<< Back 5/8/02 The Naturalist's Corner By Don Hendershot It was nearly 7 p.m., last Saturday, when the 10 soggy patrons of the arts tallied their birding checklists. A total of 80 species was respectable for nearly 10 hours of birding in less than ideal conditions. While the blue skies and bright evening sun that shone on us down at Jukebox Junction belied earlier conditions, the earth beneath our feet was a squishy reminder of what the majority of the 3rd Annual Birding for the Arts outing had been like. The rain was falling pretty steady by the time we finished a short turn around the parking lot at the Performing Arts Center. It was still falling as we tried to coax a Cape May warbler out of the dense cover of the large spruces at the Barber’s Orchard fruit stand. We retreated to the Daily Bread Cafe at Lake Junaluska. There we enjoyed the dry, the warmth, and the hot coffee as we kept an eye on the lake through the large windows. Swallows obliged us, lining up on the railing of the tour boat tied to the dock just outside the windows. We were able to compare and contrast northern rough-winged, tree and barn swallows while we sipped our coffee. Short forays into the drizzle also produced spotted sandpipers and an osprey. The rain ended and we summoned our courage and headed back out into the gray. We stopped down behind the cafeteria to check out the nesting green herons. We found two on nests. We also saw three great blue herons perched high in an oak near the lake, plus we got great looks at a yellow warbler. Then one of those serendipitous events that make birding during migration exciting happened. When we were headed to the Daily Bread, earlier, Stan Polanski and I saw a common loon on the back of the lake near the highway. We didn’t see it when we stopped to look at the green herons. We decided to drive around the lake to see if we could find the loon. We stopped at the cross. By sheer luck, we had stopped in the middle of a mixed flock of migrants. We saw blackpoll, Cape May, palm, bay-breasted and yellow-rumped warblers as well as indigo bunting, Swainson’s thrush, yellow-throated vireo, red-eyed vireo and scarlet tanager at that one stop. With spirits buoyed, we decided to penetrate the fog- and rain-laden Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped at the Waynesville Overlook to enjoy our box lunches from Lomo Grill. Even though the fog was thick, we were able to get good looks at American redstarts, chestnut-sided warblers, veerys and rose-breasted grosbeaks. We heard several other species. It was definitely a good day for practicing “birding by ear.” After a couple of unproductive stops in the fog at higher elevations, we got lucky again. A stop designed basically to make sure we hadn’t lost anyone in the fog turned birdy. we got good looks at black-throated green and Canada warblers plus recorded two high elevation nesters; golden-crowned kinglet and black-capped chickadee. We made a quick trip down to the trailhead at Black Camp Gap and recorded two new species for the day; house wren and common yellow-throat warbler. Then we back tracked to N.C. 215 and started down the mountain. We stopped at Lake Logan where a solitary turkey vulture braving the gray skies added another species to our list. Even though it was getting late, the group agreed to one last stop. The area adjacent to a wetlands in Bethel had been productive on past “Birding for the Arts” excursions. It was another fortuitous decision. Although we had to slog through muddy fields to get to our vantage point, when the skies cleared and the sun shone on the brilliant orange of a northern (Baltimore) oriole perched in the top of a sycamore. life was good. I believe we added five species at that stop, including a solitary sandpiper. I’ve had the pleasure of birding with Joe Sam and Kate Queen before. I know they’re not fair weather birders. But I was a little surprised that no one else cut and ran. Those theater-goers are tough! And by the way, Kate, if you want to add another species — that song that stumped me — the one I thought was a warbling vireo, but wasn’t 100-percent sure, it was indeed a warbling vireo. I heard it again Sunday morning and without the fog was able to see the bird. (Don Hendershot can be reached at don@smokymountainnews.com)