Hi, all.
This morning I heard my first 2017 Cerulean on the Blue Ridge Parkway just
north of Asheville. Traditionally they can be found along the Parkway road
from Craven Gap to about 1/2 mile north of Lane Pinnacle Overlook, but over
the past two decades they have become less numerous between Craven Gap and
milepost 375 and more numerous from MP 375 to 1/2 mile north of Lane
Pinnacle Overlook. In fact, there have been only one to three Ceruleans
between Craven Gap and MP 375 in the past few years.
If any of you hear or see a Cerulean Warbler between Craven Gap and MP 375
this spring, please email me a description of the site and/or the GPS
coordinates. The Mountain-to-Sea Trail between Craven Gap and Ox Creek Rd
(the Weaverville exit) is a wonderful place to hike, and the Ceruleans
present in the past few years have all been easily audible from the Trail,
although all were also heard from the Parkway road.
I'll be up on the Parkway in the mornings from now till June recording
Cerulean songs, weather permitting, in order to estimate as closely as
possible the number of territorial males in this area, but I'll be spending
less time south of the Weaverville exit than north of it, so I'd appreciate
any news of Ceruleans south of there.
On a very sad note, there is more Garlic Mustard near milepost 373 now than
ever. Garlic Mustard is a HIGHLY invasive exotic plant that forms large
colonies if not pulled or poisoned consistently for several years. So far
I've found it only on the downslope side of the Parkway road. The farthest
south today was about 100'-150' south of the actual milepost, but it
extends here and there for another 0.2 or 0.3 mile north of MP 373. A few
weeks ago I notified the invasive-exotic department of the Parkway, but I
imagine they're far too busy to worry about this at this time of year. I've
been pulling the Garlic Mustard that I can safely reach, but the new patch
100'-150' south of MP 373 extends too far downslope for me to get. Anyone
up to it????!!!!!
Good Spring Birding!
Charlotte Goedsche
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Charlotte L. Goedsche
