2014 Club Activities

The year 2014 started out with a bang for the BCBC (Buchanan County Bird Club). Members learned that a Snowy Owl, a large, beautiful white bird usually found in Canada and farther north to the Arctic Circle, had been seen in Princeton, WV. On January 10 five club members drove there in search of it. After much searching the owl was found in the center of town perched on a street light. This was a very rare opportunity to see a species that usually comes no farther south than southern Canada.

In February club members were joined by the Russell County Bird Club for the annual trip to Burkes Garden, in Tazewell County to look for both Bald and Golden Eagles that winter there. No Golden Eagles were found, probably because Golden Eagles head back north to their nesting grounds in mid to late February. An earlier trip to Burkes Garden had to be postponed due to bad weather. A pair of Bald Eagles were found at their nest near the Burkes Garden store. This pair of Bald Eagles has nested there for five or six years. On the way to Burkes Garden a colony of fourteen Great Blue Herons, those large crane-like birds you see along the rivers and lakes, had already started preparing their nests in a large sycamore at Pounding Mill, VA.

On March 5 another unusual bird came into the area when a Red-necked Grebe was found in a yard on Slate Creek. This medium sized aquatic bird is usually found in Canada northwest to Alaska, but in some years they come down into the United States in large numbers. 2014 was one of those years. This is the first record of one being found in Buchanan County.

The Buchanan County Bird Club participated in International Migratory Bird Day on May 3. Members birded a large part of Buchanan County to find the different bird species that were passing through on their northern migration or those that had returned here from South America to nest. Sixty-three species were counted for the day. It was a great day to be out in a natural setting on a spring day.

Several BCBC members made the annual trip in May to Magee Marsh on the shores of Lake Erie to watch the northern migration of birds going north across the lake into Canada. They were not disappointed. They saw 120 species, and sometimes there were dozens of one species present at once. The birds stop there near the lake to feed and wait for a favorable wind to help them cross the lake. The colorful birds in their spring plumage are often feeding so close in the bushes along the wooden boardwalk in the marsh that they are nearly close enough to touch.

From April to August members of the Buchanan County Bird Club maintained and monitored the 70 Bluebird nest boxes throughout the county as they have for the past twelve years. Daryl Owens, Roger and Lynda Mayhorn and David Raines collected data each week from each nest box on number of eggs, number of young and how many young birds had fledged (left the nest). One hundred seventy-four young birds were raised in the nest boxes during that period. Roger Mayhorn, the Buchanan County Coordinator for the VBS (Virginia Bluebird Society), compiled that information and submitted the report. The VBS in turn sent the information on to the North American Bluebird Society, which monitors the health of the Bluebird population all over North America.

In September club members Roger and Lynda Mayhorn hosted their 10th annual Warbler Day on Compton Mountain. Birders come there to see the many colorful warblers and other bird species that feed through the Mayhorn property each fall as they migrate south to escape the cold, northern winters. Sixteen birders came from Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee to watch the migration. Fifty-two bird species were counted for the day. Photos of that day can be seen on the internet at http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/warblerday2014

In October club members David and Susan Raines hosted their annual Sparrow Day at their place in the Breaks community. David and Susan host this event because October is the month that migrating sparrows pass through the area on their way south, and the Raines property with open fields with bushy edges is ideal sparrow habitat. Several birders came to enjoy the birds, the fall colors and the friendship of others who have a common interest. Some of the sparrow species were late coming through that October, but 38 bird species were still counted with the most surprising find being a flyover by an Anhinga, a large, long-necked aquatic bird normally found in Florida and along the southern U.S coast. This was such a rare sighting a report was submitted to VARCOM, the Virginia Avian Records Committee, which keeps track of unusual sightings within the state. This was the first time this species was ever reported in the western part of Virginia and a first for Buchanan County.

In December members of the Buchanan County Bird Club participated in three annual Christmas Bird Counts. Christmas Bird Counts are conducted each year by the National Audubon Society to keep a check on the population of birds wintering in the U.S. and Canada. The BCBC helped with the Breaks Christmas Bird Count, the Buchanan County Christmas Bird Count and the Russell County Christmas Bird Count. Each count lasts all day, and the birders see how many different species they can find within a fifteen mile circle. The most unexpected find during the Breaks count was a Short-eared Owl discovered at Southern Gap. This owl spent the winter there, and was viewed by birders from surrounding states who came to see it.

The Buchanan County Bird Club meets the second Monday of each month at the Buchanan County Public Library in Grundy at 6:00 p.m. Anyone wishing to attend the meetings or to go along on any of the birding outings is welcome. Upcoming meetings and birding events for the bird club can be seen at https://sites.google.com/site/buchananbirds/calendar

Roger Mayhorn