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November Meeting
Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 6:30 pm
Arizona Winter Birding Presentation by Club Member Dick Barmore
Meetings are held at Garber United Methodist Church, Country Club Road,
New Bern, Room 123 of the Ministry Center, across the street from the
main church. Parking and entrance are at the rear of the building.
Join us for refreshments & conversation for the first half hour; meeting
begins at 7 pm.
Refreshments for this meeting are being provided by Vicki Larimer.
Editor: Carol Oldham, [email protected]
Lower Neuse Bird Club
Club Officers
President
Bob Gould
288-4615
Vice President
Volunteer Needed
Secretary
Mike Brooks
649-1200
Treasurer
Christine Root
745-4488
Field Trips
Al Gamache
675-8376
Newsletter Editor
Carol Oldham
876-1620
Refreshments
Captain
Volunteer Needed
November 2017
Volume 26
Issue 3
Pea Island Field Trip: Nov 14-15 By Bob Gould, President
Our trip to Pea Island is coming up fast. Details of the trip
can be reviewed on page 10 of the October Newsletter.
Members planning to make this trip will need to
make their reservation at the Ramada Plaza
at Nags Head (252-441-2151) by October 30th.
We will leave from the BridgePoint Hotel at 7am on
Tuesday morning, the 14th. If you plan to rendezvous
in Washington, please be at the Liberty Gas Station
(aka Duck Thru Convenience Store) on Highway 264 by
8am. Carpooling is encouraged. Final details will be
arranged at the November 7th club meeting. If you are
unable to attend the meeting, please contact me at
252-288-4615 or by email at [email protected].
I don’t want to leave anyone behind.
Mark your calendars with the following dates for this season’s bird walks.
Most trips end by noon and do not require much walking. Remember to
bring: binos, scopes, field guides, insect repellent, rain gear, snacks, water.
Unless otherwise announced, all trips depart from the parking lot of the
Bridge Pointe Hotel at 7 am sharp. Carpools can be arranged as we meet up.
The planned destination may be changed at the last minute if a special
sighting or different location gives us a better opportunity for birding.
Information will be updated with each newsletter.
November 4 Simmons Street Project, New Bern
Meet at the BridgePointe at 7 am as usual. If you choose to go directly to
Simmons Street, meet at the gate on the corner of Simmons St and Oak
Rd at 7:15 am. Please park outside the gate.
November 14-15 Pea Island Trip
Review details on page 10 of the October Newsletter.
December 2 Pamlico County
January 6 New Bern area for ducks
February 3 (?) Mattamuskeet
March 3 Voice of America—Sparrows
April 7 Croatan
May 5-6-7 Spring Mountain Trip
May 19 Camp Brinson
June 2 North River Preserve
Saturday Field Trips & Other Birding Opportunities
Page 2 Lower Neuse Bird Club
CBC Meeting
Dates
Jan 26-27, 2018
Wrightsville Beach, NC
April 27-28, 2018
Flat Rock, NC
Christmas Bird Count By Bob Gould, President
The New Bern Christmas Bird Count will take place on Monday, December
18. I will be sending out a reminder to last year’s participants soon. New
participants are welcome, including feeder watchers, but you must contact
me for instructions as soon as possible: phone 252-288-4615 or email
Page 3
Minutes from October 2017 By Mike Brooks
In a well-attended meeting, President Bob Gould welcomed over 30
members and guests to the meeting. Bob announced that Pauline Sterin
is moving to Bellingham, WA and that this was her last meeting. The club
joined Bob in wishing Pauline a warm farewell.
Bob said that the position of Refreshments Captain remains vacant and he
asked for a volunteer. Although the job is not demanding, once again, no one
volunteered. Starting in February 2018, there will be no refreshments at the
meetings because there is no one to coordinate this activity. Contact Bob for
more information or if you're interested in doing this job.
Bob outlined the upcoming bird walks to Shackleford Banks and the
Simmons Street Project. The annual Pea Island trip is set for Nov 14-15th.
The Ramada Plaza in Nags Head is holding rooms for the club at guaranteed,
reduced rates until October 30th. Those planning to participate need to call
the hotel to make their reservations. Do this by October 30th to get the
guaranteed rates. Details about the Pea Island trip are on page 10 of the
October newsletter.
The LNBC Holiday Party, hosted by Al Gamache and Rebecca, is the evening
of December 10th.
In Show and Tell, Liz Lathrop reminisced about her experience
at the September meeting of the Carolina Bird Club (CBC). She
was particularly impressed with Huntington Beach State Park,
SC, for its diversity of birds such as Wood Storks, Golden-winged
Warblers, herons, and ibis. Incidentally, Huntington Beach State
Park has a good web site that includes a very nice bird checklist
http://www.huntingtonbeachstatepark.net. Bob Gould reminded
the club that the next CBC meeting will be January 26-27 in
Wrightsville Beach, NC. Wade Fuller reported seeing a Sabine's
Gull over the Neuse River Bridge. He also shared photographs of
a mysterious bird spotted in Jones County. It has the shape of a
raven but the size of a crow. Is it a raven, a crow, or possibly a
Chihuahuan Raven? Perhaps time will tell.
The program for this meeting was a presentation by Olwen and
Bill Jarvis titled "Prince Edward Island & Nova Scotia: Birding/
Wildflowers/Gorgeous Scenery." Olwen and Bill traveled to
Canada in July. In addition to the anticipated puffins and
gannets, they saw grouse, ravens, Black-capped Chickadees,
New Member
Michael Cheves
101 Mellen Rd
New Bern, NC 28562
252-670-1238 [email protected]
November 2017 • Volume 26, Issue 3
“So, Where Does Our Money Go?” By Christine Stoughton Root, Treasurer
Do you ever wonder how your dues are spent?
Of course, we have to pay for the meeting room - that’s $500 a year.
When we have a guest speaker who travels a bit, we provide them with gas
money. We bought the memorial tree for Bob Holmes, which looks healthy,
according to Dick Barmore, when he was out there about a month ago. We
normally support the Valle Crusis Community Park, anywhere from $100-
$200 a year. We often visit this park when LNBC makes a trip out to the
mountains and the birding has never disappointed us.
We also support North Carolina Coastal Federation with $100-$200 a year.
We know how we have liked Shackleford Banks, Cedar Island and Outer
Banks birding. The nice thing about donating to the Coastal Federation is
that we may specify where the money is to be spent; normally it is directed
to coastal habitat preservation.
Then, the last 2 years, we have donated to the
Carolina Bird Club, specifically to the Young
Birders Scholarship Fund. So, let me introduce
you to the Young Birder who received that award
this year. His name is Ian House. Les Coble had
the opportunity to bird with him, and wrote this
about his experience:
During the CBC Litchfield Beach fun birding
weekend, I had the good fortune to bird
Huntington Beach State Park with Ian House,
a 9 and one-half year-old southern gentle-
man. Yes, the affable youngster who had such
Page 4 Lower Neuse Bird Club
Common Eiders, Purple Finches, and Black Guillemots. They also saw
many birds that inhabit NC such as Red-breasted Nuthatches, Semipalmated
Plovers, terns, warblers (Yellow, Common Yellowthroat), Redstarts, Hermit
Thrushes, and Greater Yellowlegs. The beautiful photographs of the birds,
wildflowers, and countryside reminded me of another presentation to the
club about a trip to that region of Canada. I need to add Nova Scotia to my
bucket list.
The meeting concluded with a heartfelt thank you to Olwen and Bill for
sharing their experience with the club.
Continued from Page 3
Dues are $15.00 per
person and cover the
program year from Sep
2017 thru May 2018.
Dues may be paid at
a monthly meeting, or
mail your check, made
payable to LNBC, to:
Christine Root
LNBC Treasurer
651 Quail Road
Merritt, NC 28556
Page 5
Scouting for Bear Members are invited to join Mike Campbell at Pocosin Lakes on Thursday,
Nov 2, to scout for bears. This is a very informal outing to find out which
fields the bears are using. It is also a very EARLY outing… Mike will be at
Pocosin Lakes by 6:30 am, which means you will need to leave here by
4:30 am! If you are interested in joining Mike on this very early excursion,
contact Mike as soon as possible.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 252-670-0090
November 2017 • Volume 26, Issue 3
warmth and appreciation for the memorable bird sightings we
shared for several hours. I had my telescope tripod set just over
three feet tall so Ian could use it to see the birds that all trip
members were excited to find. Once seen, Ian's passion and
determination to find them in his own telescope was as vital as
his focus to see a new species or learn something else about every
bird he had previously seen. I noted earlier his affability, as he
never wavered from his friendly smile and courteous, gracious
demeanor.
I asked Ian to challenge me with questions, as a means to
understand his cataloging of the sightings. It became clear he
was reflecting and storing the sightings as both sight and sound.
In typical polite style, he said thanks for showing him his first
Shoveler and confirmed I meant Northern Shoveler. Ask yourself,
"How many of us have said we saw a Cardinal?" We have seen a
Northern Cardinal, but did not have a buoyant and cheerful and
light-hearted birder both confirming and correcting our call. That
was the typical magical moment expressive of the afternoon.
The binoculars Ian carried were large for his hands, so I was
exuberant at the drawing of his name for the prized roof prism
binoculars at the banquet. He was able to get them to fit his eyes,
and came up to say thanks at my showing him earlier how to use
the ocular adjustment for his own eyes.
Thanks, Ian, for your ebullient personality, yes - the boiling up of
life, as we learn new things every day.
If you have a suggestion as to how you would like to see LNBC dues spent,
please bring it up before the club at any meeting.
Treasurer’s Report
Mike Campbell
Regional Education
Specialist
Wildlife Education
Division
NC Wildlife Resources
Commission
208 Channel Run Drive
New Bern, NC 28562
Page 6 Lower Neuse Bird Club
Shackleford Banks: 07 October 2017 By Al Gamache
21 Birders/ 45 Species/ Hundreds upon hundreds of Gulls, Terns, Plovers
and Sandpipers … Oh my!
And when we got home we found out that Eastern North Carolina had had
numerous heavy rainstorms. We, on the other hand, had had beautiful
weather out at Shackleford Banks all day long.
Our target birds were Bar-tailed Godwit and Reddish Egret. And we
did get two very brief sightings of the Reddish Egret as quick fly-bys. The
Bar-tailed Godwit, on the other hand, was never spotted, despite the
seemingly endless and meticulous scanning.
A couple of our best birds occurred before we even set foot on the ferry,
indeed, even before we purchased our tickets. One of our 21 birders,
Geneva Pigott had arrived at Shell Point a bit early and had gone over
to Willow Pond, behind the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and found a
Yellow-crowned Night Heron. It was a juvenile Yellow-crowned, and
we all know just how difficult it is to separate the Yellow-crowned from the
Black-crowned while in juvenile plumage. Fortunately, the bird was up
front and close to the blind, and we could clearly see that the wings did
not present large white spots but rather tiny white spots and a row of thin
white edges. When the word spread of her finding of this rather scarce and
seldom encountered night heron our entire group quickly trotted off to
Willow Pond to see that bird. Good find!
When we all had returned to the parking lot and were lining up to buy
our tickets, we got our second best bird. It was a Peregrine Falcon
spotted by Les Coble, way off in the distant sky, but nonetheless clearly
identifiable. Suddenly the falcon altered its course and began flying
directly toward us, and continued flying directly toward us until it flew
close by and right overhead. Wow!
As we boarded the ferry we could see rain way off in the horizon, but it
never came our way. Just prior to reaching our drop-off spot we were
scanning a large gathering of Sandpipers on the sandy fringes of the
marsh. So once landed, we hiked in the general direction of the Hidden
Flats, and there before us, great aggregates of Willets and Marbled
Godwits along with numerous American Oystercatchers, Caspian
Terns and Royal Terns and eventually some Sandwich Terns. We
were also treated to a flock of Black Skimmers, long slender black wings
wildly chopping their way through the air. There were other birds putting
A medium to large
heron of shallow salt
water, the Reddish
Egret comes in a dark
and a white form. It is a
very active forager, often
seen running, jumping,
and spinning in its
pursuit of fish.
Image & Text from
allaboutbirds.org
See more at https://
www.allaboutbirds.org/
guide/Reddish_Egret/id
Page 7
in a single appearance, like one Spotted Sandpiper, one Short-billed
Dowitcher, one Greater Yellowlegs. Then moving along into the “Hidden
Flats” we saw hundreds of Semipalmated Plovers. But not a Bar-tailed
Godwit to be found anywhere.
It was a wonderful excursion and a wonderful day. And as a wrap up,
here’s a list of the birds seen on our trip.
November 2017 • Volume 26, Issue 3
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Little Blue heron
Tricolor Heron
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
Reddish Egret
White Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
American Kestrel
Osprey
Peregrine
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Semipalmated Plover
American Oystercatcher
Willet
Sanderling
Greater Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Royal Tern
Forster’s Tern
Sandwich Tern
Least Tern
Black Skimmer
Caspian Tern
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Fish Crow
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Easter Meadowlark
Boat-tailed Grackle
While not as slender as
a typical heron, the
Yellow-crowned
Night-Heron’s smooth
purple-gray colors, sharp
black-and-white face, and
long yellow plumes lend
it a touch of elegance.
They forage at all hours
of the day and night,
stalking crustaceans in
shallow wetlands and
wet fields. Their diet
leans heavily on crabs
and crayfish, which they
catch with a lunge and
shake apart, or swallow
whole. They’re most
common in coastal
marshes, barrier islands,
and mangroves, but their
range extends inland as
far as the Midwest.
Image & Text from
allaboutbirds.org
See more at https://
www.allaboutbirds.org/
guide/Yellow-
crowned_Night-Heron/
id
Page 8 Lower Neuse Bird Club
New Bern Quarry Fall Warbler Migration:
23 & 30 Sep 2017 By Al Gamache
The Lower Neuse Bird Club had two bird walks into the Glenburnie Quarry
this month, the first on the 23rd and the second on the 30th. As the checklist
below shows the two walks somewhat mirror each other, although there were
a number of species that were seen on either the 1st or the 2nd walk. The two
walks produced a combined total of 63 species, including a count of twelve
species of warblers. Very good!
The surprise bird for me was the Scarlet Tanager. We see this bird regularly
on our Spring Mountain Trips through the Blue Ridge Parkway. But I have
never seen this bird locally, in our area. I believe it was Elizabeth White who
first spotted this bird …. a distant yellow speckle at the tippy top of a tree way
off, and given my somewhat compromised visual acumen it put me in the
vernacular as “at the limits of conjecture” ...
Petite bill vs banana bill
Dark wings vs pale wings
...scrambling and straining through my vision to locate the ‘pixels’, as it were.
Yeah, very slowly, I come to believe Elizabeth to be correct. That could be a
Scarlet Tanager in complete non-breeding plumage. A new Craven County
bird for me. Great!
I apologize for the Trail’s Flycatcher, but we did see a very grayish
Empidonax Flycatcher with virtually no eye-ring which throws it into the
Willow-Alder Flycatcher complex, so I just reverted to the old name.
Male Scarlet Tanagers are among the most blindingly
gorgeous birds in an eastern forest in summer, with
blood-red bodies set off by jet-black wings and tail.
They’re also one of the most frustratingly hard to
find as they stay high in the forest canopy singing rich,
burry songs. The yellowish-green, dark-winged
females can be even harder to spot until you key in
on this bird’s chick-burr call note. In fall, males trade
red feathers for yellow-green and the birds take off
for northern South America.
Image & Text from allaboutbirds.org
See more at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scarlet_Tanager/id
Page 9 November 2017 • Volume 26, Issue 3
Sep 23 Sep 30
White-eyed Vireo __________ X
Yellow-throated Vireo _______ X
Red-eyed Vireo ___________ X X
Blue Jay ________________ X X
American Crow ___________ X X
Fish Crow _______________ X
Carolina Chickadee _________ X X
Tufted Titmouse __________ X X
Carolina Wren ____________ X X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher ______ X X
Gray Catbird _____________ X X
No. Mockingbird __________ X X
Brown Thrasher ___________ X X
European Starling _________ X
Black-and-white Warbler ____ X
Common Yellowthroat ______ X X
American Redstart _________ X X
Cape May Warbler _________ X X
Northern Parula ___________ X X
Magnolia Warbler _________ X X
Yellow Warbler ___________ X X
Chestnut-sided Warbler _____ X
Palm Warbler ____________ X
Prairie Warbler ___________ X X
Black-throated Green Warbler _ X
Yellow-breasted Chat _______ X
Eastern Towhee ___________ X
Scarlet Tanager ___________ X
Northern Cardinal _________ X X
Blue Grosbeak ____________ X X
Red-winged Blackbird _______ X X
Common Grackle __________ X
American Goldfinch ________ X
Sep 23 Sep 30
Canada Goose ___________ X
Pied-billed Grebe _________ X X
Double Crested Cormorant ___ X X
Anhinga _______________ X X
Great Blue Heron _________ X X
Great Egret _____________ X
Green Heron ____________ X
Turkey Vulture ___________ X X
Osprey ________________ X
Bald Eagle ______________ X
Cooper’s Hawk ___________ X X
Red-shouldered Hawk ______ X X
Clapper Rail _____________ X
Killdeer ________________ X
Laughing Gull ___________ X X
Forster’s Tern ___________ X X
Rock Pigeon _____________ X
Mourning Dove __________ X X
Yellow-billed Cuckoo _______ X
Ruby-throated Hummingbird _ X X
Belted Kingfisher _________ X X
Red-headed Woodpecker ____ X
Red-bellied Woodpecker ____ X X
Downy Woodpecker _______ X X
Northern Flicker __________ X X
Pileated Woodpecker ______ X
Eastern Wood Pewee _______ X
Trail’s Flycatcher _________ X
Eastern Phoebe __________ X X
Eastern Kingbird _________ X
Page 10 Lower Neuse Bird Club
Mahogany Rock Sparta, North Carolina, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 14, 2017
Species Day's
Count
Month
Total
Season
Total
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 38 38
Osprey 0 0 29
Bald Eagle 1 3 26
Northern Harrier 0 1 7
Sharp-shinned
Hawk 3 7 32
Cooper's Hawk 9 15 36
Northern
Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered
Hawk 1 2 4
Broad-winged
Hawk 0 4 3393
Red-tailed Hawk 6 9 15
Rough-legged
Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 1 2 12
Merlin 0 1 7
Peregrine Falcon 2 3 7
Unknown
Accipiter 0 1 4
Unknown Buteo 0 0 1
Unknown Falcon 0 0 2
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 1 1 8
Mississippi Kite 0 0 9
Total: 24 87 3630
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 6.5 hours
Official Counter James Keighton
Observers: Gary Felts, James Williams
Visitors: 16 visitors including Bill and Olwen Jarvis from New Bern, NC Weather: Beginning with a mostly clear sky and a light northwest wind, the day rapidly dissolved into a light southeast wind and fog over-riding the ridge from the south from early afternoon on to late afternoon to stop any chance of hawk spotting. Raptor Observations: An adult Bald Eagle passed over the ridge to the south at 2:10 pm EST as the first fingers of fog over-road the ridge at various spots. Non-raptor Observations: 27 Monarchs migrating before the fog blanketed the ridge.
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Hawk Count on the Blue Ridge Parkway By Olwen Jarvis
Whilst we were on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we happened to come upon a
hawk count in progress. Of course I chatted to the counters! I received the
final Mahogany Rock count report below from the chap in charge, James
Keighton. I thought you would all be interested to see how hawk counts add
to birding records. Remember this is a ONE DAY count…very impressive.
During the time we were there we saw a Sharpie, a Red-tailed hawk and
5 Monarch butterflies. Yes all the counts record Monarch butterflies as well…
numbers have decreased astoundingly.
One of the greatest
spectacles of migration is
a swirling flock of Broad
-winged Hawks on
their way to South
America. Also known
as “kettles,” flocks can
contain thousands of
circling birds that evoke
a vast cauldron being
stirred with an invisible
spoon. A small, stocky
raptor with black-and-
white bands on the tail,
the Broad-winged Hawk
is a bird of the forest
interior and can be hard
to see during the nesting
season. Its call is a pierc-
ing, two-parted whistle.
Image & Text from
allaboutbirds.org
See more at https://
www.allaboutbirds.org/
guide/Broad-
winged_Hawk/id
