2004 Club Activities

The BCBC (Buchanan County Bird Club) experienced its best year since its inception in December 2001. In April of 2004 two members of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries worked with club president, Roger Mayhorn and vice president, Ed Talbott III to find a site in Buchanan County in which to re-establish Peregrine Falcons. These raptors disappeared from the Eastern United States in the 1950’s after the widespread use of the pesticide, DDT. A site was found within the Breaks Park. Plans are now underway to release some young falcons in the park during May of 2005. It is hoped that these young falcons will later nest on the cliffs within the park. The Breaks Park was the last place in the state of Virginia to have nesting Peregrines. It is said that they nested on the cliffs of the Towers on the south side of the Russell Fork River.

The Buchanan County Bird Club has been chosen by the VSO (Virginia Society of Ornithology) to host the annual VSO Conference to be held in May of 2006. This is an honor for such a young club. The Breaks Park will be the center for the conference. As many as 150–200 people from Virginia and surrounding states are expected. The conference will consist of meetings by the VSO board of directors, a banquet, a guest speaker, and many birding outings in the area.

New species were found in the county this year that have not been recorded before. A Cattle Egret, a white, heron-like bird, was found in May of 2004 in the Breaks community by David Raines and Ed Bailey. The two also found the first nesting of Cliff Swallows within the county, in May 2004, on Ed Bailey’s farm in the Breaks. This species is known to nest in Washington County, but this is a first for Buchanan. In September 2004 David Raines found a Townsend’s Warbler, a bird found only in the Western U.S., near his home in the Breaks area. The bird had evidently gotten confused about the direction for migration. The bird left the area and was not seen again. The second sighting within Buchanan County of a Mourning Warbler, a small songbird with a black hood, was made in September 2004 by club member, Michelle Talbott. The first recorded sighting of this species within the county was made by Roger Mayhorn on Compton Mountain in September 2002. A female Blackpoll Warbler was photographed by Roger Mayhorn on Compton Mountain in October 2004. This species has only been recorded within the county a few times. In October of 2004 David Raines found a rare Henslow’s Sparrow on his property in the Breaks. This is the third recorded sighting of this species within the county.

In 2002 the club established the first bluebird trail within the county in 30 years, by erecting 20 nest boxes on Compton Mountain. That trail has now been extended to number 25 nest boxes. In the spring of 2003 a trail of twenty boxes was established on Happy Hollow in the Breaks community. Last year 249 birds were fledged from the boxes on these two trails, 155 of them were Eastern Bluebirds.

This spring a new trail was established at Keen Mountain consisting of 20 boxes, and a trail of 6 new boxes was established around Laurel Lake within the Breaks Park. The Keen Mountain trail was named the Early White trail, in honor of Early White, a former Buchanan County resident, a man who loved birds and who studied them for 30 years. In the 1970’s Early had a bluebird trail on the Willowbrook Country Club golf course. Club members, Johnnie and Betty Ratliff, have been responsible for the addition of these last three trails. They have donated the materials and Johnnie has built the boxes. By the second week of April this spring 28 nest boxes already contained nests. These boxes are monitored weekly and information is collected on the number of eggs, young, etc. The club members need help with the nest box monitoring, and would gladly train anyone who would like to help. Those interested in helping may contact Roger Mayhorn at 276-259-7636 or by e-mail at rogermayhorn@gmail.com .

The BCBC did a hawk count in September of 2004 at Birch Knob in Dickenson County as several species of hawks were migrating southward to their wintering grounds in Central and South America. In one day 650 Broad-winged hawks flew past the observation tower. Also counted that day were four Osprey (fish hawks), three Peregrine Falcons, two Sharp-shinned Hawks and one Red-tailed Hawk.

Roger and Lynda Mayhorn hosted their annual September Warbler Watch Day at their house on Compton Mountain in 2004. Twenty-one birders from Virginia and Tennessee came to watch the remarkable migration of beautiful fall warblers through the Mayhorn yard. Sixty different bird species were counted on their property for the day.

The final phase of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail officially opened in October 2004. This trail, established by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, started in eastern Virginia. The Coastal phase of the trail was opened in 2002, the Piedmont phase was opened in 2004, and the Mountain phase, which includes Buchanan and surrounding counties was officially opened in 2003. Thanks to nominations by some members of the BCBC parts of Buchanan County are included in the trail. In our area the trail runs from the Breaks Park to Poplar Gap Park then on to Compton and Horn Mountains. Birding and Wildlife Trails have become very popular throughout the nation and bring in lots of revenue because of the many birders who come to find birds along the trails. They spend money in local restaurants, stay in local hotels and shop in stores in the area.

In December BCBC members took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. At that time all over the United States birding groups find as many species as possible within a fifteen mile diameter circle in one day. Club members participated in the Breaks Christmas Bird Count, which covers an area from Grundy to Elkhorn City, KY. Sixty-six species were counted. Some BCBC members also took part in the Russell County Christmas Count, where 65 species were found.

A Gray Catbird was found on David Raines property in the Breaks area. This would not be unusual except that the date was December 29, 2004. These birds are common here in summer, but this is only the second record of one being found in the area after the fall migration, which ends in October. The first was found in February of 2002 at the home of club members, Clarence and Betty Brown of Hurley.

Northern Cardinal (locally known as Redbirds) numbers seemed to be much higher in the county this winter. Roger and Lynda Mayhorn had 50 at their feeder at once. Roger was able to get 38 birds in one photograph.

Dave Worley, a Buchanan County Bird Club member from Russell County, presented a slide program to the club in January concerning his birding trip to Costa Rica. Club members have made several birding trips this year. Roger and Lynda Mayhorn and Ed and Barbara Caudill went on a birding trip through Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico during the summer of 2004. In Arizona they met Janice Martin and Ruth Smith, two BCBC members who live in Tennessee. Ed and Michelle Talbott also took a western U.S. birding trip last June, seeing many new species for the first time. A week-end trip in May to the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge on Lake Erie in northern Ohio has become a yearly tradition for BCBC members. Birders go there to see the hundreds of spring migrants that linger along the marshy areas adjacent to Lake Erie, where the birds wait for favorable winds to help them across the Great Lakes into Canada, where they spend the summer nesting.

For the first time The Virginia Society of Ornithology has begun the publication of a quarterly magazine called “Virginia Birds”, which gives information about unusual bird sightings, unusual numbers, etc. of birds within an area. Roger and Lynda Mayhorn are the regional editors for this section of the state. Their area covers the fourteen westernmost counties within Virginia. This scientific journal of record keeping will allow others in the state to see what unusual species are to be found here in our own region.

The annual Great Backyard Bird Count, sponsored by the Audubon Society in connection with the Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University, took place in February. Several members of the Buchanan County Bird Club participated. In this count birders record the different species and numbers of birds at their feeders and in their yards for one week-end. This information is then typed into the giant database at the Cornell website, where the information is made available to scientists, who use the information to evaluate the health of bird populations throughout the country.

Also in February BCBC members took their annual birding trip to Burkes Garden. During the colder part of the winter Golden Eagles and Rough-legged Hawks can be seen hunting over the farmland of the area. Three Golden Eagles were seen as well as Rough-legged Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks and Red-headed Woodpeckers, a species not usually found here in the county. Also birding Burkes Garden on this day were members of the Bristol Bird Club and members of the New River Valley Bird Club from Franklin County Virginia.

Birds were the subject of a presentation to local Boy Scouts in January by Roger and Lynda Mayhorn at the Buchanan County Technology Center. The Scouts needed to learn about birds in order to earn a merit badge in that area of study. As a result of this presentation, Scout Josh Meade and his father, Joel, became members of the BCBC. In March the Scouts and their Scoutmasters, Robert Rife and Harold Boyd, brought the boys to Compton Mountain, where Roger Mayhorn and the other adults led them on a birding hike so the boys could learn to identify birds by sight and sound, a requirement for the merit badge.

The Buchanan County Bird Club is open to anyone who wishes to come to a meeting or to one of the outings. Most Buchanan County residents don’t realize the numbers or the variety of beautiful birds that are to be found within the county. The bird club meets the second Monday of each month at the Buchanan County Public Library at 6:00 p.m. It is not necessary to be knowledgeable about birds. That is what the club is for, to guide those interested in learning about them. The club is made up of all levels of birding ability from beginners to advanced. Everyone is welcome.

Those who feed hummingbirds should get their feeders out in Buchanan County by April 10. Hummingbirds have been seen in the county in previous years as early as April 7. The higher elevations of the county usually don’t see hummingbirds until around April 15 – 20. Also there is no truth to what some may have heard about leaving feeders up too long in the fall. This will not prevent the hummingbirds from migrating. Actually the hummingbirds get only about 10% of their food from the feeders, and it is the shortening of the days that determines when the hummingbirds leave to go south.

Area residents are also encouraged to watch for the Ospreys, the large brown and white eagle-like birds seen flying along the Levisa River. Members of the BCBC are trying to find a nest of one of these hawks. No nests have ever been found in Southwest Virginia. Adults have been seen feeding young birds that have already left the nest, but they have not been found in the nest. Anyone seeing these large birds flying repeatedly to the same area should contact Roger Mayhorn at the previously mentioned phone number or e-mail address, or contact some other bird club member. Anyone having a question about birds is also welcome to call or write.

Roger Mayhorn