On Tuesday, February 27th, Sam Evans, Mike Hagy and I decided to take
advantage of a sunny day to bird in Burkes Garden in Tazewell County. We
arrived around 10:00 am and birded until 5:00 pm. The weather was clear
and sunny. Temperatures ranged from a low of 36 degrees to a high of 42
when we left. There was frost on the trees when we arrived at the Gose
Mill dam. Wind was light and variable. We ate lunch at "Mattie's Place"
on Gose Mill Road--great home-cooked food at reasonable prices.
Highlights include *five **gol**den eagles *soaring together and*a pair
of**adult bald eagles* on/near their nest (We used a spotting scope).
The bald eagles were observed in the act of mating (copulating). We also
recorded a *peregrine **falcon* and a red-phase *eastern screech owl
*looking out from its nesting hole!! We counted 37 species (in order of
appearance):
*Common Raven: 18*
Carolina Wren: 2
Canada Goose: 51+
Blue Jay: 4
Mourning Dove: 19
*Hooded Merganser: 1*
Am. Song Sparrow: 23
Tufted Titmouse: 4
Red-winged Black Bird: 50+
Killdeer: 1
*Red-tailed Hawk: 23*
Turkey Vulture: 70
A. Robin: 20
E. Towhee: 1
White-breasted NH: 2
E. Meadowlark: 20
E. Starling: 225+
Yellow-shafted Flicker: 1
N. Mockingbird: 1
A. Crow: 7
Common Grackle: 5
Eastern Bluebird: 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler: 1
*Mallard Duck: 9*
Black Vulture: 4
N. Cardinal: 4
A. Goldfinch: 2
Chickadee (Mixed) 2
House Sparrow: 2
Dark-eyed Junco: 2
Belted Kingfisher: 2
E. Screech Owl: 1
Rock Pigeon: 7
*Peregrine Falcon: 1*
*Golden Eagle: 5*
*Am. Bald Eagle: 2*
Pileated Woodpecker: 1
Ron Harrington, Bristol, VA
