Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2000 19:08:38 -0700 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Charlie Subject: Great Smoky Mountains MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi Folks, A number of you asked for an update on life in the Smokies once I got adjusted, so if you're looking for MD stuff, hit delete now! First of all, I'd like to say thanks for all the kind words I got from many of you when I left. I'm still following the reports (63 Sandwich Terns? 10 Buff-bellied? Great!) with envy. Well, my first week out of MD was spent in Maine, which in the life of a naturalist, is easily on the way to Tennessee... um. Where's that DeLorme again? The Appledore Island banding station has been run by David Holmes for nigh on an eternity (under the licenses of others, actually) and is a great place to spend late summer. Since migration was just beginning, there weren't a whole lot of birds in the nets, but in addition to the many resident Catbirds, Song Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats, we did have abouit 12 Mourning Warblers, and one or more Canada, Black-and-White, Black-throated Green, Oven, and Red-eyed Vireo. For the first time, I was not the "new gu" at a banding station, and was put in the role of helping to train two beginners. Of over 110 birds, I only needed assistance from David 3 times, so I was pretty happy. I also removed 2 birds which 6 months ago I would never have attempted, both survived, and were possibly less stressed than I was. I was able to extract about 20 species in the week, including 26 juvenile Catbirds and one (sigh) cowbird. I also took out a female house finch with conjunctivitis. All equipment got doused with alcohol after she left. In addition to banding birds, we make an attempt to count what is around. 3 Guillemots made life interesting, as did a week-hbigh of 113 Snowy Egrets. The island has a rookery which flies to the mainland every day to feed in the marshes. We count the dawn and dusk commutes when weather and # of netted birds allows. We had 3 sightings of at least 2 Little Blue Hersons - birds that aren't always on island. I had a couple of white terns, which my gut is calling Arctic, but my mind is saying "not enough info" on. WOuldda been lifers. Wouldn't you know, the day after I left they had a Broad-winged hawk in the net. So, the Smokies. It's beautiful here. Saw a black bear already, in famous Cades Cove. Haven't seen any birds yet that aren't easy in MD, but I have seen several small migration flocks, including Black-and-white, Black-throated-Blue, Black-throated-green, Hooded, Redstart and Oven. I am surprised at the number of Juncos, which appear quite common about 3000 feet. Yesterday and today my housemate and I went on a 21-mile hike (yes, for those of you who know of my troubles, my legs are better!) during which I saw Ruffed Grouse, Bronw-headed Nuts, Chickadees which I believe were Black-capped (Rick, what do you think?). I have both Barred and Screech Owls in my backyard (I don't know of one eating the other yet, but I am paying attention!) and up to 8 hummers at a time visiting the Joe Pye Weed, Cardinal Flower (very common here) and, surprisingly to me, Pale Jewelweed. But (blasphemy alert!) my focus thus far has been the herps! I have seen 5 species of salamander that are new to me, as well as 4 that are old friends. I have seen 2 toad species, but no frogs yet. 4 snake species and 2 lizard species round out the reptiles. The neatest so far is either the Imitator. or the Red-cheeked version of Jordan's. I haven't been convinced of which it is yet, since I didn't have my book on the hike. But both are pretty rare, and the latter is found ONLY in the Smokies. Another neat one is the Black-bellied Salamander, which is a big bad-ass. They are 8 inches long, and they like to hang out near fast moving water ON TOP of the rocks, just sitting there, daring all comers to take a stab at them. On my first waterfall excursion I embarrassed a couple of old college friends by joining 2 12-year-olds in trying to catch the critters. I must brag that I had the highest capture rate at about 1 in every 8 attempts. Pretty variable above, this critter is jet-black below, though they are as likely to flip you, as you are to flip them. Butterflies are also abundant. I have so much to look at that I've only checked out the big gaudy stuff so far. Pipevine Swallowtails are numerous, as are Red-spotted Purples. Less numerous but still easy to find are Dianas, Great Spangled (I think) Fritillaries, Tiger Swallowtails, Spicebush Swallowtails and Monarchs. I haven't yet seen a Zebra or a Viceroy. As part of the All Species Biotic Index the park is undergoing, the institution has found 86 species of moth that were not previously documented in the park, as well as one possibly new to science. Most are tiny critters whose genitals must be dissected for identification, so I haven't gotten much into those - yet. But the Lunas, different species of Sphinx and others have been great to see both up close and at a distance. Good luck in the upcoming migration! Charlie ==== **************************************** Charlie Muise, Naturalist Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont Townsend, TN And it came to pass that in the hands of the ignorant, the words of the Bible were used to beat plowshares into swords - Alan Wilson Watts __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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