A Warm Reception in Hickory
Irvin Pitts
Members attending our fall meeting of the Carolina Bird Club in Hickory, North Carolina on September 18 and 19, 2015 enjoyed a weekend of warm, beautiful weather, fine birding, fellowship and entertaining presentations. These are the ingredients for a successful meeting! CBC planners did an excellent job of organizing an exciting array of field trip destinations for the 139 registered participants. Though migration seemed light, most folks enjoyed memorable moments of birding and overall we tallied a grand total of 128 species.
My weekend highlight was our Friday trip to Ridge Junction on the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mount Mitchell State Park with expert leaders Marilyn Westphal and Mark Simpson. Ours was the early trip and we departed the hotel parking lot at 5:00 AM and travelled to our first destination, Ridge Junction located just south of Mount Mitchell State Park. We arrived before 7:00 AM with the glow of dawn on the horizon and Venus shining bright in the sky. The weather was cool and the winds were light, with overall conditions feeling very pleasant. Our first bird of the morning was a Rose-breasted Grosbeak we heard calling downslope.
We enjoyed an exciting morning of birding as migrant wood warblers moved across the gap in good numbers. For nearly two hours, we observed constant activity under excellent sunlit conditions, affording us great opportunities for species comparisons. Those most common were Tennessee Warblers, with nearly 30 being observed, along with 12 to 15 Cape May Warblers and eight to 10 Black-throated Green Warblers. We also got great looks at Blackburnian Warblers, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Bay-breasted Warblers, a Northern Parula, a Black-and-white Warbler and a Common Yellowthroat. Also present were several Swainson's Thrushes, Gray Catbirds, Scarlet Tanagers and more than 20 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. To cap this off, a short excursion down the nearby Bald Knob Ridge Trail produced a nice variety of higher elevation species such as Common Ravens, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Golden-crowned Kinglets and our prized target bird, the Red Crossbill, of which we got distant but satisfactory looks at three birds. This was followed by a memorable visit to nearby Mount Mitchell. What a great day!
Other organized field trips to such fine destinations as Riverbend County Park, Baker Mountain County Park and the Lenoir Greenway, to name a few, also yielded exciting results. Some participants were treated to an awe-inspiring flight of migrating Broad-winged Hawks and others encountered a Ruffed Grouse, an Olive-sided Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo and an impressive total of 27 species of wood warblers, with these being highlighted by Golden-winged Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Wilson's Warbler and many others.
Following our full two days of birding, we enjoyed socializing with friends, old and new, a delicious buffet dinner and entertaining evening programs. Our Friday night program was highlighted by Lori Owenby's excellent presentation on Catawba County Parks and our Saturday night's keynote speaker Curtis Smalling, delivered an intriguing and informative talk on Golden-winged Warblers and migration. It was great seeing everyone in Hickory and thanks to those who made this weekend's meeting such a fun success. We hope you will join us in Litchfield!