Venture to Max Patch Trip,
Haywood County, NC
Venture to
Max Patch Trip,
Haywood County, NC
May 5, 2007
The weather forecast was not that great as we assembled at the meeting place that morning. The main thought was that the rain would not arrive until later in the day and we were indeed lucky to salvage a very respectable day of birding in this very beautiful area of North Carolina. Bob Olthoff knew exactly where the birds should be as we stopped at several good birding sites on our way up to Max Patch. Our first stop in the farmlands produced a late White-crowned Sparrow, a pair of Orchard Orioles and our only Eastern Kingbird of the trip. Migrant Cape May and Palm Warblers fed in a shrubby hedge, while newly-arrived Yellow Warblers sang from the streamside willow thickets. Because of the impending (and occurring!) rain, we sped up the mountains towards Max Patch. Thankfully the male Golden-winged Warbler was singing and feeding near the road so excellent views were had by all of us. The same applied to the Least Flycatchers flitting about in the bare woodlands. Scarlet Tanagers, Indigo Buntings and Black-throated Blue Warblers sang from the roadside forest, giving us great views. A male Canada Warbler sang from a rhododendron tangle and gave us passable views as we set up our picnic lunch. And then the rain started- just in time for lunch. This pretty well ended the day, but despite that, we ended up with a very respectable list of spring birds, including both of our "target species".
Scarlet Tanager
| Birds seen or heard | |
| Turkey Vulture | White-eyed Vireo (Heard) |
| Mourning Dove | Golden-winged Warbler |
| Chimney Swift | Yellow Warbler |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | Chestnut-sided Warbler |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | Cape May Warbler |
| Downy Woodpecker (Heard) | Black-throated Blue Warbler |
| Hairy Woodpecker (Heard) | Black-throated Green Warbler |
| Northern Flicker | Blackburnian Warbler |
| Pileated Woodpecker | Palm Warbler |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee | Black & White Warbler (Heard) |
| Willow Flycatcher (Heard) | American Redstart |
| Least Flycatcher | Ovenbird (Heard) |
| Eastern Phoebe | Common Yellowthroat |
| Eastern Kingbird | Hooded Warbler (Heard) |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | Canada Warbler |
| Barn Swallow | Yellow-breasted Chat (Heard) |
| Blue Jay | Scarlet Tanager |
| American Crow | Northern Cardinal |
| Carolina Chickadee | Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Heard) |
| Tufted Titmouse (Heard) | Indigo Bunting |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | Eastern Towhee |
| Carolina Wren | Chipping Sparrow |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | Field Sparrow |
| Eastern Bluebird | Song Sparrow |
| Veery | White-throated Sparrow |
| Wood Thrush (Heard) | White-crowned Sparrow |
| American Robin | Dark-eyed Junco |
| Gray Catbird | Red-winged Blackbird |
| Northern Mockingbird | Brown-headed Cowbird |
| Brown Thrasher | Orchard Oriole |
| Cedar Waxwing | House Finch |
| European Starling | American Goldfinch |
| Blue-headed Vireo | House Sparrow |
| Red-eyed Vireo | |
Birding in the rain