FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Fw: [nrvbirds] Red Xbills at Whitetop Mtn.

["Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Red Xbills at Whitetop Mtn.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Kane, Brian 
Sent: Monday, May 31, 2004 9:25 AM
Subject: [nrvbirds] Red Xbills at Whitetop Mtn.

Saturday morning I checked the Fairlawn Ponds on Rt. 114 and found 3 killdeer 
and a single least sandpiper; I also spent a couple of hours walking Parrott 
River Rd. (list below). Yesterday, I managed 4 hours of birding at Whitetop 
Mtn. (Grayson Co., I think), but when I visited Grayson Highlands State Park, 
it started pouring rain.  There were 2 highlights on my trip.  The first was a 
flock of approximately 25 red crossbills feeding in red spruces at the summit 
of  Whitetop Mtn. It was hard to get an accurate count, as the birds moved 
around and I was viewing them from under the spruce canopy.  There was at least 
1 pine siskin with them, and I really thought I heard part of a common redpoll 
song, the whiny upslurred note (on the Stokes' birdsong tapes); the problem was 
that I never heard the "chet-chet-chet" that usually follows the upslurred note 
when redpolls fly.  I've heard many redpolls and if it were winter I wouldn't 
question myself that it was a redpoll.  Considering the time of year, however, 
it seems a lot less likely to have been a redpoll, but I checked several tapes 
and websites and can't seem to find any other candidate. The second highlight 
was a yellow-bellied flycatcher along state road 730, just beyond the 
intersection with state road 740; it was perched on a wire, above a wet grassy 
swale and sang several times.  

Parrott River Rd. (Pulaski Co.) 5/29: 
Green heron     1 
Canada goose    45 
Mallard 15 
Turkey vulture  5 
Killdeer                4 
Spotted sandpiper       2 
Least sandpiper         1 
Mourning dove   10 
Rock pigeon     6 
YB cuckoo       1 
Chimneyu swift  15 
RT hummingbird  1 
RB woodpecker   2 
E. wood-pewee   3 
Willow flycatcher       1 
E. phoebe       2 
E. kingbird     2 
RE vireo        15 
YT vireo                4 
Warbling vireo  5 
Blue jay        5 
Am. Crow        15 
NRW swallow     3 
Tree swallow    5 
Barn swallow    15 
Tufted titmouse 5 
Carolina chickadee      6 
BG gnatcatcher  3 
Am. Robin       10 
E. bluebird     2 
Gray catbird    8 
Brown thrasher  2 
N. mockingbird  4 
Starling        40 
Cedar waxwing   8 
Yellow warbler  9 
B&w warbler     1 
L. waterthrush  1 
C. yellowthroat 4 
Am. Redstart    15 
N. parula       1 
YT warbler      1 
Scarlet tanager 1 
N. cardinal     6 
Indigo bunting  15 
E. towhee       6 
Chipping sparrow        4 
Song sparrow    13 
E. meadowlark   8 
RW blackbird    35 
C. grackle      25 
BH cowbird      6 
Baltimore oriole        7 
Am. Goldfinch   15 
House sparrow   10 

Whitetop Mtn. (including state roads 603, 740,730, and Route 58): 
Green heron     1 
Ruffed grouse   1 
Mallard 10 
Turkey vulture  5 
BW hawk 1 
RT hummingbird  1 
RB woodpecker   1 
Pileated woodpecker     1 
E. phoebe       2 
YB flycatcher   1 
Least flycatcher        4 
BH vireo        5 
RE vireo        10 
NRW swallow     4 
Barn swallow    15 
Blue jay                8 
Am. Crow        15 
C. raven                3 
BC chickadee    1 
RB nuthatch     4 
Brown creeper   5 
GC kinglet      12 
Winter wren     1 
E. bluebird     1 
Am. Robin       6 
Wood thrush     2 
Veery   6 
Hermit thrush   5 
Gray catbird    8 
Brown thrasher  1 
N. mockingbird  1 
Starling        3 
C. waxwing      10 
Yellow warbler  10 
Magnolia warbler        7 
BT Blue warbler 6 
CW warbler      15 
YR warbler      4 
BT Green warbler        8 
Am. Redstart    6 
Ovenbird        3 
N. Parula       1 
L. waterthrush  1 
Canada warbler  2 
C. yellowthroat 10 
N. cardinal     8 
Indigo bunting  20 
RB grosbeak     3 
E. towhee       15 
Field sparrow   6 
Chipping sparrow        5 
Junco   30 
Song sparrow    10 
E. meadowlark   3 
BH cowbird      2 
RW blackbird    10 
C. grackle      10 
Baltimore oriole        1 
Pine siskin     1 
Red xbill       25 
Am. Goldfinch   10 
House sparrow   2 

Brian Kane 
Blacksburg, VA 24061 


*************************************************
       BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at:
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5

This is a regional birding list sponsored by the
Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications 
between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia
and Northeast Tennessee.  
--------------------------------------------------
You are subscribed to Bristol-Birds.
To post to this mailing list, simply send an email
to: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send
an email to bristol-birds-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
the one word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
--------------------------------------------------
       Wallace Coffey, Moderator
         wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
           (423)764-****