Christmas Bird Counts

2013 Christmas Bird Counts

These annual counts provide a great excuse to get out with friends and freeze. This year was gentler, with much warmer temps and less wind than usual. But the warmer weather seemed to negatively affect the bird numbers and species diversity. I am guessing, but some of my theories are: less need for the birds to form foraging flocks and less elevational migratory movement, both behaviors due to a wider abundance of food and water sources. Regardless, I had a great time on two counts…the New River and the Mount Rogers. On Saturday the 21st, Jesse Pope and I ran the roads down along the river at Cox’s Chapel Low Water Bridge. This is Jesse’s old stomping grounds, so every bend in the road (of which there were plenty) came with a memory and story shared. We counted 39 species, with high numbers of crows and Canada geese as was expected. Among the ‘good’ finds were several white-crowned sparrows, one chipping sparrow, one yellow-bellied sapsucker, and two bald eagles seen by Aaron Floyd who was fishing inside our circle.

Yesterday, Dec. 28th, Allen Boynton’s Mount Rogers CBC crew met at the Log House in Volney for food, coffee and instructions. Notice it's still dark outside.

Dispersing from there, Rick Cavey, Jim Minick, and I headed north and west, beginning our count along Homestead Road.

Here we found our only winter wren.

In spite of the early morning cold, we dug up several species, including an unidentified buteo.

It was too distant for the kind of look any of us was confident enough to be certain of, but it was exciting to see a raptor so early in the day.

Our largest single species count…estimated at 160…was a flock of horned larks, seen in the same place as last year.

These birds are typically found in corn stubbled fields.

We tried to turn one of the larks into an American pipet, alas, to no avail.

At the Buller Fish Hatchery Jim noticed that one of the new wood duck boxes was ‘plugged up’ by something.

That something turned out to be our best bird of the day, a red-morph screech owl.

While we were sneaking up on the box to photo-document our find a great blue heron rose up from the creek and flew upstream.

Towards the end of our day, at the Fairwood Cemetery, we all heard an odd mixture of high and low screeches, which turned out to be a red-tail being properly harassed by a few crazy crows.

Moments like these are held for a long time, reminding us that stomping around in the outdoors any time of year holds its own rewards.

Scott Jackson-Ricketts

Fox Squirrel

The fox squirrel that first appeared in the yard on December 12 continues to return periodically. This morning, Christmas Eve, it came to the pole feeder in front of the study window, enabling me to take a photo in spite of the cloudy weather. Enjoy!

Blue Ridge Expeditions: Fisher Peak

Fisher Peak Hike

November 23, 2013

Text is Roald Kirby's account, and he is pictured above.

"The hike went well, despite cool,brisk conditions. We had a total of 11, counting Aubrey [Arrington] and me. Lana and Don [Call], Susan and Claire [Gleason], Tom and Melissa,Carol [Broderson], Ellie Kirby and Gary Wilson from Galax.

We began a gradual climb on the trail through woodland cove popular-pine forest and soon picked up the Fisher Peak road which we followed the rest of the way. According to Aubrey,it was originally built by the City of Galax in the 1930's so people attending the Rhododendron Festival could drive to the mountain.It is now used to access the WBRF radio towers.

Pileated Woodpecker evidence was observed, as were the evergreen leaves of Rattlesnake Plantain. The flowers of Witch Hazel brought on  discussions of function and folklore. As we progressed, the forest became mixed hardwood(oaks predominating) with an understory of mountain laurel and rhododendron(both rosebay and catawba)which continued to the top.We found ourselves on the windy brink of a large gneiss outcrop with a couple of small Table Mountain pines where we looked down on soaring ravens with Pilot Mtn and the Saurtowns in the distance.I had been told that there were magnetite crystals here and

sure enough, we found a bunch(with the aid of magnets, of course!).The whole ones were eight-sided and about 1/16" in size.

  After a quick and cool lunch everyone was ready to head back down.The hike(which was supposedly 8 miles but felt more like six to me) took 4.3 hours.Had the temperatures been warmer, we would have spent more time.Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Gary,a boy scout leader,said that he couldn't wait to get out and show people what he had learned!"

A special thanks goes to Aubrey for sharing his expertise on the walk, and Lana Call for all the photos.

Scott Jackson-Ricketts

RAPTORS OF HARVEY'S KNOB HAWK WATCH

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This project is a partnership with the Community School of Roanoke and Harvey's Knob Hawk Watch.  5th, 6th and 7th graders of the Community School in Roanoke, VA diligently observed and illustrated the raptors at Harvey's Knob Hawk Watch.

Predators on my porch

Late October produced several interesting critters that were obviously looking for juicy meals. The first photo is a wheel bug,

Arilus cristatus

.

The second one was a small spider, much enlarged in the photo. It looked and acted like a crab spider and, when I intercepted it, was closing in on a moth half again its size.

Caterpillars and Pupae

Now that the weather has turned hostile to insects and other arthropods, it's time to empty my folder of stuff to post. I collected a number of caterpillars this fall and have a box of moist potting soil that has the resulting pupae. Some I identified and some not. Here's one that I couldn't decipher.

The second one I saw crawling down a red maple and coaxed into a box. It spun a cocoon in some maple leaves I provided.

Antherea polyphemus

.

The major danger to collected pupae is dehydration. I check the potting soil weekly and keep a damp paper towel on top of the soil. The Polyphemus is in a separate (vented) container. After puzzling over the humidity issue I placed an ordinary kitchen sponge in the container. I keep the sponge wet but not drippy. Time will tell.

Listening and Stories: Sharing our World

A Day at the Farm: Stories On Saturday, October 19th, folks gathered at the Matthews Living Historic Farm Museum for its annual Apple Harvest Day. Though slightly on the chilly side, with a bit of sprinkles thrown in, we hosted a steady stream of people of all ages from infants to geezers coming and going throughout the day. Musicians positioned themselves on the porch of the log cabin, and played traditional mountain tunes while people visited and caught up on neighborly news and gossip.

Among the attractions, stirring the apple butter kettle and cranking the cider press was an all-day affair, with people taking turns at each station. Several tents were set up, representing fiber art, folk painting, cheese-making demonstrations, Independence Farmers Market, and Blue Ridge Discovery Center.

The Farm Museum’s tent offered some home-made chili and sweets along with shirts and caps for sale.

 For me (as one of the founders of BRDC and a huge fan of the Matthews State Forest and its cousin, the Farm Museum) I relish the opportunity to share in community events, making connections, joining in the fun, and meeting new people.

BRDC's displays always include critters and/or critter parts, found objects such as nests, bones, feathers, Native American artifacts, interesting rocks; and a plethora of field guides for the inquisitive.

We attempt to answer questions, but of equal value, we enjoy the stories people bring with them.

On Saturday I listened to one tale about coyotes’ behavioral attitudes toward the domestic dog...and the other way around…and the resultant, and not always pleasant conflicts.

A young man stopped by to talk about his hunting issues with chattering squirrels alerting the entire forest of his coordinates.

I responded by telling him about my recent studies of the skill of becoming familiar with or faithful to a place in the woods, (such as a hunter would in his blind or tree stand), to the degree that the squirrels and birds would also become familiar with the hunter.

Patience of this order produces results for both the hunter and the nature observer.

Most importantly, we all have stories.

Through membership within the community, be it our church, school, benevolence club, the local grange, hunting club, farmers market; as well as these great seasonal events such as this harvest day, we have multiple opportunities to get together, share our time, resources and stories.

We find common ground, create and extend our neighborhood, become closer and more familiar…familiar in the sense of belonging to one another in lasting, significant ways.

Listening to one another is the key to nurturing our bit of heaven here in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Scott Jackson-Ricketts

President, BRDC

Blue Ridge Expeditions: Mt. Rogers Hike

Saturday was the perfect day for a hike, with a Carolina blue sky, a few puffy clouds and a slight breeze. Ten participants met at Massie Gap for a guided hike to the summit of Mt. Rogers, led by Dr. Phil Shelton and Roald Kirby, program director for Blue Ridge Expeditions. The group was treated to an amazing breadth of knowledge about Mt. Rogers by both Roald and Dr. Shelton. Stops were made frequently to observe such species as Spruce and Fir trees, Mountain Ash with its beautiful red berries, and the following birds:

Turkey Vulture

Northern Flicker

Downy Woodpecker

American Robin

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch

Blue Jay

Common Raven

American Crow

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Eastern Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

[Possible] Sharp-shinned Hawk

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Dr. Shelton for taking the time to share in our passion for the Blue Ridge mountains.

Please visit blueridgediscoverycenter.org for information on other upcoming Blue Ridge Expedition events.

Hawk Watching with Galax High School

Mahogany Rock Hawk Watch with Galax HS Biology Students. On September 24th, BRDC hosted this year’s final Avian Adventures program at Mahogany Rock Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Teachers Emily Brown and Sam Starkey brought 12 kids for a day of hawk observations and discussions on migration.BRDC guides William Roberts and Scott Jackson-Ricketts began the program with a focus on a map, compass and questions about migratory patterns and the dynamics of energy saving flight techniques.

As the sun’s warmth was dissipating the fog and heating up the valley, we talked about thermals, which are columns of rising air caused by this heating up process.

For more in depth information on this phenomenon see:

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/HawkPrimer.html.

William and Scott also brought a box of raptor wings, talons and skulls (courtesy of the Carolina Raptor Center and William), giving the kids an opportunity to study up close the details and differences.

From the great horned owl to an Eastern screech owl, red-tailed hawk to a sharp-shinned hawk, we passed the parts around while referring to our hand-out guides, reminding everyone that shape and silhouette would be our key identification tools for the day…along with behavioral distinctions.

Wrapping up the primer session, we set up scopes, distributed binoculars and field guides and began to scan the skies.

We were not disappointed, and in fact, had a very good day.

Starting out slowly, with small numbers of broadwing hawks popping up over the ridge, eventually kettles (groups of birds that rise within the thermals) began to appear off in the distance.

Interspersed with the expected broadwings we also observed a couple of sharp-shinned hawks, a red-tailed hawk or two, one osprey high overhead, resident ravens, and both turkey and black vultures.

The culture of hawk-watching began as a protest and replacement for hawk gunning, a sport that has fortunately died out in the USA.

All over the world, but especially in North America, folks gather in the spring and fall to observe and count migrating hawks.

Carefully collecting the necessary data, including day, time, temperature, wind and other weather related information, hawk watching has grown from just a pleasurable past time to a serious effort to assess population trends and changing behavioral patterns.

BRDC would like to thank Jim Keighton and Blue Ridge Birders for their work as station monitors of Mahogany Rock, and for sharing the hand-outs, maps and space.

We also would like to thank the Matthews Foundation for their ongoing support through Avian Adventures.

Scott Jackson-Ricketts

President, BRDC

September sightings

I had several interesting visitors to my moth sheet and porch during September. The first was an American Toad that was obviously looking for a meal.

The second one was a wasp with black and white antennae. It's one of the Cratichneumon species that parasitize various insect larvae.

 The third one showed up in considerable numbers this year. I have photos of the same species from 2011, 2012, and 2013. Even so, I haven't been able to pin a specific species label on it. It's a wingless cricket.

BRDC's Blue Ridge Expeditions Launches its First Foray

Blue Ridge Discovery Center is proud to welcome Roald Kirby to our team of naturalist explorers and guides.  As program director of our new Blue Ridge Expeditions, Roald brings years of outdoor experience and love of our Blue Ridge to the public through a series of walks, guided hikes and nature lore.

Today we met at Matthews State Forest ostensibly for a bird walk, but general inquiries were (and always will be) welcome.  The sky was overcast with the threat of impending rain, so the birds were generally more quiet than would be if the sun had made an appearance, yet we were able to either hear and/or see the following (in no special order):

• Indigo bunting

• House finch

• Catbird

• American robin

• Blue jay

• Black-throated green warbler

• Tennessee warbler

• Northern cardinal

• Wood duck

• Pileated woodpecker

• Red-bellied woodpecker

• Red-tailed hawk

• Turkey vulture

• Eastern phoebe

• Eastern wood-pewee

• American Goldfinch

• Eastern bluebird

• mocking bird

• Song Sparrow

• Carolina wren

• White-breasted nuthatch

• American crow

• Eastern towhee

• Cedar waxwing

Comparisons were made between oak and maple tree species.  The Alleghany Chinkapin was notable along some of the paths.  Evidence of heavy hickory nut foraging by squirrels littered the woods along with their harvest of yellow buckeye.  Several species of mushrooms were observed along the trail.  Many varieties of apples were available for taste comparisons and thirst quenching.  Discussions ranging from why birds sing to the American Chestnut program being conducted on the state forest grounds were driven by questions...always a good way to engage the learning process.

It is our intention to offer more of these programs throughout the year.  Please pay attention to the local newspapers for notices of upcoming events.  (The Galax Gazette and The Declaration.)  On October 5th, we will be meeting at Grayson Highlands State Park at the Massie Gap parking area, 8:30am, for an all day hike to Mount Rogers.  Roald has secured Dr. Phil Shelton to assist BRDC.  Phil has led this walk at the Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally for years. 

If you are not in the picture below, well, you missed out.  Join us next time! 

Again, we wish to thank the Matthews Foundation for their generous support!

Scott Jackson-Ricketts

Painful garden encounter

For the first time in nearly five years, I have been able to garden again.  It became crucial to create a deer free zone, not an easy task...combining hard work and the cost of fencing.

Naturally, I went a bit crazy, over-planting many crops, including sweet-corn.  In previous years, we always had a small patch of corn, but nothing like this year.  Perhaps it was the larger space given over to corn, perhaps it was related to the different location, higher up our hill and better sunshine exposure.  Or, equally, it could be just serendipity. But the encounter I will soon share, was a new one.

About three weeks ago, as I was happily harvesting a few ears of ripe corn, suddenly a sharp stinging sensation erupted from the back of my hand.  Knowing there had to be a cause, I poked around the plant looking for the culprit, and this is what I discovered: 

Truth be told, I have always wanted to see the saddle-backed caterpillar, just not under these particular circumstances. 

Acharia stimulea

is common, the cat feeding on a wide range of host plants, including corn.  About an inch long, this member of the slug caterpillar family

Limacodidae

has, according to David Wagner in his Caterpillars of Eastern North America, "...the most potent [sting] of any North American caterpillar."

I can testify to that.  In fact, I have found three this year the hard way, the last encounter only about an hour ago.  First aid for caterpillar stings is duct tape.  Just place the tape firmly over the affected area and gently pull away.  It works, sort of. 

Scott Jackson-Ricketts

What moths do at night

Because we see moths at lights or resting quietly somewhere during the day, it's easy to forget that many of them sip nectar just like their butterfly cousins. Here are two that visited my butterfly bushes on August 31.

The first one is Feltia tricosa/subgothica. This moth is either tricosa or subgothica. I'm told on good authority that a researcher can determine which species if the specimen is a male and he or she examines the antennae under sufficient magnification. Therefore an photograph, even a really good one, isn't adequate.

The second moth never stopped beating its wings. I got a focus lock and snapped a pic. The flash, lasting perhaps a thousandth of a second, turned the blur of the wings into something useful for identification. The moth is Allagrapha aerea, one of the Noctuid loopers.

Here's a photo of a resting Alagrapha aerea that I took in September 2012. If you examine the forewing of both moths you can show that they are the same species, but you'll look in vain on the flying moth for the dorsal tuft on the thorax of the resting moth. When it flies, the scales on the thorax lie flat.

Orange-striped Oakworms

This is the wandering season for oakworms. They come down from the trees and look, sometimes at considerable distances from the trees, for places to pupate in the ground. My wife found one and later I found two more on the back porch. Here's the caterpillar.

The species designation is Anisota peigleri/senatoria because the two are essentially indistinguishable as caterpillars and as adults. A. senatoria is the widespread species. A. peigleri is found in the southern Appalachians. Here's the moth.

Tree Crickets

This is the season when adult tree crickets wander. A fair number are attracted to my moth light. Here are three photographed in the past several days.

This reddish one I don't see often, but it's neat. August 30.

This one is a little different. August 31.

This one, photographed on September 1, is the commonest color pattern that I see.

Visitors to the Moth Light

My Carroll County moth light/sheet continues to attract many critters in addition to moths. Here's a sample from August 31. The first is a Red-banded Hairstreak, my first here and the first one I've identified since I moved away from Fayetteville, NC. Seven years!

The second critter is a treehopper. I'd like to identify this to at least the genus level, but unlike butterflies, moths, dragonflies, and damselflies, there are no field guides (that I can find) for true bugs. The material in Kaufman's insects field guide and the photos on BugGuide are inadequate.

The final critter is a cranefly, genus and species unknown. Again the material available in guides and online is inadequate.

Virgin Tiger Moth

Two Grammia virgo were under my black light this morning. G. virgo is the largest tiger moth that I see during the year and always worth a photograph or three. Enjoy!

Three August Katydids

The first one is a common true katydid, Pterophylla camellifolia. My wife and I found it in our sumac. They are common, but they generally live high in the tree canopy.

The second one is a species of Amblycorypha, oblong-winged katydid. It's an understory species, but easily missed if it isn't where it's out of place (on the side of my house).

The final one is a Scudderia, species undetermined. This katydid is plentiful in late summer, lots of opportunities to see it.

Black Horse Fly

I'm glad that this critter landed on the frame of my moth sheet and not on me! A horsefly over an inch long isn't a joke. Tabanas atratus is a widespread species, but it isn't one that I encounter frequently.

Scarlet-winged Lichen Moth

Painted lichen moths have been a dime a dozen for the last several weeks, so I was surprised when a very different one appeared on August 11. Hypoprepia miniata, Scarlet-winged Lichen Moth, was a welcome addition to my yard/county/life list.