[Bristol-Birds] Re: Strange Bird Activity?
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 02:31:53 -0600
Todd Perkins:
First let me say congratulations to the Grundy Golden Wave
and your 34-7 Region IV, Division 3, playoff win in Bristol
Friday night. Good luck to you guys in rest of the state playoffs.
That area around Gene Malcom Stadium, including the
parking lots of the strip malls, usually keeps a small population
of Killdeer and they are often there throughout the winter months.
The Killdeer is a frequent nocturnal bird. It is not unusual to see
one running along the parking lots of any the larger lots at night.
You can also hear them calling above the buildings as they fly
about or even see a small flock winging through the street lights.
Many of us become familiar with seeing various species out
and about during the daylight and, when we encounter them
after dark, it is a surprise to us that they are out at night.
The first species to really surprise me like that was a Great
Blue Heron which I saw feeding in a small creek by the road
on my way home in the snow one night from a Sullivan Central
high school basketball game. It was about 10 p.m. Of
course we know that many heron species are nocturnal but
that never dawned on me at that time many, many years ago.
I have, several times, seen a Red-tailed Hawk flying so late
after sunset that I could only see it well when it flew under
the street lights. I had found the bird before dark and
was trying to trap it and band it before it went to roost. It stayed
out until after dark before going to roost.
I don't know what your American Robin was doing out after
dark. Looks like a good way to be caught and eaten by an
owl or other predator.
Northern Cardinals stay out until it is so dark you can still
here their chip notes but there is not enough light for you
to see them. You probably know that the mockingbird
sings all night but they are not really sure if he is awake
or not. I read somewhere that they think he sings during
his sleep.
A large percentage of our bird populations migrates during
the night hours, often flying almost all night long. This
includes many diurnal species.
We don't usually see diurnal (day) birds that are out after dark as
much as we see nocturnal birds which are out in the
daytime. Examples coming to my mind right now (and
there are several) are Great Horned Owls hunting during
the day, Nighthawks, Night-Herons and Barred Owls,
Todd, I kind of relate to your birding at this age. I was
a teenage birder and started birding while I was in
high school. I remember taking a little kidding about it
but I was successful in sports and always felt there
was a mutual respect for both my love of sports and
nature. My senior science research paper was on
winter bird populations at King College, near my home,
in Bristol.
I think I saw somewhere that you play linebacker for
the Golden Wave. We had an all conference linebacker
from Tennessee High School who was a student
natrualist at Steele Creek Park Nature Center in
Bristol and he did a research project during the winter
on small mammal populations. I remember that he
would go out in the woods dragging all his traps and
his girlfriend (one of the cheerleaders) would several
times go with him and help with his work. That was
Cliff Buckles.
Take care.....good to see your contributions on Bristol
area birds net. Stay with us. Good birding to you.
Let's go briding.....
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
-----Original Message-----
From: Perkins <perkins@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2002 8:26 PM
Subject: [Bristol-Birds] Strange Bird Activity?
>Area Birders,
>
>Last night at the VA High-Grundy game, I heard what I thought was a
Killdeer. But I paid no attention to it and got suited up for the game. But
on the way back in from our pre-game warmup, I saw a flock of 10-15 of them.
Killdeer. Keep in mind that this is at about 7 p.m., well after dark. I
thought this was very strange.
>
>Also, on the way home from football practice last week I saw a robin
sitting on the guardrail at the Grundy YMCA . It confused me. Why would a
robin be out that late after dark? Can anyone help me?
>
>Oh yeah, one more thing. Last Thusday (at football Practice again) I saw
two birds that were about the size of a dove or something similar. The way
the sun shone on them they looked yellow. The closest thing I can think of
is a meadowlark. Can anyone help me?
>
>Todd Perkins
>
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> BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
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>This is a regional birding list sponsored by the
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>between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia
>and Northeast Tennessee. It serves the Russell County
>Bird Club, Herndon Chapter TOS, Chapter, Blue Ridge
>Birders Club, Butternut Nature Club, Buchanan County
>Bird Club, Bristol Bird Club, Clinch Valley Bird Club
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> Wallace Coffey, Moderator
> jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx
> (423)764-3958
>
>
*************************************************
BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
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. It serves the Russell County
Bird Club, Herndon Chapter TOS, Chapter, Blue Ridge
Birders Club, Butternut Nature Club, Buchanan County
Bird Club, Bristol Bird Club, Clinch Valley Bird Club
and Cumberland Nature Club.
--------------------------------------------------
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.
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Wallace Coffey, Moderator
jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx
(423)764-3958
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