You guys had a good day of birding. I actually saw Red-breasted Nuthatch here & @ my parent's feeder on Sunday. Like you, Roger, I expect they will head North very soon. DaveR/Breaks ----- Original Message ----- From: Roger Mayhorn To: BCBC Listserve Sent: Sunday, April 14, 2013 11:15 PM Subject: [bcbirdclub] Good Sunday Birding This morning Daryl Owens came up and we birded around my place, then drove a couple of miles to the Mountain Top Golf Course, then down Slate Creek to the park at Enoch's Branch near Grundy. We had a great day with 46 species with some newly arrived migrants giving Daryl more new birds to add to his life list. Before we left my place we got close up looks at the 5 Purple Martins that are now occupying my martin house and gourds. Two males were in contention for the same gourd, and twice with us only a few feet away they fought all the way to the ground. Once dominance was determined things got back to normal. We had male Brown Thrashers singing in at least two locations on the property, and we watched a Carolina Chickadee carry nesting material to an empty bluebird box. I checked another bluebird box and found the first egg of the season. After returning this evening I found we still had Purple Finches and a Pine Siskin hanging around the feeders. When we stopped at the Mountain Top Golf Course we heard and saw 3 Yellow-throated Warblers and our FOS Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, both being life birds for Daryl. We also had my FOS Blue-headed Vireo. Later on Slate Creek we saw our FOS Northern Rough-winged Swallows and Barn Swallows. On Enoch's Branch Daryl was treated to another life bird when a Black-throated Green Warbler was heard singing. The bird was a strikingly handsome male with a bright yellow head and dark black bib. Shortly after Daryl found another handsome bird in the form of a male Black-and-white Warbler in breeding plumage, another life bird. At Enoch's Branch we also got to see and hear a Red-breasted Nuthatch, possibly the last one we will see this year. The ones at the Raines home in the Breaks and the couple Lynda and I had at our place seem to have headed north already. Here is a photo I managed to get of one of the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers we saw at Enoch's Branch. Those little guys are hard to photograph because they are almost never still for a second. The species list for the day follows the photo. Roger Mayhorn Compton Mt 46 species total Mayhorn Home Mourning Dove 3 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Purple Martin 5 (4m, 1f) Tree Swallow 2 Blue Jay 2 American Crow 2 Carolina Chickadee 3 (1 carrying nesting material to nest box) Tufted Titmouse 4 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 Carolina Wren 1 Eastern Bluebird 5 (3m, 2f) American Robin 3 Brown Thrasher 5 Chipping Sparrow 3 Song Sparrow 2 White-throated Sparrow 2 Dark-eyed Junco 1 Eastern Towhee 1 Northern Cardinal 6 (3m, 3f) Red-winged Blackbird 2m Brown-headed Cowbird 15 (7m, 8f) Purple Finch 4 (3m, 1f) House Finch 3 (2m, 1f) Pine Siskin 1 American Goldfinch 8 Mountain Top Golf Course Wild Turkey 1 Tree Swallow 1 Blue-headed Vireo 1 (FOS on the mountain) Carolina Chickadee 2 Tufted Titmouse 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 (FOS on the mountain) Yellow-throated Warbler 3 Brown-headed Cowbird 2m Slate Creek Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Eastern Phoebe 1 Tree Swallow 4 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 13 Barn Swallow 3 American Crow 5 Carolina Wren 3 American Robin 5 Brown Thrasher 1 European Starling 9 Yellow-throated Warbler 1 Song Sparrow 7 Enoch's Branch Red-tailed Hawk 2 Wild Turkey 2 Ruffed Grouse 1 Northern Flicker 3 Pileated Woodpecker 3 Blue Jay 1 American Crow 11 Carolina Chickadee 6 Tufted Titmouse 7 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 Carolina Wren 4 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4 American Robin 8 Brown Thrasher 1 Black-throated Green Warbler 5m Yellow-throated Warbler 4 Black-and-white Warbler 1m Field Sparrow 7 White-throated Sparrow 5 Dark-eyed Junco 2f Eastern Towhee 10m Northern Cardinal 8 (5m, 3f) American Goldfinch 1