The Pine Warbler

November 2007, Volume XXXIII, No. 3

October Field Trip Notes by Ronnie Blackwell

It’s been more than a week since we got back from our fall birding trip to Dauphin Island. The island is my very favorite birding place in the world. It has the laid-back rhythm of an earlier time. It is steeped in history and legend. In spite of steady incursion of coastal development, it still is a place of great natural beauty, and it’s a place where we can meet old friends from near and far. But this fall it was just not a place to find birds. Strange weather patterns, faltering fronts, and maybe a good dose of hoodoo kept the spectacular flights of migrating passerines away.

Lin and I arrived early Friday and quickly realized that there were very few birds around. We walked through Shell Mound Park seeing only resident Mockingbirds and Carolina Wrens. Suddenly there was a flash of color and we saw in quick succession a female American Redstart, a Black-and-white warbler, and a Yellow-throated Vireo. This is it, I thought, the start of a good day on the Island.

I thought wrong. The day turned hot and practically birdless. We shook things up by heading down to the west end of the Island where inlets cut by Katrina still attract shorebirds. We had better luck there, including two large plovers that I felt sure were of two different species—American Golden Plover, a rarity at this time and habitat, and Black-bellied Plover, the default big plover for the island. The wind changed late that afternoon, but the birds did not come.

Saturday was a lovely island day with sunshine, mild temperatures, and no birds. In fact we found the very same birds in the same places that we had found them on Friday. Things were so slow that we took naps in the afternoon. But I was still working on the two plovers. Lin and I kept going back, looking for clues to their identities, and each time we went back to that inlet we saw a few more species of shore birds. We also found the odd Osprey, Reddish Egret, and even a nice male Peregrine, but this was without a doubt the worst birding on the Island I have ever seen during migration. That night at our compilation I predicted that our group total would be only 55 species. I was shocked when we tallied 95! We didn’t see what we expected to see: buntings and vireos and warblers dripping from the trees. The very fact that these birds were absent pushed us to find the hidden, hard birds that may go unnoticed and uncounted when waves of migrants are present.

Sunday the group added five more species for a very respectable total of 100. Lin and I rode the early ferry over to Fort Morgan to see Bob and Martha Sargent and their merry band of banders. They were just starting their fall banding session, and things were as slow on that side of the bay as they were on the Island. This kind of start could depress the most chipper brownie scout, but the Hummer-Bird Study guys were their usual good-natured selves. No matter how good or bad today is Bob expects a better tomorrow.

Lin and I traveled on to Gulf Shores then up Alabama 59 to Interstate 10 on our way to visit our friends Barry and Georgia. This is not the shortest, nor even the most scenic route to Mobile, but it takes you through the granddaddy of all Alabama fruit stands, the Burris Farm Market in Loxley. As I sat eating a grand Burris strawberry shortcake smothered with soft-serve, I thought back to our hard weekend of birding. We had a great time visiting with other birders and we certainly had plenty of time to visit. Every bird was hard, but each bird was appreciated. And they all led to that fantastic shortcake. At the time, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend an October weekend.

I still can’t.



Bird Quiz  by Larry Smith
This bird is on the MS winter checklist, has a prominent white supercilium, has a voice usually described as nasal,
and it likes to climb trees head down.

NAME THE BIRD FOR A BIG PRIZE!!

Answer to October Quiz
    The sandpiper I have seen most at the lagoons is the Spotted Sandpiper, and I really do not recall seeing any other. (I have seen others on the river sandbars below the lagoons, but only because I was with David Cimprich.)We are most likely to see it in the winter, sans spots of course. The books say the winter bird may have a few spots, on the undertail coverts or rarely elsewhere, but I have yet to see any on a Hattiesburg bird. Otherwise the bird is a little brown upperparts job with white underparts. The extension of white in front of the wings is a distinctive mark, but probably the best clues are its bobbing and teetering, characteristic “fluttering” or “wooden” wingbeats, and its solitary (as solitary as the Solitary Sandpiper!) presence along the banks of the lagoons, ponds, streams or what have you. I also generally manage to miss the flight call which those amongst us more expert would probably recognize blindfolded. The bird is in its own genus, Actitis, among shorebirds, and is referred to as “distinctive” by Sibley. Among the minutia every good birder should have command of, the male of this species takes care of the eggs (not the laying!) and young, while the female fools around a lot. (Sibley, Bird Life and Behavior) Another factoid: in last year’s CBC a total of 52 Spotteds were counted in 24 counts in MS, AL, and LA, none of which were in Hattiesburg!



November Field Trip   by Chuck Gramling

Come join us Saturday, November 17th at 9:00 AM for a fall birding trip. We will head out looking for birds (or whatever we find in those beautiful Longleaf Pine National Forest lands) on a trip towards Cypress Creek Landing. Cypress Creek Landing is located toward the lower end of Black Creek. Our plan is to drive to Brooklyn, and then take New York Road (gravel) over to Hwy 29 and go slowly hunting for birds and stuff there. Woods-road-riding is the maybe the biggest recreational use of the national forest so we will be right in style! Cypress Creek Landing was picked as the end point (or halfway point if you are headed back home enjoying the day). The last few miles going into the recreation area have the acclaimed Black Creek Wilderness on one side of the road and managed forests on the other. I am not sure that birds understand the difference yet about which side of the road is wilderness and which is not! We will also have opportunities as time permits to stop at a few other creek-side landings (Moody’s Landing, Janice Landing, and the General Jackson trailhead if the birds and interest are there). Bring your snacks and lunch. You never know our group, and every one is free to keep their own schedule, but we should be back to Hattiesburg about 1 or 2 PM. Come see the woods and birds and all that with us and enjoy the morning. The public is cordially invited to join us. We will depart from Hattiesburg’s University Mall parking lot near Roses and Starbuck’s at 9:00 AM Saturday, November 17. For more information, please call me.
 
Contact: Chuck Gramling, Field Trip Coordinator (601-268-3859/clgramling@comcast.net)

It’s T-i-i-i-i-i-m-e for Audubon Adventures

AUDUBON ADVENTURES is an environmental education program for children in grades 3 to 5. Developed by professional educators, AUDUBON ADVENTURES presents basic, scientifically accurate facts about birds, wildlife, and their habitats. It goes directly to the teacher in a selected classroom, packaged as a Classroom Kit (serving 1 Teacher & 32 students). Since its inception in 1984, over 7 million youngsters have participated in the program. The Pine Woods Chapter is pleased and proud to have been participating in this valuable program for many years through our generous sponsors – like YOU!

Liz Wolfe has graciously agreed once again to be our Audubon Adventures Coordinator, and she is busily rounding up teachers who want to use the materials in their classrooms. Now it’s time pay for the materials. The cost per classroom is only $45.65 (one time), and it’s a great way to make sure that kids are getting some “green” education mixed in with the readin-ritin-and-rithmetic! Liz is currently taking donation for full or partial classroom costs. She will also take requests for specific classrooms if you know a teacher who wants the materials. Just contact Liz and she will take care of your questions, your money, etc.

Liz Wolfe, 601-264-9545 18
Acorn Place, Hattiesburg, MS 39402-9548


Book Review by Ronnie Blackwell
Ducks at a Distance: A Waterfowl Identification Guide
    Author:  Bob Hines, US Fish & Wildlife Services

    Josh reminded me of this little book last week. It is less than fifty pages and small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, or maybe a hunting vest pocket. You see, Ducks at a Distance is written for waterfowl hunters. As such, it does an excellent job of teaching on-the-wing waterfowl identification. Each species is illustrated in color. There are also small black and white drawings showing the ducks at various angles and even drawings of the distinctive way each species flies in flocks. The illustrations are peppered with useful notes, such as this entry about Redheads: "Usually spend the day in large rafts in deep water; feed morning and evening in shallower sections. Drakes purr and meow; hens have a loud squak, higher than a hen mallard’s."

    I can’t pick up the book without thinking about Rockport, Texas. After a evening of watching thousands of waterfowl landing and not being able to name one in a hundred I bought my copy there. The following night when I heard shrill whistling calls far above us, I managed to pull over the car just in time for Lin and I to see very first Black-bellied Whistling Ducks parachuting onto the bay. My $3.00 investment was already paying dividends. Ducks at a Distance has one other feature that makes it unique among all of my field guides: it will tell whether or not that duck you’re looking at will taste good.



Pine Woods Audubon Calendar of Upcoming Events

Oct. 28, 2007 (Sunday): BIG SIT 2 - Hattiesburg Zoo in Front of Zoo Education Center. Contact Ron Blackwell or Josh Hodge for more details.

Nov.1, 2007 (Thursday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Board Meetin g, 6:15 p.m. in Hattiesburg Zoo Education Center. The Public is invited to attend. Contact any Board Member or officer for more information or to add something to the Agenda.

Nov. 1, 2007 (Thursday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Chapter Meeting, 7 p.m. in Hattiesburg Zoo Education Center. PROGRAM: Western Migrants in Riparian habitats (Kristina Paxton, USM Biological Sciences Program). Contact Program Chair Josh Hodge (601-606-3440) for information.

Nov. 6, 2007 (Tuesday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Birding Committee Meeting, 5:30 p.m. at the Keg & Barrel Restaurant. Contact Ron Blackwell (601-543-0091) for information.

Nov. 15, 2007 (Thursday): Deadline for items for December Pine Warbler to newsletter editors by email (lin.harper@usm.edu), by phone (601-545-2437), or by fax (Attn: Lin @ 601-266-6541).

Nov. 17, 2007: “Cypress Creek Landing Field Trip.” Contact Field Trip Coordinator Chuck Gramling (601-408-0499) for information.



Chapter Membership Dues payable now! $20/year. Mail to PWAS Treasurer:
544 W. 4th Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401