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VOLUME XXXV FALL 1989

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FALL MEETING SET FOR WILI\

*U**CHASED NUMBER 3

/IINGTON

The fall meeting of the Carolina Bird
Club has been scheduled for October 6-8
in Wilmington, North Carolina. The
meeting will be primarily a birding meet-
ing with emphasis on shorebirds and land
bird migrants. The early October date
should coincide with the peak of the war-
bler migration along the coast. If the
weather cooperates, migrant traps such as
the Fort Fisher area could be very excit-
ing. Field trips are being planned for a
number of the excellent birding areas

IMPROVING BIRD

By don McCullough

I have a bird watching notebook that I
keep very secret. I keep it secret because
I write down all my mistakes in it. Even
more embarrassing than calling a Com-
mon Tern an Arctic Tern because of
tough conditions is calling a White-eyed
Vireo a Yellow-throated Virco given a
perfect view, or calling a Bonaparte's
Gull a Laughing Gull, or writing down
Prairie Warbler when the song turns out
to be made by a Black- throated Blue War-
bler. But they're in there along with
many other bad calls.

I write them down because I have found
that analyzing mistakes like these really
improves my bird watching skills. The
thing I have noticed is that these mis-
takes happen because I have one favorite
field mark for many common species.

That favorite field mark often allows me
to get quick ID's on the common species
as I walk along. That way I can spend
Lime checking for the more interesting
rraritics. But that "crutch" field mark can
also lead me into bad calls. Let's exam-
ine each of the blunders I am willing to
I admit.

At Jordan Lake, near Chapel Hill, NC,

\V like -eyed Vircos arc very common in
he spring. They are so common that I

around Wilmington. Programs for Fri-
day and Saturday night are being planned
by Derb Carter. Programs for both
nights will focus on shorebirds and their
identification. Claudia Wilds of
Washington, DC, one of the leading ex-
perts on east coast shorebirds, will partic-
ipate in the programs and field trips.

The meeting headquarters is the Rama-
da Inn, 5001 Market Street, Wilmington,
NC 28401, telephone (919) 799-1730.

A reservation form is provided in the
Newsletter. Reservations should be

WATCHING SKILLS

just listen for their song and don't even
try to get a glimpse. The song is my
"crutch " field mark. So when I saw a vi-
reo-like bird with yellow spectacles and
some yellow underneath, I didn’t say
"White -eyed," my mind remembered that
I got several Yellow-throated Vireos at a-
bout the same time last year and that is
what I called it, Yellow-throated. Now,
this wasn't some quick glance, it sat there
for me. I went along quite pleased with
my sight until I came upon a White-eyed
singing right by the trail. As soon as I
scoped it with my glasses I saw my earli-
er mistake. The guide book confirmed it;
both species have yellow spectacles and
yellow "underneath." Figuring out why I
made this mistake expanded the clues I
have to ID the commoner White -eyed and
firmly establish in my mind the need to
look for the yellow throat, not just the
spectacles on the Yellow-throated.

The Bonaparte's Gull mistake also hap-
pened this spring at Jordan Lake. One
lazy morning at the observation platform
by the lake the only thing going was
some black headed gulls out on the calm
surface. Black heads mean Laughing
Gulls of course. But it was a great morn-
ing and all that was waiting for me was
work, so I sat (see SKILLS page 3)

made no later than September 15.

DIRECTIONS TO MOTEL: Arriving
from the north on 1-40 continue on NC
132 at the end of the interstate. Take US
17 exit. At the end of the exit ramp turn
left (west) onto Market Street. The Ra-
mada Inn is 1/2 mile on the right.

Arriving from the south or west on US
17 or US 421 take US 17 Business route
through downtown Wilmington. Look
for the Ramada Inn on the left after leav-
ing the downtown area on Market Street.

PRESIDENT APPOINTS
COMMITTEE CHAIRS

CBC President Robin Carter has an-
nounced his appointment of the follow-
ing committee chairs:

Awards Evelyn Dabbs

Membership John Fussell

Publicity Ruth Young

Finance Heathy Walker

Meetings John Wright

Zack Bynum will head the Long
Range Planning Committee established
recently by the Executive Committee.

Carter also indicated that in accordance
with the provisions of the CBC Bylaws
he will submit the names of Harry
LcGrand, Jr. and Sid Gauthreaux, Jr. to
the Executive Committee for approval
as chairs of the CBC Species Records
Committees for North Carolina and
South Carolina respectivel> . The two
chairs will present the names of their
nominees for membership on the com-
mittees to the President and Executive
Committee for approval.

President Carter stated that his action
w'as in keeping with die stated desire of
the Executive Committee for the CBC
to continue the species records function.

THE TRAVELING BIRDWATCHER

"Spring bird watching is an experi-
ence to be found nowhere else on this
continent." So says the WINGS 1989
brochure of birding tours, and I heartily
agree. Actually WINGS offers two Alas-
kan tours. I signed up for Alaska /,
twenty days starting in Anchorage May
29. Alaska I includes six days at Gam-
bell on St. Lawrence Island, two days
each at Nome, the Pribilofs, Denali Park,
a ferry trip from Homer to Kodiak and re-
turn to Seward, and intervening days in
Anchorage. Alaska II omits the Gambel
segment, but includes Glacier Bay and
Barrow. Segments of either tour may be
omitted with the cost proportionately re-
duced.

Our group consisted of about 30
birders, plus leaders Jon Dun and David
Sibley. Included among the birders were
three other CBC members, Heathy
Walker and Jim and Jansen Lasley.
On the first evening we were taken to a
Northern Shrike nest, a Boreal Owl nest,
and also saw a breeding plumage Hudso-
nian Godwit. The next day we flew to
Nome and then on to Gambell, an Eski-
mo village on St. Lawrence Island in the
Bering Sea. The flight to Gambell was
an adventure in itself. Four flights of
nine-passenger, two engine Navahos were
necessary. Weather at Gambell was mar-
ginal for landing. The first two flights
got in, the third (mine) made an unsuc-
cessful attempt at landing, but had to
pull up at 100 ft. and eventually go back
to Nome. We finally made it late the
following day, but our half of the group
missed the Eurasian Bullfinch.

At Gambell we stayed in two old
frame houses owned by the Eskimos.

We slept on cots or on the floor; no run-
ning water and a "honey pot" toilet. Hel-
en Carlson, a birder from Billings, Mon-
tana, was our cook. The meals were
simple but very good. The two primary
birding areas were the "Point" or beach
on the Bering Sea and the Boneyards in
the village. At the Point coundess num-
bers of auklets, murres, gulls, loons and
waterfowl stream by. Among these were
all four species of eider, Yellow-billed
Loon, Emperor Geese, Slaty-backed
Gull, Ivory Gull, all three jaegers, both

ALASKAN BIRDING TOUR

By

BOB HADER

Tufted and Homed Puffin. Incidentally,
on one clear day we could see across to
Siberia, only 40 miles away. The Bone-
yards are areas of a few acres where lie
the bones of marine mammals brought in
by Eskimo hunters over many, many
decades. The Eskimos now prospect
these areas for old walrus tusks from
which they carve lovely small items for
sale. In the Boneyards we found Bram-
blings. Common Sandpiper, Red-throated
Pipit, Rufous-necked Stint and a variety
of more common shorebirds, Snow Bunt-
ings and Lapland Longspurs. Nearby we
found a Bluethroat, both Yellow and
White Wagtails and McKay's Bunting.

After our days at Gambell we re-
turned to Nome and spent two days bird-
ing nearby. Among the good birds were
Tufted Duck, Terek's Sandpiper, Com-
mon Sandpiper, Willow and Rock Ptar-
migans, Bluethroat, Northern Wheatears,
Bar-tailed Godwits and both Pacific and
Arctic Loon. The tundra around Nome
was still about 50% covered with snow.
Gambell had been over 80% snow cov-
ered.

From Nome we went back to An-
chorage and then flew to St. Paul in the
Pribilofs. St Paul is a lovely
community of Aleuts. Here we stayed at
a reasonably modem hotel, ate in a good
restaurant and did our birding by bus.

The main attractions are the large and
easily accessible colonies of alcids. Black
and Red-legged Kittywakes and Red-faced
Cormorants. St. Paul also has breeding
colonies of over 1,000,000 fur seals, a
herd of reindeer and many Arctic foxes.

From the Pribilofs we flew back to
Anchorage and set out for Denali Park in
two vans. We stayed overnight at the
Denali Park Hotel, a really first class
accomodation. Shuttle buses took us
into the park were we saw moose,
grizzlies, Dail sheep, caribou, red fox and
wolves. Best birds were a pair of
Gyrfalcons, an Arctic Warbler, Bohemian
Waxwings, and, near the park, two Hawk
Owls, a pair of Smith's Longspurs,

Tundra and Trumpeter Swans and a
Three-towed Woodpecker. Perfect
weather permitted a rare, really
impressive view of Mt. McKinley.

From Denali we drove back to Anchorage
and then to Homer for the ferry trip to
Kodiak and back to Seward. Highlights
of this part of the tour were hundreds of
Northern Fulmers, Short-tailed
Shearwaters, Fork-tailed Storm Petrels,
Marbled and Kittlitz Murrelets,
Northwestern Crows and Aleutian Terns.
We saw no evidence of the oil spill. In
the open sea it has apparently pretty well
dissipated. From Seward we drove back
to Anchorage, getting White-winged
Crosbills, Pine Grosbeaks and Rufous
Hummingbird along the way.

The WINGS tour having ended, I
flew to Juneau and to Glacier Bay for a
one day cruise among the glaciers. The
excursion boat, with narration by a park
ranger, goes 60 miles up the bay to the
foot of Grand Pacific and Margerie
glaciers, where it stops for 45 minutes to
watch huge chunks of ice calve off and
fall into the water with a loud roar. I
stayed overnight at rustic Glacier Bay
Lodge set in a beautiful spruce-hemlock
forest on the shore of Bartlett Cove. I
was thrilled to see two male Blue Grouse
within a few feet of my cabin.

Finally after 22 days it all came to
an end, and I returned to the real world.
For the whole trip I saw 176 bird species
of which 51 were new to me. I also saw
approximately 15 species of mammals
from Arctic squirrels to grizzlies and gray
whales. It was indeed a once in a lifetime
adventure which I highly recommend.

For information on WINGS tours, write
to WINGS, Inc., P.O. Box 31930,
Tucson, Arizona 85751.

TRAVELER'S NOTE

Jolene Robinson and Ruth Fordon
have transformed the lighthouse keeper's
home on Ocracoke Island, NC into The
Lightkcepcr's Inn, a bed and breakfast
inn. Special weekends of interest to
birders have been planned for die fall
beginning Sept. 15-17. The fee for the
weekend includes room for two nights,
most meals, and a naturalist/program
fee. For more detailed information send
SASE to Lightkcepcr's Inn, Box 597
Ocracoke Island, NC 27960. Tel. (919)
928-1821.

SKILLS (continued from page 1)
and watched the gulls fly and turn just
over the surface. It seemed funny that I
had never noticed that really pretty white
wedge on the forewings of the Laughers
before. They seemed so dainty, too. So I
just Hipped to the gulls section in the
guide book. I soon saw that they were
not Laughers but Bonaparte's. Several
"cutch" field marks were working on me
here. Black heads was one. But the other
was that I was used to the black spot just
behind the eye on Bonaparte's in winter.

In addition, I was used to seeing Bona-
parte's on the Outer Banks at Thanksgiv-
ing as my other "crutch." So I learned to
expect black headed Bonaparte's inland in
the spring. I also learned that maybe the
gulls were not as boring and obscure as
my bias against them would have me be-
lieve.

Finally, the Prairie Warbler mistake.
After the spring CBC meeting in Tryon I
drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway. At
one pull off I heard a buzzy song going
upward in phrases. Maybe it wasn't ex-
actly like the Prairies at Lake Jordan and
the habitat didn't seem exactly right, but
the CBC member I was with seemed to
vaguely agree with my suggestion that it
was a Prairie. So I went on looking for
the Chestnut-sided Warblers and Ravens

that I wanted from my trip. My friend
came back a few minutes later and correct-
ed me; it was a Black-throated Blue. Sure
enough, the Black-throatcd's song was
three buzzy phrases going up. Compar-
ing later at Lake Jordan, the two songs
are not really much alike at all; the Prai-
rie is much more energetic. But like the
yellow spectacles and the black head the
buzzy phrases going up was a crutch I
used to note a common bird. In addition,
my crutch on the Black-throated Blue was
the dapper little white handkerchief on his
wing. Being wrong expanded my under-
standing of these two birds.

These mistakes are the mirror image of
Mike Tove's discussion of "rare bird-itis,"
they arc "common bird-itis." Both
"diseases" are caused by assumptions
about what birds should be seen and by
incomplete knowledge or consideration of
field marks. Rare bird-itis is easier to
cure because most of us are slow to ID a
rare bird because we know it is important.
But we rely on our'crutches" to toss off
ID's of the more common species. I cer-
tainly didn't scramble for my field guide
when I made the bad ID of the "Yellow-
throated Vireo." I assumed that I was on
familiar ground. But if it maybe had been
a Kirtland's Warbler...

So my tip for becoming a better bird

watcher is to pay attention to mistakes.
Rather than being ashamed of them, try
to analyze them and discover why you
were wrong. At least in my case I have
found that having a favorite or "crutch"
field mark for a common bird makes it
more likely that I won't have a complete
picture of the bird in my mind, leading to
mistakes. In fact, a mistake is often my
first clue that I am relying on a crutch.
Studying field guides might be a good
way to fill out these incomplete pictures.
But for me that's too much like work.
Lots of time in the field and analyzing
my mistakes are the best way I have
found to complete the pictures of birds I
ought to know. Writing down the analy-
sis in my secret notebook also provides a
good way to remember the lessons I have
learned. So try filling out your notes
with your bird watching mistakes as well
as your triumphs. □

TALK (continued from page 4)
grammar or whether or not your story is
interesting to other members. I love to
get mail so please send your information
to me at 9776 Dogwood Hill Lane, Wake
Forest, NC 27587. □

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i • i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

».* I L.I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

*** ~ RAMADA INN RESERVATION FORM

Carolina Bird Club Fall Meeting, October 6-8, 1989

7 JL

I

'Name Address

(.City State Zip

ROOMS (1-4 persons per room) $36.00

Please reserve room(s) at S36.00 per night plus tax. My check for the first night's lodging is enclosed. I will arrive

and depart .

'Mail with deposit to Ramada Inn, 5001 Market Street, Wilmington, NC 28401. Telephone (919) 799-1730.

REGISTRATION FORM

CBC Fall Meeting, October 6-8, 1989

Namc(s)

Address.

(list each name for name tags)
City

State Zip

Enclosed is my check in the amount of S for member registrations at S4 each and nonmember registrations

at S5 each.

Mail with check to CAROLINA BIRD CLUB, INC., PO Box 27647, Raleigh, NC 27611.

MELINDA CALHOON
Durham, NC

HARVEY E. SAVELY & FAMILY
Beaufort, NC

BRAXTON & SHIRLEY TESH
Morehead City, NC

CAROLINA H. LANE
Atlanta, GA

RICHARD SMITH & FAMILY
Apex, NC

JUDITH WALKER
Charlotte, NC

PAMELA PAPPAS
Greenville, NC

BRAD & VALERIE STONE
Asheville, NC

CBC RARE BIRD ALERT
(704) 332-BIRD

With FRANCIS J. NELSON

NOTE: Clyde Smith, in an "Editor's
Note in the Summer 1989 issue of the
CBC Newsletter asked for a volunteer to
write the "Backyard Birding" column. I
answered his call. My husband CJ and I
moved from Northern Virginia to Wake
Forest, NC in June. CJ is originally
from Hennessey, OK, and I'm from
Washington, NC. We grew up with birds
because our mothers instilled the love of
birds in us as toddlers. In the past year
CJ has become serious about birding and
our goal is to turn our eleven acres into a
bird sanctuary'.

I must admit my interest in birding is
not quite as serious as my husband's al-
though I am learning to identify more
birds than I ever have before. My excuse
for my lack of seriousness is graduate
school. I am finishing a degree at George
Mason University in Fairfax, VA, so
much of my free time goes to writing pa-
pers, studying, and driving to Fairfax.

Once I finish my degree I can spend more
time birding-an activity I am looking
forward to.

MARTHA FREDERICK'S PUMPING
HUMMINGBIRD

Dorothy J. Foy, of Oriental, NC,
and one of the 35 North American hum-
mingbird banders, explains the pumping
action Martha Frederick observed:

The hummingbird was more than
likely poisoned, either by eating in-
sects that had been on a leaf previous-
ly sprayed with a chemical or by tak-
ing nectar from a flower that had been
sprayed.

The moral of this heart-breaking expla-
nation is to avoid using toxic chemicals
to rid your plants of insects. I use a con-
coction of garlic, onion, hot pepper and
water to spray my outside plants. I mix
the ingredients in a blender and then pour
the liquid into a spray bottle. So far this

"insecticide" works, and I have not
witnessed sick birds. I use a small onion,
one garlic clove, one-half teaspoon
minced hot pepper, and four cups water.

NORTHERN ORIOLE

Lex Glover of Lugoff, SC reports
feeding orange-flavored Kool- Aid to a fe-
male Northern Oriole (Icterus Galbula)
last winter. He tried several flavors, but
the oriole preferred the orange made with
one and a half times the normal amount
of sugar. His oriole ingested the Kool-
Aid nectar from a hummingbird feeder, so
you don’t need to buy a feeder specifically
designed for orioles. Mr. Glover fed llie
oriole from January to March 23, 1989,
and he also saw American Goldfinches
drinking from the feeder.

PEP TALK

This column is for you to ask ques-
tions, report sightings, tell bird stories,
etc. Do not be concerned about spelling,
punctuation, (see TALK page 3)

CBC NEWSLETTER is published quarterly by Carolina Bird Club, Inc., the ornithological society of the Carolinas, with headquarters
at Raleigh, NC. CBC is a nonprofit corporation, founded in 1937, with membership open to anyone interested in birds, natural
history and conservation. Members are encouraged to submit items of interest to CBC Newsletter, Clyde Smith, Editor, 2615 Wells
Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27608.

CAROLINA BIRD CLUB, INC.

CB@

Nonprofit Organization
U. S. Post Office
Permit No. 1654
Raleigh, NC 27611

P. O. BOX 27647, RALEIGH, NC 27611

*