for members of the Carolina Bird Club, Inc., ornithological society of the Carolinas

Volume 41 July/August 1995 Number 4

Witness the Mysteries of Migration

Imagine yourself waking
early on a September
morning. There has been a
rain storm the night before but
it is beginning to clear. And
although the trees are still
green there is a restlessness in
the air. That restlessness is
calling to you, beckoning to
you, changing you until you
stretch out your arms and \

discover they are really wings.

You begin to soar effortlessly

through the air. Deep inside

you feel the need to leave the

only place you have known as

home and look for a new

territory, an environment you

have never seen before. The

trip will be arduous but if you are

successful you will be able to return again

to raise young of your own next year.

That is a lot to imagine but even if you
are a neophyte birder you must have tried
this exercise a time or two as you have
watched migrating birds in the fall. And
that is exactly what we will be doing,
watching and imagining, at the Fall CBC
meeting, September 22-24 near Elkin,

NC. Situated at the foot of the Blue Ridge
escarpment, in what I call the upper
Piedmont, the area is an excellent place to
experience the fall migration. It the
weather gods smile on us we should
encounter a parade of passerines tiptoeing
through the trees, a river of raptors
flowing overhead (Broad Wings should be
at their peak), and perhaps a few
shorebirds dancing along the shores of the
ponds and streams.

Like our spring weekend in Greenwood.
SC, this area is new to many of us ami
should be well worth the exploration.

A kettle of Broad-winged Hawks

Field trips will cover a wide variety of
habitats in the piedmont, along the
escarpment and up into the Appalachian
highlands. Most trips will include plenty
of time for hawk watching. See the field
trip sheet for details.

Since many of the birds we will be
seeing this weekend will be on their way
to the southern hemisphere, it would seem
prudent to learn something about where
they are going and what they will
encounter there. While working for the
Peregrine Fund, Dr. Rob Bierrgaard,
adjunct professor of biology at
UNC-Charlotte, has been doing raptor
research in Brazil for eight years. Friday
night he will share with us what he has
discovered about both endemic raptor
species as well as what "our" birds are up
to during their winter vacation.

Then Saturday night a presentation by
the Carolina Raptor Center will allow you
to get acquainted with some very special
birds up close and personal. You will have

an opportunity to learn more
about the natural history of
our local raptors as well as
hear about the work of the
Center. From personal
experience I know you won't
want to miss this
* presentation.

Now that we have covered
the who, what and when, its
time to get back to the where
in more detail. The weekend's
activities will be headquartered
at the Holiday Inn in
Jonesville/Elkin (910-835-
i 6000). It is located at Exit 82

» off 1-77. Rixims are $45.00

per night plus tax . When you
make reservations mention
you are with the Carolina Bird Club to
get the reduced rate. To guarantee getting
this rate make your reservation by
AUGUST 31, 1995! Remember the
end of September is the beginning of the
fall leaf viewing time for this area.

Rooms will fill up quickly. Judy

Walker

INSIDE

Traveling Birdwatcher

2

Backyard Birding

3

Field Trip Reports

4

In The Field

6

New Members

8

The Traveling Birdwatcher

A Serendipitous Warbler

by Clyde Smith

A funny thing happened on my way to
see a Kirtland's Warbler in Michigan-I
saw one at Point Pelee in Canada!

I plan our vacations very carefully,
keeping an eye open for birding
opportunities. So as National Geographic
Traveler articles on Ontario's Niagara
region and Michigan's Upper Peninsula
evolved into a late spring three-week trip,
a plan for the perfect beginning and ending
took shape. We would start with a visit
to Point Pelee, Ontario for the last of
spring migration and end with a Forest
Service led Kirtland's Warbler field trip in
Mio, Michigan.

A previous commitment prevented our
leaving until May 19, so when I joined
Karl Konze and the Friends of Point Pelee
field trip at 7:00 a.m. May 21 the word
was "you should have been here the 10th."
Apparently weather conditions were just
right to stack up the largest number of
birds seen in several years at the Point on
that morning. (Aggie Tiessen, with
whom we were staying at the Home Suite
Home Bed & Breakfast, had a different
explanation when I mentioned it the next
morning at breakfast. She had two 75
year old missionary ladies staying with
her that week, and after a disappointing
day at the Point on the 9th one of them
prayed for good birding the next day. Her
prayers were answered! ) Our group on
May 21 had good birding with abundant
Eastern Kingbirds and Baltimore Orioles.
A Mourning Warbler was spotted near the
tip along with a beautiful Bay-breasted
Warbler. We were working our way back
toward the tram station around 9:30 a.m.
when a Gray Catbird and a Blackpoll
Warbler caught our attention. As we
bunched up trying to get a good look at
the Blackpoll, a young lady hurried up and
excitedly told Karl that a Kirtland's
Warbler had been sighted. Karl asked us if
we wanted to try to find it and almost got
trampled for his trouble. Amazingly, all
we had to do was follow the crowd and
soon we were noting the faint black

streaks on the yellow sides and occasional
tail wag of a first-year female Kirtland's
Warbler. We followed its progress north
and were able to see an eye ring along with
the other field marks as birders from as far
away as Toronto joined us. According to
an account in the May 27 Toronto Globe
and Mail the bird had been discovered near
the tip of Point Pelee at 6:40 a.m. and was
the first Kirtland's Warbler seen since an
immature male was spotted two springs
ago.

My feelings afterward were a little hard
to explain. I was elated at such a
serendipitous sighting of a rare life bird,
but although it seems strange, I was a
little bit disappointed, too. The bird had
foiled my plans for the perfect ending of
our trip. I never did like to color outside
the lines.

The remainder of our trip went pretty
much as planned, Niagara Falls, the Shaw
Festival, Toronto, Soo locks, Whitefish
Point, Pictured Rocks, Seney NWR,
Mackinac Island and finally Oscoda
County, Kirtland's Warbler Capital of
Michigan. Kirtland's Warbler tours are
offered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service from the Holiday Inn in Grayling,
MI, and by the U.S. Forest Service from
their District office at Mio, MI. I had
chosen Mio as our headquarters with
Grayling held in reserve if the Forest
Service didn't deliver. On Saturdays, tours
are offered at 7:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.,
and I was the first to arrive for the 7:30
a.m. tour Saturday, June 4.

First we saw a video about the efforts to
save the Kirtland's Warbler, one of the first
birds to be placed on the endangered
species list. We learned that the bird is
very particular about where it chooses to
nest. It nests only in the northern Lower
Peninsula of Michigan on the ground in
young jack pine forests growing on a
special type of sandy soil called Graying
Sands. They favor 200 acre + forests
which are between 8 and 22 years old with
trees 5 to 16 feet tall. Although the

cutting and burning of the settlers created
the favorable young forests, the creation
of large open spaces favored the spread of
the Brown-headed Cowbird from the
grassy plains of the west. With the
introduction of more recent fire
suppression policies appropriate habitat
disappeared and predation by cowbirds
increased leading to the drastic decline of
the Kirtland's Warbler. There were 500
nesting pairs when the first count was
held in 1951, and the number fell to a low
of 170 nesting pairs in 1987.

Control of the Brown-headed Cowbird
by trapping began in 1972, and controlled,
burning was used to replace the natural
fires which once created favorable habitat.
There was no marked improvement,
however, until a controlled bum in the
Mack Lake area got out of control in 1980
destroying thousands of acres. Natural
regeneration of the jack pine forest in this
area led to a dramatic increase in the
nesting population beginning from the
low point in 1987. The count rose to 633
nesting pairs in 1994 and an even larger
number is expected in 1995. The Mack
Lake bum brought about a change in
Forest Service policy as fewer controlled
bums are used now and larger areas are
cleared. Trees are now cut and chipped on
site in a 50 year cycle and the forests
replanted in a pattern to create the proper
spacing and periodic openings which
allow the dense growth of grasses and the
lower branches of the trees. The revenue
from sale of the trees is equal to about
half the cost of the management program.

As our rather large 7:30 a.m. group
moved out to the Mack Lake site we
immediately heard a Kirtland's Warbler
singing, but we had to move to another
bird our leader, Phil Huber, District
Biologist, had staked out. He very
accommodatingly occupied a high perch
and sang for us in plain view, but
steadfastly kept his back turned toward us.

See Warbler, page 8

July 10, 1995—Whew! The summer
is passing so quickly that I feel like I'm
moving full speed ahead constantly. But
isn't that how summer is supposed to be?

I wonder what happened to those lazy,
hazy days. The birds, too, seem to be in a
rush, flitting hurriedly from tree to tree
and feeder to feeder. The only creature
moving in slow motion is a Great Blue
Heron who has been on and aroimd the
pond for the last four days. The bad news
is he got one of our bull frogs; the good
news is he should have plenty of fish.
Perhaps that's why he’s staymg close by.

We have had other birds, too. A Green
Hpron spent a few hours with us on May
9, and we saw an American Redstart male
in the woods. The next day a Solitary
Sandpiper hopped its way around the edge
of the pond, and a male redstart spent
some time in the front yard. That's the
first time we have seen one near the
house.

We also added two new birds to our
property list. On May 12, CJ saw a
Black-throated Green Warbler (#113), and
on the 13th, two Northern Oriole males
(#114) flew into the front yard, stayed five
or ten minutes and then flew across the
pond. They didn't seem to be fighting;
maybe they were checking out possible
territory. Also on the 13th, a pair of
Killdeer acted as if they were looking for a
possible nesting site near the pond. They
walked up and down the grass by the pond,
poking under clumps of marsh grass and
the gravel around the edge of the pond.
Evidently, nothing was just right.

Things were relatively quiet from then
until May 22 when we heard a Yellow-
throated Vireo, and I saw him hop from
branch to branch in an oak. We also heard
a Hooded Warbler regularly, but he is in a
different place than he has been the past
three years. Early that morning CJ walked
down by the creek that runs behind our
house and two Louisiana Waterthrushes
got quite angry with him. They flew
around in the trees just chattering. Later
that day we went back and heard lots of
racket and saw two fledgling
waterthrushes.

Two days later, we left for five weeks.
We visited friends and family in Indiana,
Minnesota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and
Arkansas. We spent three days in
Minneapolis,. and I added seven birds to
my life list; four of those in the Carlos
Avery Wildlife Refuge just a few miles

Backyard Birding

with Frances J. Nelson

from the city. We saw Scissor-tailed
Flycatchers in Oklahoma and Arkansas as
far east as the western outskirts of Little
Rock. The scissor-tails were only in
western Arkansas when we lived in Little
Rock. May the birds are pushing eastward
and eventually we will see them here.

Because of our trip, we missed most of
the June rain in our area, but we saw the
benefits. The grass was about two feet
high, but the goldfinches. Indigo Buntings
and cardinals added splashes of color.
Someone took care of the feeders while we
were gone, so the birds fared well. When
we left, we had one Ruby-throated
Hummingbird; on our return June 26, we
had four.

On June 27, seven Great Blue Herons
flew over the pond just above the trees.
That's a first for us. We have seen them
in groups before but always standing in
water or roosting in trees. Does anyone
know of a rookery nearby ? After we
returned to the house, I was sitting on the
sofa and saw a Black and White Warbler
walk headfirst down a tree just two feet
from the deck. We saw the bird for the
next three or four days. I always thought
that they just passed through here— guess 1
was wrong again.

Since we were gone for so long, our
backyard birding is rather sparse— thank
goodness, I received letters from other
birders. The first came from Jean
McCoy, Greensboro, NC. She had a tale
about Carolina Wrens for whom she put
up a flower pot for them to nest in. They
have watched the wrens for the past few
years, seeing the babies tumble from the
nest while their parents called from the
nearby woods. But this year was different.
She noticed the adults had stopped coming
to the nest with food, but she didn't hear
the adults calling. She could hear the
babies calling and could see heads at the
rim of the pot. Then five babies came
tumbling out. Evidently the young birds
could hear the adults. One appeared a little
larger and appointed himself leader. He
went to the edge of the deck with the

otheft fol I® m|i n j | t over the
edge! made a turn to the right and off
throiLh tjh<F ground cover, across a shallow
draintqje ditth.downa fairly steep slope,
and into the trees at last." The McCoys
think it is strange that they couldn't hear
the adults and "that the adults would call
the babies— if they did— into a different part
of the woods and on a longer and more
difficult trip." Maybe the time had come
for the babies to leave the nest and some,
danger was lurking near where the adults
usually called from. Or perhaps, they
wanted to do things differently this year.

Another letter came from Ruth
Barbour, Beaufort, NC, who watched a
male Rufous-sided Towhee admire himself
in the mirror on her car parked in the
carport. He flew to a nearby crepe myrtle
and preened and flicked his feathers as a
light rain fell. Ten minutes late, he was
back at the mirror "surveying himself
from various aspects." Just another case
of male vanity. Ms. Barbor also reports
that last year a pair of mockingbirds built
a nest in a pyracantha bush next to her
screened in porch, but the nest appeared
deserted after about two weeks. This year,
a pair of mockers returned to the nest and
added a few twigs, but she has seen little
activity. Every two or three days she
would see one bird go the nest for a few
seconds then fly away. Is this some kind
of false nest to confuse predators? Do
mockingbirds do that?

The last letter came from Sondra
Hickman, Cassatt, SC. She lives in a
rural area on ten mostly wooded acres.

Two years ago she build an owl box and
put it in a large tree about fifty yards into
the woods near the house. Great-crested
Flycatcher nested in the box the first year,
and a squirrel spent the winter in the owl
box. This year she heard the flycatchers
making a fuss near the box. When she
went over to check on the flycatchers, the
male was sitting on top of the box,
screaming his head off; the female was
perched in a tree nearby. The male would
fly out and then toward the box entrance
hole and just sort of flutter at the hole, but
he wouldn't go in the box. Ms. Hickman
watched for a while and assumed a squirrel
was in the box. She walked up to the
tree, and something large flew out of the
tree which faces the box and landed nearby.
It was a gray phase Eastern Screech-Owl.

See Birding. page 7

Field Trip Reports

Rain did not deter the 1 7 fortunate
birders who joined Bert Fisher and Lex
Glover on the field trip to the Chesapeake
Bay Bridge-Tunnel on the weekend of
February 18-19. Rain gear, scopes,
books, other survival gear and all, we
piled into two vans and one car in Virginia
Beach on Saturday and Sunday mornings,
eager to see what awaited us on
Chesapeake Bay. We were not
disappointed. Breakfast at the local
hangout, Waffle and Things, fortified us
for the expedition. The bridge itself, with
its four man-made islands, two tunnels and
twelve miles of trestled roadway, is an
engineering marvel and was truly a treat to
see. The opportunity to bird from the
islands was absolutely wonderful.
Oldsquaw, gannet, all three scoters and
Brant abounded. Great Cormorants in

May 13-14 was a fantastic weekend for
two new Carolinians, north by
happenstance! Having just relocated to
Charlotte from Boston, Barb Christian and
I were eager to get connected to a bird
watching group in our new home. We had
a super opportunity to experience our first
field trip with CBC to western North
Carolina, primarily viewing migrating
wood warblers.

On Friday night, we drove over to
Asheville and joined a larger group,
mostly from eastern North Carolina.
Saturday morning's early call saw us
piling into vans to hit the Blue Ridge
Parkway, making our first stop along the
French Broad river to begin our day. At
the river we were able to view an Eastern
Kingbird brooding her eggs in her nest
hanging out over the flowing water of the
French Broad. As we watched, she
carefully rearranged the materials in her
nest before flying off into the deep woods.
Also overhead we saw two brilliant male
Baltimore Orioles. We also identified the
Yellow-throated and Red-eyed Vireos by
their songs. For two relatively new
birders, having the opportunity to identify
these birds by learning their songs from an
expert field guide like John Wright gave
us a heightened sense of accomplishment.

Deeper into the woods we observed a
Yellow-billed Cuckoo and a very agitated
Kentucky Warbler who responded to

Bay Bridge Birding

by Andrea Ceselski

breeding plumage decorated the rocky
islands. Purple Sandpipers were busy on
the rocks as well, and the parking lots
were frequented by Ruddy Turnstones. We
were even fortunate enough to see a few
harbor seals frolicking off the islands and
resting on the rocks.

On Saturday we went to Chincoteague
National Wildlife Refuge where we saw
large numbers of Snow Geese, Tundra
Swans, Mute Swans, Canada Geese,
Pintail, Common Goldeneye and a variety
of other ducks. And a Bald Eagle as well.

Spring Birding in
the Mountains

by Eddie Andrews

John's tape. As Peterson's guide states
"...ten Kentuckys are heard for every one
seen.", it was especially enjoyable to be
able to attract on out in the open and view
this very beautiful wqrbler. Another treat
was to see a female Northern Parula
gathering old man's beard high in a dead
tree, apparently to build her nest.

Further along the Parkway we observed
a beautiful Rose-breasted Grosbeak high in
a tree top and heard several Oven birds
calling from deep in the woods. We
viewed the Hooded, Worm-eating,
Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue and
Black-throated Green Warblers as well as a
magnificent male Blackburnian. An
amusing moment came when we unloaded

We also saw Sika deer and a few of the
famous feral ponies. An excellent dinner
at Fogg's on the oceanfront in Virginia
Beach was a bonus to our already
rewarding day, and the staff of the
restaurant should be commended for their
calm reaction to our response to "How
many?": "Seventeen!"

Sunday began with no rain and a visit to
Fort Story to do a little ocean watching.
Bonaparte's Gulls were common but no
Little Gull, so we were back to the bridge-
tunnel for one more look. And what a
look it was! Lex found a Razorbill and
everyone had a chance for a really good
look at it. More scoters, Oldsquaw, Red-
breasted Mergansers and gannets brought
our trip to a close. A total of 77 species
and a fun group of birders! I'm ready to
go back again any time!

the vans and were immediately Confronted
with the very loud song of a particular
Chestnut-sided Warbler. We knew he
was right in front of us, but we couldn't
pinpoint his exact location; thinking he
was deep inside the branches of the tree.

As we stretched and attempted to find him,
at last one of the ladies in the group said,
"Why there he is, on the end of the dead
branch on the left! " We saw him and
laughed at how funny it must have looked

ri

to this little warbler for twenty humans to
be straining to find him when he was
right out in the open, singing his heart
out with the very distinct "Pleased,
pleased, pleased to meetcha."

Our biggest challenge was to locate a
Canada Warbler. Late in the afternoon we
were bombarded with Blue-gray
Gnatcatchers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets,
which we had a lot of fun with, but no
Canadas! At last, after we had lingered at
the top of the trail before starting down, a
Canada Warbler appeared on a stump in
the path ahead of us. We had heard him
calling from higher up on the moimtain,
which was why we ultimately hiked up
hoping to find him. Instantly, when we
saw him, he disappeared into a
rhododendron thicket. We waited for
what seemed like an agonizingly long
time, standing silently with field glasses

See Spring Birding, next page

Notes

Species Totals

Steve Patterson reports that a total of
127 species were seen at the spring
meeting in Greenwood, SC, April 28-30,
1995. Totals in the South Carolina
counties and Georgia areas reflect the
concentration of birders rather than birds:
Abbeville Co. 105; Greenwood Co. 94;

Spring Birding (continued from
previous page)

poised to capture him if he appeared in the
open, only to have John finally break the
silence with, "Do you think he's tired of
watching us?" But we felt pleased to catch
even the brief glimpse. On the hike
down, Barbara and 1 were surprised to hear
the long-winded song of the tiny Winter
Wren. We were both amazed to think how
such a small bird could inhale enough air
to deliver such a powerfully long song.

We also stopped at Looking Glass Rock
to see the nesting site of a Peregrine
Falcon, albeit from a long distance. We
were able to see the falcon darting briefly

There was such good response from our
members to the planned one-day field trip
for Henslow's Sparrows and Mississippi
Kites this past May that we conducted two
trips, one on May 20 and another on May
2 1 . Our 25 participants were treated to
wonderful weather and some good birding.
Both our target species were found, but
not without a little effort.

The Henslow's Sparrow greeted us
literally "at the gate" to the Voice of
America site which is their home.
However, the surprises of the Voice of
America site on the Saturday trip were a

McCormick Co. 95; Elbert, GA 53 and
Lincoln, GA 44.

Photo Blind

Bird photographers will be pleased to
note that construction of a photo blind
was scheduled for completion by the end
of June at North Pond on Pea Island NWR
in North Carolina. It was to be located
just south of the north end of North Pond
along NC 12 according to Wings,
newsletter for the Alligator River and Pea
Island National Wildlife Refuges. No
reservations are required; the blind will be
available on a first -come-first served basis.

Raptor Protection Questioned

.V

Birders in New York are concerned about
a recent article, "Are Predators Overly
Protected?" by Bill Hollister in the
December 1994 issue of New York
Sportsman magazine. They are afraid that

from off the top of the rock mto the forest
below, probably to make a meal on one of
the many Chestnut-sided Warblers which
covered the mountain.

Sunday morning's goal was to locate
more warblers, especially the Cerulean. In
a stand of extremely tall poplars near
Craggy Gardens, we finally heard many
Cerulean songs overhead, FAR too
overhead. Unfortunately, we were never
able to draw one in close enough for
adequate viewing. We hear more Hooded
Warblers and viewed, to our delight, a
gorgeous male American Redstart in full
regalia hopping around in a bnar thicket.
What a beautiful display of his
magnificent orange tail and wing

Henslow's

Sparrow/Kite

Adventure

by John S. Wright

singing male Dickcissel and a Common
Nighthawk which insisted on sitting in
the middle of a dirt road while we watched
from ten feet away. Mississippi Kites
were difficult to locate along the Roanoke
River on Saturday. Our best effort that

this and similar articles will influence
irresponsible hunters to start taking
potshots at birds of prey.

The article suggests that since more
raptors are being seen, there are more
raptors of all species. It also suggests
raptors are a reason smaller total game
kills have been documented in recent
years. Factors such as fewer hunters and
habitat changes are ignored or dismissed.

The author asserts that since wildlife
management is funded by hunters,
management agencies should serve their
interests and determine the degree to which
raptors are to blame. This might then
lead to the removal of protection for birds
of prey. After protection is removed,
hunters would kill raptors as a service.

A report in The Goshawk, newsletter of
The Genesee Ornithological Society,
emphasizes that this is not an anti-
hunting issue since responsible hunters
are among those opposed to a return to
nineteenth century game management.

coloration as he flew up into some lower
branches!

What could have been a major
disappointment actually turned out to be a
true blessing. Our day was brought to a
swift close fairly early when a tremendous
spring thunderstorm rolled into the
mountains. We stood and watched as
ominously dark storm clouds billowed
upward, engulfing us in a morass of
peltmg rain and falling branches. We
would have loved to have seen more birds
that Sunday morning, but for two novice
birders, the weekend was a "birding
banquet” topped off with the awesome
majesty of the Creator's pruning sheers
and watering can a full throttle.

day was a scope view of eight kites
soaring about a mile away. Also along
the Roanoke on Saturday we had great
looks at Swainson's Warbler, and a quick
look at Wild Turkeys. Sunday's group
missed seeing the Swainson's Warbler and
the Dickcissel, but did encounter a late-
lingenng Magnolia Warbler. The Sunday
group also had a great view of the aerial
acrobatics of a nearby Mississippi Kite,
which caught and ate a dragonfly while on
the wing. We ended the day watching a
big gobbler Wild Turkey feeding in a
distant field.

In The Field

with Simon R. B. Thompson

Separating phoebes and
pewees-it's not as hard
as it seems

If relying solely on the illustrations in
field guides for identification, one could
easily confuse two of our most common
flycatchers. As well as looking at pictures
and referring to the text, it's important to
obtain field experience, i.e. to head outside
to look at and observe the differences and
similarities between confusing species.

Superficially the Eastern Phoebe and
Eastern Wood-Pewee are similar. They
also share the flycatcher habit of sallying
forth after insects from an exposed perch.
While both species may be seen in the
same habitat, they choose different places
to nest. Phoebes typically nest under
bridges, in garages, or in more natural
situations, on cliff faces. Eastern Wood-
Pewees build their small lichen-covered
nests on the upper surfaces of tree limbs.

But what of their size, plumage features,
voice and habits? The phoebe is about 3/4
inch larger than its smaller relative, with
very different behaviour. Despite both
being insect eaters, there are some
characteristics that easily help to

Amazon Rainforest Trip:
November 11-18, 1995

If you have always dreamed of visiting
the Amazon Rainforest, now is your
chance. Join CBC members Roger
McNeil and Simon Thompson on a week-
long birding trip this coming November.
We can expect about 200 species in seven

distinguish between the two. The next
time you look at one of these flycatchers,
note the sluggish movements of the
Eastern Phoebe. It sits rather still, with
only its diagnostic tail-wagging to give its
presence away. The Eastern Wood-Pewee
is a smaller, more active bird that rarely
sits still for long. It constantly looks
around, its head darting nervously in all
directions as it searches for insects, and it
does not share the tail-wagging habit of
the phoebe.

As to plumage characteristics, the pewee
has greyish-green upperparts with darker
sides and a pale breast. This gives it a
waistcoated effect, as if it were a miniature
Olive-sided Flycatcher. The wings show

Travels With Simon

days, including representatives of bird
families such a toucans, jacamars, antbirds
and woodcreepers. The cost is $1695 all
inclusive from Miami.

For further information please call
Simon at (704)859-6049 (H) or (704) 859-
9021 (W), or write to Simon Thompson,

1 1 1 Thermal View Drive, Try on, NC
28782.

two whitish wing bars and the throat is a
dull white. The lower mandible is
yellow. Compare this to the browner
upperparts and mostly white underparts of
the Eastern Phoebe. A brown wash is
usually present on the breast, but this is
rarely as extensive as that of the wood-
pewee. The head and tail are a lot darker
and may almost look black, which may
give the bird a black and white appearance.
The phoebe does not show the prominent
wing bars of the wood-pewee, and the bill
is black. In the fall the lower breast and
belly of the Eastern Phoebe show a
yellow wash, which is again lost in the
next moult. •

If you are still not sure of the
identification of a mystery bird, the voice
can be a real clincher. Both phoebes and
pewees sing their names. The phoebe's
song is a burry "Fee-bee" that is tirelessly
repeated. The song of the Eastern Wood-
Pewee is more plaintive on a descending
pitch, and is best described as a whistled
"Pee-a-wee" or a "Pee-yer."

To become familiar with the many
aspects of bird identification and
behaviour, the more time spent in the
field is the best experience of all,
observing for oneself the similarities and
differences between closely related species.

FENCE Birding Trips in
1995:

August 25-27 Shorebirding Weekend
in South Carolina

November 3-5 Georgia Coast and
Barrier Islands

December 1-3 Wilmington/Morehead
City, NC

Birding (continued from page 3)

The next day Ms. Hickman got a ladder
and checked out the box. A little red
Eastern Screech-Owl was sitting inside.
She never looked for eggs, for fear of »
frightening the owls off, but she checked
the box every three days, and the female
was sitting inside. On May 22, Ms.
Hickman saw one tiny white chick, not
much bigger than a cotton ball. There
may be more, but she saw only one. Ms.

Hickman was hoping for a large family.
Lex Glover had promised to band them for
her. I suspect everything is over. Her
letter was post marked May 25. To be
sure, the babies are banded and out by
now. Ms. Hickman wants to encourage
fellow birders to put up owl boxes.

And I want to encourage you to let me
know about your backyard birds. You
don't have to write. Harriet Duncan,
Raleigh, NC, called and told me about
Red-headed Woodpeckers in her yard.

They love the marvel meal. Every
morning, Ms. Duncan is awakened by a
woodpecker banging on her metal
chimney. Then he goes to the feeder. Is
he trying to frighten other birds away from
the feeder, or is he making sure Ms.
Duncan is watching before he breakfasts
on marvel meal? Probably the former, but
the later makes a better story.

Send your stories to me at 1(X)6
Dogwood Lane, Wake Forest, NC 27587
or call (919) 528-2827

Membership Application and Order Form

(Membership is for the calendar year. Use this form for 1995 memberships only- -dues increase in effect

for 1996 new members and renewals)

Name_ Address 1 :

City State Zip Tel. ( ) ( )

(home) (business)

Enter/Renew Membership As Indicated Send Materials Indicated

Individual

($12)

Life ($200)

Family

($15)

Patron ($50)

Student

($6)

. ,

Affiliate Club

($15)

Library/Institution

($15)

CBC Cloth arm patch $1.50 ea., $1.25 ea. in quantity
CBC Decals (vinyl stick-on) $2.00 ea., $1.75 ea. in quantity
Daily Checklists 10/$ 1.00, 25/$ 1.25, 50/$2.50, 75/$3.75
100/$5.00

Make check payable to Carolina Bird Club, Inc. and mail to PO Box 29555. Raleigh, NC 27626-0555

Registration Form

CBC Fall Meeting, September 22-24. 1995

Name(s).

Address

(list each name for name tags)
City

State Zip.

Enclosed is my check in the amount of $ for member registrations at $6 each and nonmember registrations

at $7 each. Registration at meeting will be $ 10 for members and $1 1 for nonmembers.

Mail with check to Carolina Bird Club, Inc., PO Box 29555, Raleigh, NC 27626-0555

Motel Reservation Form

Carolina Bird Club
Fall Meeting, September 22-24, 1995

Name • Address

City State Zip

Room rate: $45.00 plus tax (1-4 occupants)

Please reserve room(s) for occupants. Arrival Departure . My check for the first

night's lodging is enclosed.

Mail with deposit to Holiday Inn of Jonesville/Elkin, P.O. Box 66, Jonesville, NC 28642 or call (910) 835-6000

Barbara Beaman
Durham, NC

Lisa Beckstrom
Salisbury, NC

Welcome New Members

Anthony Mulvihill Family Angus Wilson
Durham, NC Cold Spring Harbor, NY

John A. Robertson

Shelby, NC

Bethyl Davis Wood
Laurens, SC

Dorothy Freeman
Orlando, FL

Suzane Lassiter
Charlotte, NC

G. Rad Mayfield
Newland, NC

Steve Shaffer
Springfield, VA

W. Bruce Smithson
Wilmington, NC

Edith K. Tatum

Durham, NC

Deceased

Dorothy Perrv

Raleigh, NC *

Warbler (continued from page 2)

Before concluding our tour, we visited
one of the 63 Brown-headed Cowbird traps
maintained in the nesting territory and
learned that over 6,000 cowbirds had
already been trapped this year when
previous annual totals were 4 to 5,000.

I returned to the Mio Motel to make
sure Laura made it to the 1 1:00 a.m. tour.
Laura is not an early riser on vacation, and

tends to favor birds which will
accommodate her schedule. We were the
only ones who showed up at 1 1 :00
session, but Phil graciously gave us the
full program; although he warned us that
windy or hot conditions which develop by
the middle of the day make seeing the bird
less likely. When we reached the Mack
Lake site there was no wind, but it was
hot enough to discourage the birds from
singing. We went immediately to the

reliable bird's territory and heard him
singing, but he refused to take his perch.
Phil helped me find a Nashville Warbler
singing nearby (life bird) while we waited.
As I rejoined Laura, who was fanning in
the shade, the bird suddenly appeared on
his snag and favored us with a long, clear
view of his every feature. Perhaps he
preferred the smaller audience. At any
rate, we had come to the perfect ending of
our north woods adventure.

CBC Newsletter is published bimonthly by Carolina Bird Club, Tnc., the ornithological society of the Carol inas, 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. Submission deadline is the 10th of January, March, May, July, September, and
November. •

CAROLINA BIRD CLUB, INC.

CB©

P.O. BOX 29555, RALEIGH, NC 27626-0555

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

CBC Newsletter is printed on 100% recycled paper with 60% post-consumer content.