintain the garden and act as docents to assist visiting birders. More
info will be forth-coming. A memorial is being tentatively planned to
coincide with Mary Jo's 75th birthday in Sept. Again, more info will
follow. Please take a moment to reflect on your own personal connection
with this remarkable lady. RIP, MJB I love you dear friend!!!!!!!!”
Stephany McNew
Knoxville, TN
Sent from my iPhone
On May 26, 2019, at 11:00 PM, scompton1251 <scompton1251...> wrote:
Birders,
Richard Hayes and I were at Mary Jo's one day the last week of April. What
a great place. We saw her briefly with,her parrot. Maybe Tucson Audubon can
take on another place.
Steve Compton
Greenville, SC
*Sent from my Verizon LG Smartphone*
------ Original message------
*From: *ann maddock
*Date: *Sun, May 26, 2019 8:40 AM
*To: *carolinabirds;
*Cc: *
*Subject:*AZ ASH CANYON
Hi every one
Many of you know of, or had the pleasure to meet mary Jo Ballator of Ash
Canyon B&B? Phenomenal place for all kinds of birds but especially for
hummingbirds.
I heard this morning that Mary Jo passed yesterday in a hospice facility
near Ash Canyon. She was a wonderful person and an encyclopedia of
knowledge.
I know she had few relatives, and she herself ( last year) was uncertain as
to what would happen to her birding sanctuary after she is gone. We
donated the water garden fountain at her place , which many of you may have
watched the hummingbirds bathe in. Her parrot, Cookie, was more than 35
years old, and when Mary Jo had back surgery about two years ago, she had a
friend take Cookie until Mary Jo could be on her own. She told me last year
that if anything should happen to her she would want to put Cookie down
because Cookie had such a bad time without Mary Jo for two months.
If anyone hears anything as to what will happen to her birding sanctuary
please keep us posted?
Take care
Ann
--
Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and
Caribbean Hummingbirds!
Ann Maddock
<am.hummingbird.photos...>
Hatteras Island, NC
--
Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and
Caribbean Hummingbirds!
Ann Maddock
<am.hummingbird.photos...>
Hatteras Island, NC
Date: 5/27/19 5:38 am From: Stephany McNew (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: AZ ASH CANYON
This is copied information from Tony Battiste and the status of the Ash Canyon B&B on Facebook. Please share with the whole group if you’d like.
“A kind and gentle spirit left our worldly presence yesterday morning. Mary Jo Ballator, creator and steward of Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary passed, away surrounded by her family, at Pepe's Place Hospice in Tucson yesterday morning. Mary Jo loved and cherished and was knowledgeable of everything to do with the natural world. She was a master gardener, enthusiastic bird watcher, protector of everything living, creepy crawlers, insects, reptiles, mammals. She created a garden especially for the birds, but the banquet that she served daily drew every other kind of living thing, raccoons, ring-tailed cats, fox, javelina, deer and pesky Black Bears that often destroyed her feeders. Mary Jo could easily have ended their behavior by calling in Game and Fish to have the bears removed, but that was not in her nature. She knew that the end of her nuisance would also mean the end of the bears existence and that would be contrary to all she believed in. If she couldn't kill a spider, she surely could not live with the thought of being responsible for the death of a bear. Mary Jo became instantly famous back in 2003, when a Plain-capped Starthroat Hummingbird showed up in her garden. Birders came from across the country to see this rarity. Soon it was discovered that Lucifer Hummingbirds could be seen here like nowhere else in SE AZ. Mary Jo opener her unique garden to the general public from dawn to dusk from that time to her passing, graciously sharing her birds and her knowledge to all that visited. In recent years, She had to give up her bed and breakfast business due to health reasons, but the birding Gods smiled down on her by sending Montezuma Quail to her garden, one of the Holy Graile birds that all birders seek to add to their life list. The bird sanctuary became the one sure spot to be able to see this secretive species. Mary Jo was my first friend when I moved to AZ. She was my BEST friend. She was a friend of EVERYONE that ever met her. Mary Jo will be missed, but her legacy will live on through the avian garden bird sanctuary she poured her life and soul into creating. The MARY JO BALLATOR BIRD SANCTUARY, formally known as the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary , will be closed until at least July 1. Presently, we are working with the family to find a way to re-open the garden until such time a buyer can be found willing to preserve what Mary Jo has created. We are looking for local (Sierra Vista/Hereford area) volunteers willing to maintain feeders, maintain the garden and act as docents to assist visiting birders. More info will be forth-coming. A memorial is being tentatively planned to coincide with Mary Jo's 75th birthday in Sept. Again, more info will follow. Please take a moment to reflect on your own personal connection with this remarkable lady. RIP, MJB I love you dear friend!!!!!!!!”
Stephany McNew
Knoxville, TN
Sent from my iPhone
> On May 26, 2019, at 11:00 PM, scompton1251 <scompton1251...> wrote:
>
> Birders,
>
> Richard Hayes and I were at Mary Jo's one day the last week of April. What a great place. We saw her briefly with,her parrot. Maybe Tucson Audubon can take on another place.
>
> Steve Compton
> Greenville, SC
>
> Sent from my Verizon LG Smartphone
>
> ------ Original message------
> From: ann maddock
> Date: Sun, May 26, 2019 8:40 AM
> To: carolinabirds;
> Cc:
> Subject:AZ ASH CANYON
>
> Hi every one
>
> Many of you know of, or had the pleasure to meet mary Jo Ballator of Ash Canyon B&B? Phenomenal place for all kinds of birds but especially for hummingbirds.
>
> I heard this morning that Mary Jo passed yesterday in a hospice facility near Ash Canyon. She was a wonderful person and an encyclopedia of knowledge.
>
> I know she had few relatives, and she herself ( last year) was uncertain as to what would happen to her birding sanctuary after she is gone. We donated the water garden fountain at her place , which many of you may have watched the hummingbirds bathe in. Her parrot, Cookie, was more than 35 years old, and when Mary Jo had back surgery about two years ago, she had a friend take Cookie until Mary Jo could be on her own. She told me last year that if anything should happen to her she would want to put Cookie down because Cookie had such a bad time without Mary Jo for two months.
>
> If anyone hears anything as to what will happen to her birding sanctuary please keep us posted?
>
> Take care
> Ann
> --
> Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and Caribbean Hummingbirds!
>
> Ann Maddock
> <am.hummingbird.photos...>
> Hatteras Island, NC
Birders,Richard Hayes and I were at Mary Jo's one day the last week of April. What a great place. We saw her briefly with,her parrot. Maybe Tucson Audubon can take on another place.Steve ComptonGreenville, SCSent from my Verizon LG Smartphone------ Original message------From: ann maddockDate: Sun, May 26, 2019 8:40 AMTo: carolinabirds;Cc: Subject:AZ ASH CANYONHi everyoneMany of you know of, or had the pleasure to meet mary Jo Ballator of Ash Canyon B&B? Phenomenal place for all kinds of birds but especially for hummingbirds. I heard this morning that Mary Jo passed yesterday in a hospice facility near Ash Canyon. She was a wonderful person and an encyclopedia of knowledge. I know she had few relatives, and she herself ( last year) was uncertain as to what would happen to her birding sanctuary after she is gone. We donated the water garden fountain at her place , which many of you may have watched the hummingbirds bathe in. Her parrot, Cookie, was more than 35 years o ld, and when Mary Jo had back surgery about two years ago, she had a friend take Cookie until Mary Jo could be on her own. She told me last year that if anything should happen to her she would want to put Cookie down because Cookie had such a bad time without Mary Jo for two months. If anyone hears anything as to what will happen to her birding sanctuary please keep us posted? Take care Ann -- Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and Caribbean Hummingbirds! Ann <Maddockam.hummingbird.photos...> Island, NC
While completing the Jackson, NC BBS this morning, I heard multiple (between 2 and 5 individuals) and saw one Caspian Tern flying overhead (probably about 100 feet up), headed southeast. I was on High Bridge Road, about 3.5 miles south of the intersection with Highway 186. An interesting circumstance because I was standing at the edge of a farm field, adjacent to a cutover, not expecting any tern species.
Birders, I ran the Milltail Creek BBS this morning which bisects the Alligator River NWR and the adjoining Dare Bombing Range. Had a single calling Black-billed Cuckoo on Whipping Creek Road on the bombing range in typical pocosin habitat. Unfortunately, the roads on the bombing range are currently closed to public access.
Also had a singing House Wren on Lake Worth Road in short pocosin, seemingly odd habitat for this species but I and others have recorded them before in this habitat type.
63 Prothonotary Warblers on 32 stops was about par for the course along with 2 Swainson’s Warblers.
I’m always amazed at the density of Carolina Wrens in this area—far removed from any human habitation. I had 112 individuals on 45 stops. They are seemingly calling from every bush on the entire route!
Lastly, 5 black bears (typical for this route) provided some entertainment—they like to walk the roads but don’t particularly like to swim the canals unless forced to!
Merrill Lynch
Echo Valley Farm
Watauga County, NC
Sent from my iPhone
Why are folks on this thread using *eBird* for data crunching on trends?
That tell me commenters are not aware of the *Breeding Bird Survey* or have
never conducted any BBS routes. It has been going on since about 1966 in
the US and Canada, with standardizing of routes, observers, and trend data
that eBird cannot come close to approaching. *Its primary function is to
detect long-term trends.* I have done dozens of routes over the years, in
many areas of NC, and was the BBS coordinator for NC for about 10 years in
the 1980s and 1990s. Yes, I am well aware that Northern Bobwhite is down
roughly 90% in NC from when it started in the late 60s. Wood Thrush is
probably down 75-80%, based on my recollections of BBS data. (A lot of
times the data are reported as declines per year, which is tricky to use
--- like -1.57 per year.) So, how does that translate into a 30-year or
50-year trend? Hopefully, some of you can get that information, such as
10-year, or better 25 or 30-year trends, etc.
So, those of you who have previously commented can check the website, and
get some Rangewide trends or NC/SC trends -- then we might have some real
meat to chew on.
Harry LeGrand
Raleigh
On Sun, May 26, 2019 at 4:04 PM Gary Harbour <carolinabirds...> wrote:
> Hi Kevin,
>
> I think we all agree with your analysis. It is a crisis in the making.
> In addition to deforestation, some scientific estimates are that habitats
> are moving poleward at a rate of 15 ft/day*. Many animals and plants just
> can’t keep up. Birds are of course are more mobile than most animals and
> plants, but when their habitat can’t keep up and it disappears, then it
> doesn’t matter.
>
> Gary
>
> *Chen et. al., Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High Levels
> of Climate Warming, Science
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__science.sciencemag.org_content_333_6045&d=DwMFaQ&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=ymRCw6Q-sBitug_rdeO1Tokz-I_SX2LQN2_Ocvlal9U&m=GoqObE2ZrNW9tKTWj9wVPI6ZCmw3QoReKiEECJ3gbIA&s=_rZ1AxAlz4apnGa35JE_I8uR-_-_aFpL9d6MDgf9ow4&e=> Vol
> 333, Issue 6045
>
>
> On May 26, 2019, at 3:01 PM, Kevin Metcalf <skermetcalf...>
> wrote:
>
> I recieved an email on this topic from Jack Rogers, who is going to school
> at LSU. I feel it is worth sharing. Jack relayed to me that this spring in
> Louisiana was noted by Dr. James van Remsen (Louisiana's most knowledgeable
> ornithologist and birder, AOU board member since the 70s), that this was
> the "worst spring in his memory as far as total migrant numbers go." I put
> a lot weight into such statements when they come from one of the Country's
> most recognized Ornitholgists.
>
> Whether the past year or two represented an abrupt drop of bird numbers,
> or the culmination of a long decline is probaby not as important as
> recognizing that many birds - by various measures - are far fewer than they
> used to be. That "wall of sound" that many of us long-time birders remember
> in the Eastern US was probably made up largely of Red-eyed Vireos. Roger
> Tory Peterson stated that he felt they were the most abundant summering
> bird on the Eastern US. That was then. I suspect that our perception of the
> decline may of just hit the point were it was easy to recognize the silence
> - kind of like slowly turning off a faucet. You might not notice that the
> flow is seriously declining at first because there is still plenty of water
> coming out. But, you hit the point of only hearing drips and it is then
> easy to tell the difference. This year seemed be like that for many
> birders.
>
> There are many problems with using eBird for scientific analysis,
> especially when it comes to BIRDER behavior and how rare vs. common birds
> are represented (Rare birds are over-represented), but that is another
> large topic. But, thanks to Gary for crunching the eBird numbers to give
> that perspective.
>
>
> Kevin Metcalf
> Huntersville, NC
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gary Harbour
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *Sent: May 19, 2019 7:26 PM To: Kevin Metcalf Cc: Carolina Birds Subject:
> Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC Hi Kevin, et. al.,Interesting
> question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would check some
> records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the weeks of May
> 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on
> average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number of observers
> from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of thousands of birds
> in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked
> at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia,
> South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at all the species
> you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number of birders in the
> area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3
> weeks to average more data and help wash-out migration timing a little.
> This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give pretty good
> averages.Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years
> data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So
> those numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a
> drastic drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out
> is a long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush,
> Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data
> points. I’ll publish the final data when this eBird week closes.It’s nice
> to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to answer
> questions like these, and it’s good to see that there is not a general
> drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year.Good
> Birding,Gary 2019 2014 2009 2004 1999 1994
> ____________________________________________________________Red-eye Vireo
> 2.91 3.40 3.92 4.32 7.72 7.85Magnolia 1.52 1.92 1.71 1.66 1.86 1.44BTGRN
> 1.73 2.34 2.21 1.91 2.71 2.10Wood Thrush 2.48 2.64 3.38 3.52 5.02
> 3.66RTHHumming 1.35 1.34 1.48 1.61 1.32 1.62EAWOPewee 1.59 1.73 1.92 1.93
> 2.41 2.54GRCRFlycatcher 1.72 1.80 2.16 2.27 1.95 1.92On May 19, 2019, at
> 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List)
> <carolinabirds...> <carolinabirds...>> wrote:North Carolina
> Birders, Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I
> think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced
> birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year
> was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our
> memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am
> curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't
> remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One
> Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this
> spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off
> year. Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring
> migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little
> migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding
> season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can
> drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern
> Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so
> full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were
> singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos. So,
> before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if
> other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables
> when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the
> right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer
> breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some
> historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in
> the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds
> decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What
> are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey
> Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some
> answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year,
> of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward
> trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss. The looming
> question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring"
> warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany
> documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of
> insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link
> in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial
> biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection
> seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence
> indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson
> warned. So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers
> that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear
> that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope
> someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not. Kevin
> MetcalfHuntersville, NC*
>
>
>
I think we all agree with your analysis. It is a crisis in the making. In addition to deforestation, some scientific estimates are that habitats are moving poleward at a rate of 15 ft/day*. Many animals and plants just can’t keep up. Birds are of course are more mobile than most animals and plants, but when their habitat can’t keep up and it disappears, then it doesn’t matter.
> On May 26, 2019, at 3:01 PM, Kevin Metcalf <skermetcalf...> wrote:
>
> I recieved an email on this topic from Jack Rogers, who is going to school at LSU. I feel it is worth sharing. Jack relayed to me that this spring in Louisiana was noted by Dr. James van Remsen (Louisiana's most knowledgeable ornithologist and birder, AOU board member since the 70s), that this was the "worst spring in his memory as far as total migrant numbers go." I put a lot weight into such statements when they come from one of the Country's most recognized Ornitholgists.
>
> Whether the past year or two represented an abrupt drop of bird numbers, or the culmination of a long decline is probaby not as important as recognizing that many birds - by various measures - are far fewer than they used to be. That "wall of sound" that many of us long-time birders remember in the Eastern US was probably made up largely of Red-eyed Vireos. Roger Tory Peterson stated that he felt they were the most abundant summering bird on the Eastern US. That was then. I suspect that our perception of the decline may of just hit the point were it was easy to recognize the silence - kind of like slowly turning off a faucet. You might not notice that the flow is seriously declining at first because there is still plenty of water coming out. But, you hit the point of only hearing drips and it is then easy to tell the difference. This year seemed be like that for many birders.
>
> There are many problems with using eBird for scientific analysis, especially when it comes to BIRDER behavior and how rare vs. common birds are represented (Rare birds are over-represented), but that is another large topic. But, thanks to Gary for crunching the eBird numbers to give that perspective.
>
>
> Kevin Metcalf
> Huntersville, NC
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gary Harbour
> Sent: May 19, 2019 7:26 PM
> To: Kevin Metcalf
> Cc: Carolina Birds
> Subject: Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC
>
> Hi Kevin, et. al.,
>
> Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would check some records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the weeks of May 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number of observers from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of thousands of birds in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average more data and help wash-out migration timing a little. This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give pretty good averages.
>
> Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So those numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a drastic drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data points. I’ll publish the final data when this eBird week closes.
>
> It’s nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to answer questions like these, and it’s good to see that there is not a general drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year.
>
> Good Birding,
> Gary
>
>
> 2019 2014 2009 2004 1999 1994
> ____________________________________________________________
> Red-eye Vireo 2.91 3.40 3.92 4.32 7.72 7.85
> Magnolia 1.52 1.92 1.71 1.66 1.86 1.44
> BTGRN 1.73 2.34 2.21 1.91 2.71 2.10
> Wood Thrush 2.48 2.64 3.38 3.52 5.02 3.66
> RTHHumming 1.35 1.34 1.48 1.61 1.32 1.62
> EAWOPewee 1.59 1.73 1.92 1.93 2.41 2.54
> GRCRFlycatcher 1.72 1.80 2.16 2.27 1.95 1.92
>
>
>> On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> <mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
>>
>> North Carolina Birders,
>> Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year.
>>
>> Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
>>
>> So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
>>
>> The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned.
>>
>> So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
>>
>> Kevin Metcalf
>> Huntersville, NC
I recieved an email on this topic from Jack Rogers, who is going to school at LSU. I feel it is worth sharing. Jack relayed to me that this spring in Louisiana was noted by Dr. James van Remsen (Louisiana's most knowledgeable ornithologist and birder, AOU board member since the 70s), that this was the "worst spring in his memory as far as total migrant numbers go." I put a lot weight into such statements when they come from one of the Country's most recognized Ornitholgists. Whether the past year or two represented an abrupt drop of bird numbers, or the culmination of a long decline is probaby not as important as recognizing that many birds - by various measures - are far fewer than they used to be. That "wall of sound" that many of us long-time birders remember in the Eastern US was probably made up largely of Red-eyed Vireos. Roger Tory Peterson stated that he felt they were the most abundant summering bird on the Eastern US. That was then. I suspect that our perception of the decline may of just hit the point were it was easy to recognize the silence - kind of like slowly turning off a faucet. You might not notice that the flow is seriously declining at first because there is still plenty of water coming out. But, you hit the point of only hearing drips and it is then easy to tell the difference. This year seemed be like that for many birders. There are many problems with using eBird for scientific analysis, especially when it comes to BIRDER behavior and how rare vs. common birds are represented (Rare birds are over-represented), but that is another large topic. But, thanks to Gary for crunching the eBird numbers to give that perspective.
Kevin MetcalfHuntersville, NC
-----Original Message----- From: Gary Harbour Sent: May 19, 2019 7:26 PM To: Kevin Metcalf Cc: Carolina Birds Subject: Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC
Hi Kevin, et. al., Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would check some records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the weeks of May 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number of observers from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of thousands of birds in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average more data and help wash-out migration timing a little. This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give pretty good averages. Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So those numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a drastic drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data points. I’ll publish the final data when this eBird week closes. It’s nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to answer questions like these, and it’s good to see that there is not a general drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year. Good Birding,Gary
On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> wrote: North Carolina Birders, Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year. Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos. So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss. The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned. So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not. Kevin MetcalfHuntersville, NC
Date: 5/26/19 11:03 am From: ann maddock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: An update on AZ info
I just received an email from Sheri Williamson who shared with me what she
knows at this time about Mary Jo: apparently Mary Jo suffered heart
failure while
in the hospital for surgery and was kept on life support until yesterday.
We have yet to hear of any plans for a memorial service or what the future
might be for her property. No doubt these details will be forthcoming over
the next
few days to weeks. “
I’ll keep you posted if I hear of anything else
Ann
--
Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and
Caribbean Hummingbirds!
Ann Maddock
<am.hummingbird.photos...>
Hatteras Island, NC
Date: 5/26/19 11:02 am From: Brian Bockhahn (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Falls Lake spring bird count results
The 16th Falls Lake Spring Bird Count was held on April 29, 2019 under cloudy skies, light wind and mild temperatures ranging from 54-67. 15 observers in 9 parties tallied 116 species (average 113) and 3338 total birds (average 3894).
Most numerous birds were again Cliff Swallow at 292, 150 Northern Cardinal and 134 Chipping Sparrow.
FIRST RECORDS: having a major fallout this season, two parties found Cape May Warbler, along the Mountains to sea trail near Yorkshire and at Sandling Beach. A count week Cerulean Warbler was seen during the Blue Jay Point songbird festival.
OTHER GOODIES: our 2nd Merlin also at area 18 MST, a flock of five Least Sandpiper at Sandling Beach, two parties with Veery at Durant Nature Park and the MST in area 18 which also had a single 2nd count record Purple Finch and a Baltimore Oriole! A chestnut-sided Warbler was seen at the north end of Beaverdam Lake section and three parties found Pine Siskin which were having a good spring as well.
MISSES: Nothing off A-list but we missed Great Egret, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Screech and Great Horned Owl, all the goatsuckers, Acadian Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Cedar Waxwing.
Date: 5/26/19 10:19 am From: Brian Bockhahn (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Wake County anhinga
Still a few migrants, maybe the last of season
Friday 5/24 at Beaverdam swim beach at Falls Lake, Wake County, two Ahinga were soaring overhead for a few minutes. Today a Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the yard Durham county. Orange mini-bbs was rather normal but productive the other day.
Date: 5/26/19 10:16 am From: Brian Bockhahn (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Durham spring bird counts results
The Durham Spring Bird Count was held on Sunday April 28, 2019 under partly cloudy skies, light winds, spotty showers all morning and mild temperatures 54-75. 10 observers in 6 parties and one at feeder tallied 113 species (average 112) and 2296 total birds (3,578) led by 143 Northern Cardinal, 109 Double-crested Cormorant and 99 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.
Highlights were many, including two species not on checklist, a pair of Cape May Warblers seen and photographed at Flat River, and a single Pine Siskin at a feeder in Croasdaile, way to go Tom!!!!
Not seen in the last ten counts: 1 Red-breasted Merganser south of Hickory Hill, 1 Little Blue Heron at Patterson Place Wetland, 1 Yellow-crowned Night Heron dawn flyover along Panther Creek, Broad-winged Hawk at Duke Forest, Greater Yellowlegs at Patterson Place Wetland, Chuck-wills-widow on Falls Lake game lands.
Other goodies include 10 total American Bittern at Flat River and Brickhouse Road; Herring Gull at Hickory Hill, 2 American Woodcock at Flat River, 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak at Hickory Hill and 1 Baltimore Oriole at Flat River.
MISSES: misses were somewhat disturbing and all first time A-list misses!?!: Rock Pigeon, Black-throated Green Warbler, American Redstart, Kentucky Warbler, Savannah and Grasshopper Sparrow!
Many thanks to everyone who volunteered to count!
Mark your calendars for the Durham Christmas Bird Count Dec 15, 2019 and spring bird count April 26, 2020!
Date: 5/26/19 7:44 am From: Gary Harbour (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC
Here are the final numbers, including the full week of May 15th. As predicted it only changed numbers by about 0.01 birds/report. Interesting the last two days saw a drop in all species with the exception of the Pewee and the Hummingbird which were probably still arriving the third week of May. I added in a column for 2018 as a direct comparison for the effect this year had on the numbers.
The data don’t support a drastic drop this year, but rather a continuous decline in Red-eye Vireo, Wood Thrush, and Eastern Wood Pewee. Trends are either significantly slower (Ruby-throated Hummingbird) or questionable trending to slight downward trend not starting till later (Black-throated Green 2014, Great-crested Flycatcher 2004). To the extent this is true of other species evaluation of the data would be required.
> On May 19, 2019, at 7:26 PM, Gary Harbour <gharbour...> wrote:
>
> Hi Kevin, et. al.,
>
> Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would check some records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the weeks of May 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number of observers from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of thousands of birds in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average more data and help wash-out migration timing a little. This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give pretty good averages.
>
> Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So those numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a drastic drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data points. I’ll publish the final data when this eBird week closes.
>
> It’s nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to answer questions like these, and it’s good to see that there is not a general drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year.
>
> Good Birding,
> Gary
>
>
> 2019 2014 2009 2004 1999 1994
> ____________________________________________________________
> Red-eye Vireo 2.91 3.40 3.92 4.32 7.72 7.85
> Magnolia 1.52 1.92 1.71 1.66 1.86 1.44
> BTGRN 1.73 2.34 2.21 1.91 2.71 2.10
> Wood Thrush 2.48 2.64 3.38 3.52 5.02 3.66
> RTHHumming 1.35 1.34 1.48 1.61 1.32 1.62
> EAWOPewee 1.59 1.73 1.92 1.93 2.41 2.54
> GRCRFlycatcher 1.72 1.80 2.16 2.27 1.95 1.92
>
>
>> On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> <mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
>>
>> North Carolina Birders,
>> Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year.
>>
>> Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
>>
>> So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
>>
>> The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned.
>>
>> So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
>>
>> Kevin Metcalf
>> Huntersville, NC
>
Date: 5/26/19 6:42 am From: ann maddock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: AZ ASH CANYON
Just found out that Mary Jo had a heart attack May 23 and was in hospice due to that, not cancer.
If anyone hears of any efforts to continue her bird sanctuary, or contributions to do so, please share with this list serve
Thank you
On Sun, May 26, 2019 at 8:39 AM ann maddock <am.hummingbird.photos...> wrote:
> Hi everyone > > Many of you know of, or had the pleasure to meet mary Jo Ballator of Ash > Canyon B&B? Phenomenal place for all kinds of birds but especially for > hummingbirds. > > I heard this morning that Mary Jo passed yesterday in a hospice facility > near Ash Canyon. She was a wonderful person and an encyclopedia of > knowledge. > > I know she had few relatives, and she herself ( last year) was uncertain > as to what would happen to her birding sanctuary after she is gone. We > donated the water garden fountain at her place , which many of you may have > watched the hummingbirds bathe in. Her parrot, Cookie, was more than 35 > years old, and when Mary Jo had back surgery about two years ago, she had a > friend take Cookie until Mary Jo could be on her own. She told me last year > that if anything should happen to her she would want to put Cookie down > because Cookie had such a bad time without Mary Jo for two months. > > If anyone hears anything as to what will happen to her birding sanctuary > please keep us posted? > > Take care > Ann > -- > Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and > Caribbean Hummingbirds! > > Ann Maddock > <am.hummingbird.photos...> > Hatteras Island, NC > -- Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and Caribbean Hummingbirds!
Ann Maddock <am.hummingbird.photos...> Hatteras Island, NC
Date: 5/26/19 5:39 am From: ann maddock (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: AZ ASH CANYON
Hi everyone
Many of you know of, or had the pleasure to meet mary Jo Ballator of Ash Canyon B&B? Phenomenal place for all kinds of birds but especially for hummingbirds.
I heard this morning that Mary Jo passed yesterday in a hospice facility near Ash Canyon. She was a wonderful person and an encyclopedia of knowledge.
I know she had few relatives, and she herself ( last year) was uncertain as to what would happen to her birding sanctuary after she is gone. We donated the water garden fountain at her place , which many of you may have watched the hummingbirds bathe in. Her parrot, Cookie, was more than 35 years old, and when Mary Jo had back surgery about two years ago, she had a friend take Cookie until Mary Jo could be on her own. She told me last year that if anything should happen to her she would want to put Cookie down because Cookie had such a bad time without Mary Jo for two months.
If anyone hears anything as to what will happen to her birding sanctuary please keep us posted?
Take care Ann -- Ask me about my upcoming book - a photo essay of North American and Caribbean Hummingbirds!
Ann Maddock <am.hummingbird.photos...> Hatteras Island, NC
Date: 5/24/19 6:51 pm From: Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Limpkin - Mecklenburg Co., NC this evening
The LIMPKIN was still present as of this evening at the Neck Road boat access on Mountain Island Lake, Mecklenburg County. It was perched in a tree back in the inlet to the cove, left of the little fishermen's "beach". Kevin MetcalfHuntersville, NC
For out of town birders could someone put exact directions.Thanks so much!!
Sent from my iPhone
On May 23, 2019, at 7:51 AM, Dennis Kent <dkjtk...> wrote:
If you try for the Limpkin this morning, it is hanging just to the left of two bank fisherman. The bird is only a few feet from the fisherman in the vegetation. It does not appear to be bothered by people.
Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S7.
-------- Original message --------From: "TNT Sanders(via carolinabirds Mailing List)" <carolinabirds...> Date: 5/23/19 6:43 AM (GMT-05:00) To: Cc: Mecklenburg Audubon Society List <meckbirds...>, Carolina Birds <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: [meckbirds] Limpkin - Mecklenburg Co., NC this evening
< /div>Bird still present at 6:40 this morning.
Tom SandersCharlotte, NC
Sent from my iPhone
On May 22, 2019, at 11:26 PM, Kevin Metcalf <skermetcalf...> wrote:
Birders, Following up on the earlier post to Meckbirds with some more details about the sighting of a LIMPKIN on Mountain Island Lake. Word on this bird spread from a post by a kayaker to Reddit that was picked up by some birders in the Charlotte area. Word started to spread to several local birders. I got a call from Rob Van Epps around 7:30 PM, and since I live just a few minutes away from where the bird was reported, I quickly drove to the boat ramp and to my surprise (since the initial report was a day old), there was the Limpkin. A drive up rarity is always appreciated, especially one just a couple miles and about five minutes from home! Over the next hour, a few other birders arrived and everyone got the bird. Many photos taken until it got too dark to see. We left the bird when it was last perched in a small Sycamore tree on the shore.
The Neck Road boat access is a Duke Energy owned boat ramp, accessed from Neck Road in Huntersville, NC. You take Neck Road west of Beatties Ford Road, and look for a side road to the left with a sign that says NC Wildlife. The ramp is at the end of this road - named Duke Access Road on some maps. It is the next road past Johnston Davis Road. You will reach the ramp area and there are two places to park. The first is a small gravel lot to the left often used by anglers to walk down the the lake shore. There is a mowed area here and a clear patch of shoreline to scan from. The Limpkin was mostly on this shore, but to the right where it is more vegetated. The other option is to go past this little gravel lot and park in the main paved lot and walk down to the boat ramp. From the ramp, scan the near shore back to the left toward the first area This is where I first saw the bird this evening. Between the boat ramp and the fishing "beach" is where the bird mostly stayed. It also flew past the fishing beach area to the left and perched on a dead branch for a short time. It also spent time in the Pickerelweed (has purple flowers) right by the No Swimming sign.
This boat ramp area is small, so if the bird is in the same place it was this evening it should not be hard to find. But, if it leaves this area there are many coves for it to hide in. It seemed to be successfully catching snails for food, so hopefully the snail supply keeps it fed and happy for a while. By the way, if you continue out Neck Road it ends at Cowan's Ford Wildlife area and passes Rural Hill - two good local birding areas.
Kevin MetcalfHuntersville, NC
Date: 5/23/19 11:42 am From: Randy (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Want to see a Wilson's Plover
Have a birding brother in town who wants to find a Wilson's Plover. Any suggestions as to where to look for a near-guaranteed sighting near Sunset or Ocean Isle Beaches? Also, in vicinity of Myrtle Beach IAP on this Saturday.
Yes, I know locating them may be unpredictable from day to day. However, if someone knows of any nesting sights where he might see them nearby without disturbing the nest, it might be a good place for him to go. Don't worry, he's close to expert level as an amateur birder with degrees in Wildlife Biology and Wildlife Management, and definitely knows what and what not to do, and would be super responsible in terms of observing in nesting areas without disturbing nests. Former legal environmental staffer for NJ Legislature. Private response would be okay, maybe even preferred.
Randy ClimpsonOIB, NC
Date: 5/23/19 8:53 am From: Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: [meckbirds] Limpkin - Mecklenburg Co., NC this evening
This is the second record for the NC Piedmont, and there are none for the mountains. There are 5 Coastal Plain records, so this becomes the 7th state record. The other Piedmont record was also from the Catawba River "lakes", farther north at the upper reaches of Lake Norman in 2015. The NC Bird Records Committee will probably review the record, but considering that several excellent photographs are now available on eBird reports, acceptance should be just a formality.
Harry LeGrand Non-voting member of the NC BRC; Birds of NC website author/editor
On Thu, May 23, 2019 at 11:41 AM Dwayne Martin <carolinabirds...> wrote:
Date: 5/23/19 8:39 am From: Fran Irvin (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: [meckbirds] Limpkin - Mecklenburg Co., NC this evening
For out of town birders could someone put exact directions.
Thanks so much!!
Sent from my iPhone
> On May 23, 2019, at 7:51 AM, Dennis Kent <dkjtk...> wrote:
>
> If you try for the Limpkin this morning, it is hanging just to the left of two bank fisherman. The bird is only a few feet from the fisherman in the vegetation. It does not appear to be bothered by people.
>
>
>
> Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S7.
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: "TNT Sanders(via carolinabirds Mailing List)" <carolinabirds...>
> Date: 5/23/19 6:43 AM (GMT-05:00)
> To:
> Cc: Mecklenburg Audubon Society List <meckbirds...>, Carolina Birds <carolinabirds...>
> Subject: Re: [meckbirds] Limpkin - Mecklenburg Co., NC this evening
>
> < /div>
> Bird still present at 6:40 this morning.
>
> Tom Sanders
> Charlotte, NC
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 22, 2019, at 11:26 PM, Kevin Metcalf <skermetcalf...> wrote:
>
>> Birders,
>> Following up on the earlier post to Meckbirds with some more details about the sighting of a LIMPKIN on Mountain Island Lake. Word on this bird spread from a post by a kayaker to Reddit that was picked up by some birders in the Charlotte area. Word started to spread to several local birders. I got a call from Rob Van Epps around 7:30 PM, and since I live just a few minutes away from where the bird was reported, I quickly drove to the boat ramp and to my surprise (since the initial report was a day old), there was the Limpkin. A drive up rarity is always appreciated, especially one just a couple miles and about five minutes from home! Over the next hour, a few other birders arrived and everyone got the bird. Many photos taken until it got too dark to see. We left the bird when it was last perched in a small Sycamore tree on the shore.
>>
>> The Neck Road boat access is a Duke Energy owned boat ramp, accessed from Neck Road in Huntersville, NC. You take Neck Road west of Beatties Ford Road, and look for a side road to the left with a sign that says NC Wildlife. The ramp is at the end of this road - named Duke Access Road on some maps. It is the next road past Johnston Davis Road. You will reach the ramp area and there are two places to park. The first is a small gravel lot to the left often used by anglers to walk down the the lake shore. There is a mowed area here and a clear patch of shoreline to scan from. The Limpkin was mostly on this shore, but to the right where it is more vegetated. The other option is to go past this little gravel lot and park in the main paved lot and walk down to the boat ramp. From the ramp, scan the near shore back to the left toward the first area This is where I first saw the bird this evening. Between the boat ramp and the fishing "beach" is where the bird mostly stayed. It also flew past the fishing beach area to the left and perched on a dead branch for a short time. It also spent time in the Pickerelweed (has purple flowers) right by the No Swimming sign.
>>
>> This boat ramp area is small, so if the bird is in the same place it was this evening it should not be hard to find. But, if it leaves this area there are many coves for it to hide in. It seemed to be successfully catching snails for food, so hopefully the snail supply keeps it fed and happy for a while. By the way, if you continue out Neck Road it ends at Cowan's Ford Wildlife area and passes Rural Hill - two good local birding areas.
>>
>> Kevin Metcalf
>> Huntersville, NC
>> --
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Date: 5/23/19 4:51 am From: Dennis Kent <dkjtk...> Subject: Re: [meckbirds] Limpkin - Mecklenburg Co., NC this evening
If you try for the Limpkin this morning, it is hanging just to the left of two bank fisherman. The bird is only a few feet from the fisherman in the vegetation. It does not appear to be bothered by people.Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S7.
-------- Original message --------From: "TNT Sanders(via carolinabirds Mailing List)" <carolinabirds...> Date: 5/23/19 6:43 AM (GMT-05:00) To: Cc: Mecklenburg Audubon Society List <meckbirds...>, Carolina Birds <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: [meckbirds] Limpkin - Mecklenburg Co., NC this evening
Bird still present at 6:40 this morning.
Tom Sanders
Charlotte, NC
Sent from my iPhone
On May 22, 2019, at 11:26 PM, Kevin Metcalf <skermetcalf...> wrote:
<!-- DIV {margin:0px;} -->
Birders,
Following up on the earlier post to Meckbirds with some more details about the sighting of a LIMPKIN on Mountain Island Lake. Word on this bird spread from a post by a kayaker to Reddit that was picked up by some birders in the Charlotte area. Word started
to spread to several local birders. I got a call from Rob Van Epps around 7:30 PM, and since I live just a few minutes away from where the bird was reported, I quickly drove to the boat ramp and to my surprise (since the initial report was a day old), there
was the Limpkin. A drive up rarity is always appreciated, especially one just a couple miles and about five minutes from home! Over the next hour, a few other birders arrived and everyone got the bird. Many photos taken until it got too dark to see. We left
the bird when it was last perched in a small Sycamore tree on the shore.
The Neck Road boat access is a Duke Energy owned boat ramp, accessed from Neck Road in Huntersville, NC. You take Neck Road west of Beatties Ford Road, and look for a side road to the left with a sign that says NC Wildlife. The ramp is at the end of this
road - named Duke Access Road on some maps. It is the next road past Johnston Davis Road. You will reach the ramp area and there are two places to park. The first is a small gravel lot to the left often used by anglers to walk down the the lake shore. There
is a mowed area here and a clear patch of shoreline to scan from. The Limpkin was mostly on this shore, but to the right where it is more vegetated. The other option is to go past this little gravel lot and park in the main paved lot and walk down to the boat
ramp. From the ramp, scan the near shore back to the left toward the first area This is where I first saw the bird this evening. Between the boat ramp and the fishing "beach" is where the bird mostly stayed. It also flew past the fishing beach area to the
left and perched on a dead branch for a short time. It also spent time in the Pickerelweed (has purple flowers) right by the No Swimming sign.
This boat ramp area is small, so if the bird is in the same place it was this evening it should not be hard to find. But, if it leaves this area there are many coves for it to hide in. It seemed to be successfully catching snails for food, so hopefully
the snail supply keeps it fed and happy for a while. By the way, if you continue out Neck Road it ends at Cowan's Ford Wildlife area and passes Rural Hill - two good local birding areas.
Birders, Following up on the earlier post to Meckbirds with some more details about the sighting of a LIMPKIN on Mountain Island Lake. Word on this bird spread from a post by a kayaker to Reddit that was picked up by some birders in the Charlotte area. Word started to spread to several local birders. I got a call from Rob Van Epps around 7:30 PM, and since I live just a few minutes away from where the bird was reported, I quickly drove to the boat ramp and to my surprise (since the initial report was a day old), there was the Limpkin. A drive up rarity is always appreciated, especially one just a couple miles and about five minutes from home! Over the next hour, a few other birders arrived and everyone got the bird. Many photos taken until it got too dark to see. We left the bird when it was last perched in a small Sycamore tree on the shore.
The Neck Road boat access is a Duke Energy owned boat ramp, accessed from Neck Road in Huntersville, NC. You take Neck Road west of Beatties Ford Road, and look for a side road to the left with a sign that says NC Wildlife. The ramp is at the end of this road - named Duke Access Road on some maps. It is the next road past Johnston Davis Road. You will reach the ramp area and there are two places to park. The first is a small gravel lot to the left often used by anglers to walk down the the lake shore. There is a mowed area here and a clear patch of shoreline to scan from. The Limpkin was mostly on this shore, but to the right where it is more vegetated. The other option is to go past this little gravel lot and park in the main paved lot and walk down to the boat ramp. From the ramp, scan the near shore back to the left toward the first area This is where I first saw the bird this evening. Between the boat ramp and the fishing "beach" is where the bird mostly stayed. It also flew past the fishing beach area to the left and perched on a dead branch for a short time. It also spent time in the Pickerelweed (has purple flowers) right by the No Swimming sign.
This boat ramp area is small, so if the bird is in the same place it was this evening it should not be hard to find. But, if it leaves this area there are many coves for it to hide in. It seemed to be successfully catching snails for food, so hopefully the snail supply keeps it fed and happy for a while. By the way, if you continue out Neck Road it ends at Cowan's Ford Wildlife area and passes Rural Hill - two good local birding areas.
Date: 5/23/19 3:07 am From: Frank Enders (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Whippoorwill stops and Bobwhite starts 5:17 AM
May 18, for a grandchild, during the full moon, at 9 and 11PM I refound the Whippoorwill which I had noticed singing near my home for several days. Some days I had been unable to hear the bird, and again missed it at 4 AM (though I heard a Horned Lark sing. This morning, I located the Whip, now singing farther north (some 300'). Over the period of time I have heard this bird, only once was it audible from my driveway (500 feet from my home where I heard it one earlier night). The bird is about 3000 feet from my driveway, and only audible some 600(?)' away. The CCB nightjar survey showed that Whips and Chucks sing more reliably on moonlit and dawn/dusk times; used to be 2-3 Whips singing near this location, but none for some 10 years now. I suspect the nightjar survey shows a decline. I know these birds in southeast of Raleigh where I heard them in the 70's have drastically declined, too. Locally Whips are in open piney areas, and Chicks in swampy, as most readers know.
Curiously, just after the Whip decided to be silent (5:17 AM, with only a hint of dawn to the east), this morning, a Bobwhite started singing to the south, still some 3000' feet from my driveway. Quail are also drastically reduced in numbers locally, but persist due to logging and farming---the area from which it called was cutover just 1.5 years ago, with some trees left in the waterway. I may have this wrong, but I think I searched for Bobwhite recorded on Ebirds this May and saw no records for most of eastern NC.
I am really pleased the quail is using this habitat, and the Whip. Sad that we do not know what we had until we lost it.
Date: 5/22/19 8:27 pm From: Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Limpkin - Mecklenburg Co., NC this evening
Birders, Following up on the earlier post to Meckbirds with some more details about the sighting of a LIMPKIN on Mountain Island Lake. Word on this bird spread from a post by a kayaker to Reddit that was picked up by some birders in the Charlotte area. Word started to spread to several local birders. I got a call from Rob Van Epps around 7:30 PM, and since I live just a few minutes away from where the bird was reported, I quickly drove to the boat ramp and to my surprise (since the initial report was a day old), there was the Limpkin. A drive up rarity is always appreciated, especially one just a couple miles and about five minutes from home! Over the next hour, a few other birders arrived and everyone got the bird. Many photos taken until it got too dark to see. We left the bird when it was last perched in a small Sycamore tree on the shore. The Neck Road boat access is a Duke Energy owned boat ramp, accessed from Neck Road in Huntersville, NC. You take Neck Road west of Beatties Ford Road, and look for a side road to the left with a sign that says NC Wildlife. The ramp is at the end of this road - named Duke Access Road on some maps. It is the next road past Johnston Davis Road. You will reach the ramp area and there are two places to park. The first is a small gravel lot to the left often used by anglers to walk down the the lake shore. There is a mowed area here and a clear patch of shoreline to scan from. The Limpkin was mostly on this shore, but to the right where it is more vegetated . The other option is to go past this little gravel lot and park in the main paved lot and walk down to the boat ramp. From the ramp, scan the near shore back to the left toward the first area This is where I first saw the bird this evening. Between the boat ramp and the fishing "beach" is where the bird mostly stayed. It also flew past the fishing beach area to the left and perched on a dead branch for a short time. It also spent time in the Pickerelweed (has purple flowers) right by the No Swimming sign. This boat ramp area is small, so if the bird is in the same place it was this evening it should not be hard to find. But, if it leaves this area there are many coves for it to hide in. It seemed to be successfully catching snails for food, so hopefully the snail supply keeps it fed and happy for a while. By the way, if you continue out Neck Road it ends at Cowan's Ford Wildlife area and passes Rural Hill - two good local birding areas. Kevin MetcalfHuntersville, NC
Ive always been concerned and convinced that the rapid destruction of tropical forests where many migrants overwinter is at least a strong factor in the decline of many migrant species.
The shift in the magnetic pole is a significant issue if you were to try to fly a plane solely by compass to a specific airport and relied on information that's a few decades old. But if you just need a general idea of which way is north, the shift is not significant. Birds use a variety of clues to find their way in migration, so they probably won't have significant problems from that. In fact, there's no evidence that past flips in the magnetic field have been a problem for living things.
Besides the chemicals (which include not just pesticides but plastics, pharmaceutical waste, etc.), habitat loss and climate change are also significant drivers of biological declines. Identifying which is the biggest factor in any one case is often hard.
On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 2:13 PM Krystyna 00 <carolinabirds...><mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
Interesting thread.
Im wondering about the movement of the northern magnetic pole as it relates to migration patterns.
From what Ive read, since the early 1900s, the northern magnetic pole is currently moving from northern Canada towards Siberia at a rate of 30 miles per year. Before 1900, it was moving at 6 miles per year. The southern magnetic pole is also shifting, but apparently not as fast. Ive read some articles that suggest that shifts in magnetic fields would also affect the internal GPS of birds and other wildlife (i.e., monarch butterflies?), and thus account for shifts in migration patterns.
Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would check some records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the weeks of May 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number of observers from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of thousands of birds in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average more data and help wash-out migration timing a little. This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give pretty good averages.
Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So those numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a drastic drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data points. Ill publish the final data when this eBird week closes.
Its nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to answer questions like these, and its good to see that there is not a general drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year.
On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...><mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
North Carolina Birders,
Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year.
Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned.
So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
Kevin Metcalf
Huntersville, NC
--
Dr. David Campbell
Associate Professor, Geology
Department of Natural Sciences
Box 7270
Gardner-Webb University
Boiling Springs NC 28017
The shift in the magnetic pole is a significant issue if you were to try to
fly a plane solely by compass to a specific airport and relied on
information that's a few decades old. But if you just need a general idea
of which way is north, the shift is not significant. Birds use a variety
of clues to find their way in migration, so they probably won't have
significant problems from that. In fact, there's no evidence that past
flips in the magnetic field have been a problem for living things.
Besides the chemicals (which include not just pesticides but plastics,
pharmaceutical waste, etc.), habitat loss and climate change are also
significant drivers of biological declines. Identifying which is the
biggest factor in any one case is often hard.
On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 2:13 PM Krystyna 00 <carolinabirds...> wrote:
> Interesting thread.
>
>
>
> I’m wondering about the movement of the northern magnetic pole as it
> relates to migration patterns.
>
> From what I’ve read, since the early 1900’s, the northern magnetic pole
> is currently moving from northern Canada towards Siberia at a rate of 30
> miles per year. Before 1900, it was moving at 6 miles per year. The
> southern magnetic pole is also shifting, but apparently not as fast. I’ve
> read some articles that suggest that shifts in magnetic fields would also
> affect the internal GPS of birds and other wildlife (i.e., monarch
> butterflies?), and thus account for shifts in migration patterns.
>
>
>
>
>
> Krys Ochota
>
> Leland, NC
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* <carolinabirds-request...> <carolinabirds-request...> *On
> Behalf Of *Gary Harbour
> *Sent:* Sunday, May 19, 2019 7:26 PM
> *To:* Kevin Metcalf <skermetcalf...>
> *Cc:* Carolina Birds <carolinabirds...>
> *Subject:* Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC
>
>
>
> Hi Kevin, et. al.,
>
>
>
> Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would
> check some records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the
> weeks of May 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds
> recorded, on average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number
> of observers from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of
> thousands of birds in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back
> to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of
> Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked
> at all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number
> of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated
> Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average more data and help wash-out
> migration timing a little. This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3
> weeks) should give pretty good averages.
>
>
>
> Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years data is
> not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So those
> numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a drastic
> drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a
> long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, Eastern
> Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data points.
> I’ll publish the final data when this eBird week closes.
>
>
>
> It’s nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to
> answer questions like these, and it’s good to see that there is not a
> general drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year.
>
>
>
> Good Birding,
>
> Gary
>
>
>
>
>
> 2019 2014
> 2009 2004 1999 1994
>
> ____________________________________________________________
>
> Red-eye Vireo 2.91 3.40
> 3.92 4.32 7.72
> 7.85
>
> Magnolia 1.52
> 1.92 1.71 1.66
> 1.86 1.44
>
> BTGRN 1.73 2.34
> 2.21 1.91 2.71
> 2.10
>
> Wood Thrush 2.48 2.64
> 3.38 3.52 5.02
> 3.66
>
> RTHHumming 1.35 1.34
> 1.48 1.61 1.32
> 1.62
>
> EAWOPewee 1.59 1.73
> 1.92 1.93 2.41
> 2.54
>
> GRCRFlycatcher 1.72 1.80 2.16
> 2.27 1.95 1.92
>
>
>
>
>
> On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing
> List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
>
>
> North Carolina Birders,
>
> Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it
> is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in
> the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst,
> if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us
> have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond
> the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I
> found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I
> didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that
> this is more than just an off year.
>
>
>
> Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants.
> This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of
> songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last
> year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road
> and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or
> Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of
> birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were
> singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
>
>
>
> So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious
> if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many
> variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather,
> being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the
> summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some
> historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in
> the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds
> decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What
> are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey
> Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some
> answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year,
> of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward
> trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
>
>
>
> The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent
> Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany
> documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of
> insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link
> in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial
> biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection
> seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence
> indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson
> warned.
>
>
>
> So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you
> would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that.
> Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone
> is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
>
>
>
> Kevin Metcalf
>
> Huntersville, NC
>
>
>
--
Dr. David Campbell
Associate Professor, Geology
Department of Natural Sciences
Box 7270
Gardner-Webb University
Boiling Springs NC 28017
I’m wondering about the movement of the northern magnetic pole as it relates to migration patterns.
From what I’ve read, since the early 1900’s, the northern magnetic pole is currently moving from northern Canada towards Siberia at a rate of 30 miles per year. Before 1900, it was moving at 6 miles per year. The southern magnetic pole is also shifting, but apparently not as fast. I’ve read some articles that suggest that shifts in magnetic fields would also affect the internal GPS of birds and other wildlife (i.e., monarch butterflies?), and thus account for shifts in migration patterns.
Krys Ochota
Leland, NC
From: <carolinabirds-request...> <carolinabirds-request...> On Behalf Of Gary Harbour
Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2019 7:26 PM
To: Kevin Metcalf <skermetcalf...>
Cc: Carolina Birds <carolinabirds...>
Subject: Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC
Hi Kevin, et. al.,
Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would check some records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the weeks of May 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number of observers from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of thousands of birds in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average more data and help wash-out migration timing a little. This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give pretty good averages.
Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So those numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a drastic drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data points. I’ll publish the final data when this eBird week closes.
It’s nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to answer questions like these, and it’s good to see that there is not a general drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year.
On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...><mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
North Carolina Birders,
Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year.
Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned.
So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
Date: 5/22/19 7:40 am From: Brian Bockhahn (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Rockingham County spring bird count results
The SEVENTH Rockingham County Spring Bird Count was held on Wednesday May 1, 2019 under clear skies and temperatures from 55-83. 6 observers in 4 parties tallied our third highest total with 114 species (average 110) and 2,109 birds (average 1,808). Totals were led by 112 Red-eyed Vireo, 95 Canada Goose and 85 European Starling. Additional bird seen during count week: Green Heron, Greater Yellowlegs, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow, Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided and Worm-eating Warbler.
FIRST COUNT RECORDS: Two Red-breasted Nuthatches were reported in the Anglin Mill section, a good place for a lingering migrant. Another long awaited first was a bald eagle seen along the Mayo River by Avalon Dam.
Second count records: Least Sandpiper from Stoneville section; American Bittern dawn flyover at Mayo River Road; Warbling Vireo at Mayo Mountain access; Horned Lark on Mayo River Road, three Bobolink in the Dan River/Airport region and 5 Pine Siskin in Anglin Mill section.
MISSES: Sharp-shinned Hawk (3rd miss), Great Horned Owl (3rd) and Belted Kingfisher (3rd miss).
Date: 5/21/19 6:24 am From: Jeff Pippen (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: carolinabirds Digest Mon, 20 May 2019
Birders,
Recently Bradley Saul, Allen Hurlbert, and Haven Wiley have done some analyses of the mini Breeding Bird Survey program data conducted in Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties (NC) over the last 20 plus years, and the data show some interesting trends…
> On May 20, 2019, at 10:59 AM, Loren Hintz <ldhintz...> wrote:
>
> There has been a mini breeding bird survey going on for a couple decades in Orange, Chatham and Durham counties. Hopefully some one else can share the data. I was in Ohio May 8-13 for the Biggest Week in birding. I would say spring was arriving late there. There were the usual number of species but not the high numbers of some years. I do wonder about the impact of all the yard anti-tick anti-mosquito spraying is having.
> Loren
>
> From Loren Hintz Chapel Hill, NC
>
>
> On Monday, May 20, 2019, 6:01:18 AM EDT, <carolinabirds-request...> <mailto:<carolinabirds-request...> <carolinabirds-request...> <mailto:<carolinabirds-request...>> wrote:
>
>
> carolinabirds Digest Mon, 20 May 2019
>
> Table of contents:
>
> 1. "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC - Kevin Metcalf <skermetcalf...> <mailto:<skermetcalf...>> > 2. Common Eider-Sullivan's Island, Charleston co., SC - Jack Rogers
> <jack...> <mailto:<jack...>> > 3. Digest - Cheryl Day <cday357...> <mailto:<cday357...>> > 4. RE: "Silent Spring" - John Haire <johnhaire...> <mailto:<johnhaire...>> > 5. Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC - Gary Harbour <gharbour...> <mailto:<gharbour...>> >
> North Carolina Birders,
> Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year.
>
> Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
>
> So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and there are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
>
> The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for food. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned.
>
> So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
>
> Kevin Metcalf
> Huntersville, NC
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> C-birders,
> While relaxing on the beach at station 9.5, a young male Common Eider was playing in the surf. It waddled up the beach a little bit and hunted fiddler crabs. When I left a few minutes ago it was still in the water near the station 10 access.
> Good birding,
> Jack Rogers
>
> Speaking only for my own experience this spring, I will echo that it was
> one of the worst I can remember. I got out and birded actively (2-3
> miles walking in good habitat over 2-3 hours or more) many mornings and
> the warbler/migrant count was bad, both for diversity of species and for
> individuals. A few species were well represented with good numbers
> (Cape May, Black-throated Blue and Parula, and more recently Redstarts
> and Swainson's Thrush), but these are some of the more common species
> every year, so I do not know how much this year was different from other
> years. To my knowledge, in all of Forsyth County, there were only 2-3
> Blackburnians and Blue-wingeds reported total, and no Bay-breasted,
> Cerulean, Golden-winged or other rarities, and this is an actively
> birded county throughout the spring, and had a Spring Bird Count with
> ~50 people birding all over on May 5.
>
> In past years, going to the best spots late April - May 10 or so, one
> could expect 10-12 warblers as a baseline, 15 several times a spring,
> maybe 17-18 once or twice, and up to 20 if you were very lucky. This
> year, knock 2-3 species off of those numbers and forget about the high end.
>
> In addition to fewer birds this year, I am also wondering about the
> effect of noise pollution. It seems like my favorite spots get louder
> and louder with leaf blowers, mowers, traffic, construction, airplanes,
> etc. It was also very windy most of the spring. The trees are fully
> leafed out by the time the birds arrive here, so you have to lead with
> your ears unless you just get lucky.
>
> I remember being very discouraged with spring migration two or three
> years ago, and then the following year was very good, so I am hesitant
> to draw conclusions good or bad based solely on my experience. Of
> course, we all know that populations for many of these species are
> decreasing at an alarming rate, and this has to manifest itself
> eventually, despite any annual random fluctuations on a micro level.
>
> Thanks for starting this thread. I hope others will contribute about
> their experiences.
>
> Good birding,
>
> John Haire
>
> Winston-Salem
>
>
>
> Hi Kevin, et. al.,
>
> Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would check some records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the weeks of May 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number of observers from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of thousands of birds in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average more data and help wash-out migration timing a little. This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give pretty good averages.
>
> Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So those numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a drastic drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data points. I’ll publish the final data when this eBird week closes.
>
> It’s nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to answer questions like these, and it’s good to see that there is not a general drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year.
>
> Good Birding,
> Gary
>
>
> 2019 2014 2009 2004 1999 1994
> ____________________________________________________________
> Red-eye Vireo 2.91 3.40 3.92 4.32 7.72 7.85
> Magnolia 1.52 1.92 1.71 1.66 1.86 1.44
> BTGRN 1.73 2.34 2.21 1.91 2.71 2.10
> Wood Thrush 2.48 2.64 3.38 3.52 5.02 3.66
> RTHHumming 1.35 1.34 1.48 1.61 1.32 1.62
> EAWOPewee 1.59 1.73 1.92 1.93 2.41 2.54
> GRCRFlycatcher 1.72 1.80 2.16 2.27 1.95 1.92
>
>
>> On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> <mailto:<carolinabirds...>> wrote:
>>
>> North Carolina Birders,
>> Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year.
>>
>> Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
>>
>> So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
>>
>> The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned.
>>
>> So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
>>
>> Kevin Metcalf
>> Huntersville, NC
>
> End of carolinabirds Digest Mon, 20 May 2019
Thanks to all of you for this discussion. I’ve been concerned about the same issues. I’ve been a casual but consistent birder in Charlotte’s Latta Park for many years, mostly birding by ear on my almost-daily strolls through the park.
My anecdotal experience is that there’s been a significant decrease in the presence of wood thrushes over the years. In the past, I recall hearing them regularly on multiple days in late April, but the past few years, I’ve been lucky to catch one during the entire spring migration.
Also, a friend who lives nearby has a large tract of mature hardwoods in her backyard with a diverse, native understory. (She works hard to control invasives.) She used to have a wood thrush singing well into early summer, which suggests they were breeding there, but in the past couple years, she hears them only briefly on migration.
That said, I still hear a good number of them at our place in the Uwharries. While that’s heartening, I’m very concerned about the wood thrush population in Charlotte.
Thanks to all of you for your diligent observations and concern.
Ruth Ann
Sent from my iPhone
> On May 19, 2019, at 7:26 PM, Gary Harbour (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
> Hi Kevin, et. al.,
>
> Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would check some records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the weeks of May 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number of observers from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of thousands of birds in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average more data and help wash-out migration timing a little. This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give pretty good averages.
>
> Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So those numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a drastic drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data points. I’ll publish the final data when this eBird week closes.
>
> It’s nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to answer questions like these, and it’s good to see that there is not a general drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year.
>
> Good Birding,
> Gary
>
>
> 2019 2014 2009 2004 1999 1994
> ____________________________________________________________
> Red-eye Vireo 2.91 3.40 3.92 4.32 7.72 7.85
> Magnolia 1.52 1.92 1.71 1.66 1.86 1.44
> BTGRN 1.73 2.34 2.21 1.91 2.71 2.10
> Wood Thrush 2.48 2.64 3.38 3.52 5.02 3.66
> RTHHumming 1.35 1.34 1.48 1.61 1.32 1.62
> EAWOPewee 1.59 1.73 1.92 1.93 2.41 2.54
> GRCRFlycatcher 1.72 1.80 2.16 2.27 1.95 1.92
>
>
>> On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>>
>> North Carolina Birders,
>> Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year.
>>
>> Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
>>
>> So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
>>
>> The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned.
>>
>> So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
>>
>> Kevin Metcalf
>> Huntersville, NC
>
Date: 5/20/19 8:01 am From: Loren Hintz <ldhintz...> Subject: Re: carolinabirds Digest Mon, 20 May 2019
There has been a mini breeding bird survey going on for a couple decades in Orange, Chatham and Durham counties. Hopefully some one else can share the data. I was in Ohio May 8-13 for the Biggest Week in birding. I would say spring was arriving late there. There were the usual number of species but not the high numbers of some years. I do wonder about the impact of all the yard anti-tick anti-mosquito spraying is having.Loren
From Loren Hintz Chapel Hill, NC
On Monday, May 20, 2019, 6:01:18 AM EDT, <carolinabirds-request...> <carolinabirds-request...> wrote:
carolinabirds Digest Mon, 20 May 2019
Table of contents:
1. "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC - Kevin Metcalf <skermetcalf...>
2. Common Eider-Sullivan's Island, Charleston co., SC - Jack Rogers
<jack...>
3. Digest - Cheryl Day <cday357...>
4. RE: "Silent Spring" - John Haire <johnhaire...>
5. Re: "Silent Spring" - Charlotte, NC - Gary Harbour <gharbour...>
<!--#yiv0474381549 DIV {margin:0px;}--><!--#yiv0474381549 DIV {margin:0px;}-->North Carolina Birders, Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year.
Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and there are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for food. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned.
So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
Kevin MetcalfHuntersville, NC
C-birders,While relaxing on the beach at station 9.5, a young male Common Eider was playing in the surf. It waddled up the beach a little bit and hunted fiddler crabs. When I left a few minutes ago it was still in the water near the station 10 access. Good birding,Jack Rogers
| |
|
Speaking only for my own experience this spring, I will echo that it was
one of the worst I can remember. I got out and birded actively (2-3
miles walking in good habitat over 2-3 hours or more) many mornings and
the warbler/migrant count was bad, both for diversity of species and for
individuals. A few species were well represented with good numbers
(Cape May, Black-throated Blue and Parula, and more recently Redstarts
and Swainson's Thrush), but these are some of the more common species
every year, so I do not know how much this year was different from other
years. To my knowledge, in all of Forsyth County, there were only 2-3
Blackburnians and Blue-wingeds reported total, and no Bay-breasted,
Cerulean, Golden-winged or other rarities, and this is an actively
birded county throughout the spring, and had a Spring Bird Count with
~50 people birding all over on May 5.
In past years, going to the best spots late April - May 10 or so, one
could expect 10-12 warblers as a baseline, 15 several times a spring,
maybe 17-18 once or twice, and up to 20 if you were very lucky. This
year, knock 2-3 species off of those numbers and forget about the high end.
In addition to fewer birds this year, I am also wondering about the
effect of noise pollution. It seems like my favorite spots get louder
and louder with leaf blowers, mowers, traffic, construction, airplanes,
etc. It was also very windy most of the spring. The trees are fully
leafed out by the time the birds arrive here, so you have to lead with
your ears unless you just get lucky.
I remember being very discouraged with spring migration two or three
years ago, and then the following year was very good, so I am hesitant
to draw conclusions good or bad based solely on my experience. Of
course, we all know that populations for many of these species are
decreasing at an alarming rate, and this has to manifest itself
eventually, despite any annual random fluctuations on a micro level.
Thanks for starting this thread. I hope others will contribute about
their experiences.
Good birding,
John Haire
Winston-Salem
Hi Kevin, et. al.,
Interesting question. I had the same impression, so I thought I would check some records. I used eBird and looked at the Average Count for the weeks of May 1, May 8, and May 15. Average Count is the number of birds recorded, on average, by all reporting observers, so it removes the number of observers from the number. In general we are talking about 10s of thousands of birds in each data point. I looked every 5 years going back to 1994. I looked at the Piedmont which includes the mountainous parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I looked at all the species you mentioned plus one I had heard about from a number of birders in the area as being AWOL this year, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I included 3 weeks to average more data and help wash-out migration timing a little. This large area (Piedmont) and Big range (3 weeks) should give pretty good averages.
Now before looking too carefully please realized that this years data is not final yet, the week of May 15th still has two more days. So those numbers will come up. But I can already see that there is not a drastic drop in any species this year from 2014. What instead stands out is a long-term consistent decline in some species (Red-eye, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee). The others are not clearly declining over these data points. I’ll publish the final data when this eBird week closes.
It’s nice to be able to used this Citizen Science Database of eBird to answer questions like these, and it’s good to see that there is not a general drastic decline in migrating species in our region this year.
Good Birding,Gary
On May 19, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Kevin Metcalf (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
North Carolina Birders, Ken Kniedel of Charlotte started this thread on Meckbirds, but I think it is worth broadening the discussion. Some experienced birders/observers in the Charlotte area, including myself, feel this year was one of the worst, if not the worst, showing of spring migrants in our memory - and some of us have been birding for around half a century. I am curious if others beyond the Charlotte region felt the same way. I can't remember a spring where I found just one Magnolia Warbler. One Black-throated Green Warbler. Maybe I didn't get out and bird as much this spring (true), but I am concerned that this is more than just an off year.
Last year, it seemed like there was a paltry showing of spring migrants. This year was even worse. And after detecting very little migration of songbirds, the forests seemed eerily quiet during the breeding season last year, and it seems like this year it is again the case. I can drive a road and hear an individual Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, or Great Crested Flycatcher. In years past the forests were so full of birdsong you had to focus to try to count how many individuals were singing. It was a wall of sound. It was a chorus. Now I hear solos.
So, before jumping to conclusions - and to fear the worst - I am curious if other regions are experiencing the same thing. There as so many variables when it comes to detecting migration, includind the weather, being at the right time at the right place, and so forth. But many of the summer breeders seem way down too. Knowing what "should be" also takes some historical perspective, and t here are relatively few people out there in the population that were actively birding, watching, and counting birds decades ago. If you are one of those, what do you think is happening? What are you hearing and seeing? Maybe the North American Breeding Bird Survey Routes that were started back around 1966 by Chandler Robbins can give some answers. Or, maybe they already have. Declines of 1, 2 or more % per year, of many species, have already been tracked. You can't have that downward trend for many years before you hit the edge of the abyss.
The looming question for me is, was Rachel Carson right. Her book "Silent Spring" warned us of this possibility in 1962. A recent study from Germany documented an "insect armageddon", whereby populations across the board of insects in the study area have been plummeting. Insects are a critical link in ecosystems, and represent the majority of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. Birds largely depend on insects for foo d. The connection seems clear. Why are insects declining? We don't know, but strong evidence indicates pesticides - chemicals in the environment. Just like Carson warned.
So, fellow birders, where are the birds? If you have the numbers that you would expect singing in your forests, it would be great to hear that. Because around Charlotte, we hope they are still out there. We hope someone is still hearing a chorus of birdsong. Here, we are not.
Kevin MetcalfHuntersville, NC
