On Saturday, May 2, Daryl Owens, David Raines and I, Roger Mayhorn, had such a
good birding day we broke the high count record for the area. We logged 87
species for the day. Some unexpected species found were a Green Heron, a
species not common in the area, two Soras, found on Tuesday which was a first
record for Buchanan County with one found again on Saturday, Bobolinks, another
species not common to the area, a Wilson's Snipe, a flyover of a Least
Sandpiper that I managed to photograph that was identified later, a House Wren
building a nest here on Compton Mt, a species rarely found in Buchanan County
and a Whip-poor-will I managed to pick up after nightfall.
We had 16 warbler species including a male Blackburnian Warbler singing on
territory in front of the Breaks Interstate Park Visitors Center, the same
location where the first known nesting of that species in the park took place
in 2012 at an elevation of only 1700 feet. We also had male Prairie Warblers
singing on territory at Southern Gap, a species not easily found in the county.
We found 5 raptor species, 5 woodpeckers, 4 vireo species, 4 swallows, 3 thrush
species, 3 mimids, 16 warbler species, 7 sparrow species, 6 blackbird species
and 3 species of finches, 4 if you count the House Sparrow.
Below is the complete list.
Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt
Buchanan County
87 species
Mallard 3
Wild Turkey 6
Green Heron 1
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 8
Osprey 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Sora 1
Killdeer 5
Least Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe 1
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 9
Whip-poor-will 1
Chimney Swift 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 11
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Yellow-throated Vireo 2
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 7
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 6
Common Raven 2
Horned Lark 1
Purple Martin 4
Tree Swallow 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 6
Barn Swallow 4
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 4
House Wren 1m
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 5
Eastern Bluebird 1m
Wood Thrush 6
American Robin 15
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 3
European Starling 5
Blue-winged Warbler 2m
Northern Parula 2
Yellow Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 8
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Blackburnian Warbler 1m
Yellow-throated Warbler 4
Prairie Warbler 2m
Cerulean Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 3
American Redstart 8
Worm-eating Warbler 1
Ovenbird 7
Common Yellowthroat 3
Hooded Warbler 12
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Scarlet Tanager 2m
Eastern Towhee 10
Chipping Sparrow 5
Field Sparrow 2
Grasshopper Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 6
White-throated Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 6
Indigo Bunting 8m
Bobolink 3m
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Eastern Meadowlark 2
Common Grackle 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 12
Baltimore Oriole 1f
Pine Siskin 9
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 8
House Sparrow 1
