BIRDING THE WESTERN TIP OF NORTH CAROLINA

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1 BIRDING THE WESTERN TIP OF NORTH CAROLINA May 2007 Frank Clayton Because of the variety of habitats, due to altitudes from m, the western tip of North Carolina, when combined with a few southern lowland species easily found in adjacent north Georgia, offers most of the nesting landbirds of the central eastern United States. With John C. Campbell Folk School (5 miles east of Murphy, NC) as a base, less than a week during the breeding season from early May to mid-june is needed to see about 100 landbird species, including 20+ warblers. Because these are largely woodland species, bird recordings make them much easier to see. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, is a non-profit traditional arts and crafts educational center, the last operating Danish-inspired folk school in America. With approximately 300 acres of woodland, fields, gardens, and riparian habitat, the campus with its trails are open to the public. The administration just requests that, if visitors wish to visit inside any workshop area, they check in at the main office first. Bluebirds, tree swallows, and house wrens use the nesting boxes around the fields. Meadowlarks, savannah, and sometimes grasshopper sparrows nest in the fields, and bobolinks and sedge and marsh wrens stop over heading north during the first week of May. Solitary sandpipers occur sporadically, but not uncommonly, throughout the Spring around any body of water, including the creek. In low vegetation along the creek are blue-winged warbler, yellow-breasted chat, yellowthroat, willow flycatcher, white - eyed vireo, and indigo bunting. In the overgrown fields are field sparrow, goldfinch, towhee,and bobwhite. Blue grosbeak, brown thrasher, and orchard oriole sing from higher perches around the fields. Martins nest in the hanging gourds. Around the Keith House (main old building) ruby-throated hummingbird use the feeders, swifts nest in the chimney, and chipping sparrows sing their mechanical trill from trees bordering any lawn. Parula warbler sings from nearby trees or near the Mill House. Pine and yellowthroated warblers and great-crested flycatcher sing from the tall pines between the Keith House and the older workshop area to the west. This is also where our pet wood thrush sings constantly. Yellow warbler nests most commonly behind the Log House, just downhill from the Festival Barn. Ovenbird and hooded and Kentucky warblers sing from the lower story out in the woods. At night chuck-wills-widow calls from the wooded valleys and whip-poor-will from the ridges. The even more common birds I need not mention. The 1500 m ridge SW of Brasstown is good for certain mid-altitude birds. Starting at the Keith House main parking lot heading west on Brasstown Road, turn left in front of the blacksmith workshop at 0.3 miles onto Folk School Road, then left again at 0.7 miles onto Mason. At 1.6 miles gravel Horizon Road heads left through a recent clearcut area

2 good for blue-winged and prairie warblers. At 1.7 miles go straight at a trident intersection, up the middle paved road toward Brasstown Heights. Birding is good anywhere along here, but I usually drive up to where the road levels out, where the new houses start after the mechanical gait. Walk any of these roads in Brasstown Heights housing development for black-throated green, Kentucky and worm-eating warblers, scarlet tanager, and a soaring broad-winged hawk. Sometimes there are ruffed grouse here at daybreak. If you still haven't found blue-winged warbler, drive towards Andrews, turning right in Peachtree to the end of Upper Peachtree Road, veering left at the end onto a gravel road that dead-ends at Indian Grove Gap. Look for them downhill on the left towards the end of the gravel road. Louisiana waterthrush and Acadian flycatcher are easy to find at Fires Creek Picnic area. Check the little waterfall and walk upstream over the footbridge to the paved trails through the picnic area. To drive there watch for the sign to the left at Fire's Creek Rd on highway 64 east toward Hayesville. The campground here is the closest free camping to the Folk School. The trailer camping and boat launch area on the left just before Clay County Recreation Area on Lake Chatuge southeast of Hayesville is the best local site for Baltimore oriole, eastern kingbird, grackle, and cowbird. Check the pines for brown-headed nuthatch. To get there, turn right at the 2nd stoplight on Highway 64 in Hayesville, and follow the sign about a mile. Both of the paved roads to the left can be good birding. The second one leads over the Hiwassee River bridge to Chatuge Dam itself. Wood duck and kingfisher can usually be found either from the bridge or in the backwater downstream, which is visible from the end of the dam spillway. Only way to get to that spot is to walk down the spillway for the view off the end. About 30 miles east of Brasstown on highway 64, between Hayesville and Franklin, is Rainbow Springs Road, on the left after crossing the upper Nantahala River bridge. Golden-winged and chestnut-sided warblers and least flycatcher are common both along the start of this gravel road and overlooking the bog a half mile farther at the start of the Standing Indian Road to the right. Through at least early June woodcock does its display at dawn and dusk from the long hayfield between Rainbow Springs road and the river. Only look for them early enough before sunrise and late enough after sunset that it is too dark to see the bird without a spotlight. A mile farther on highway 64 is Winding Stairs Gap where there is a parking lot for the Appalachian trail. Before the leaves come out in mid-may, the first half mile of the walking road on the north side of the highway has veery and frequently all the lo cal mountain warblers: Blackburnian, chestnut-sided, black-throated blue, Canada, redstart, and black-thoated green. Turning right on Standing Indian Road leads to Standing Indian campground, where Louisiana waterthrush sings along the river. Another place for Canada warbler is following this road past the campground for another 10 minutes or so to where it intersects the Appalachian Trail on the top of the ridge. If the warbler is not right there, head along the trail a ways in either direction. You also pass another bog on the right just after the campground, where you can try for alder flycatcher without benefit of trail or any easy overlook.

3 In a totally different direction from the Folk School, Stecoah Gap, an hour to the north, is the best spot for the same mountain warblers, especially golden-winged warbler, and the only known dependable place for cerulean warbler locally. Four vireos have been seen here on a lucky day in Spring migration. Drive through Andrews on highway 74. Turn left at Topton on highway 129. Turn right in Robbinsville on highway 27 about 7 miles to the parking lot for the Appalachian Trail at the top of the ridge. Walk southeast (right) on the level walking road for at least a half mile for everything except cerulean. For cerulean, hike up the Appalachian Trail above this dirt road to the two large boulders at the 3rd hard turn to the right. From here down the steep ridge to the trail below the several ceruleans sing, but not until about 90 minutes after sunrise in my experience. Sit on the boulder until after 8:30 am before giving up. The only published site for Swainson's warbler in the far western tip of North Carolina is along highway miles NW of Robbinsville before the Lake Calderwood bridge. At the unsigned forest service road across the Cheoah River, turn left and park just across the bridge. Walk the dirt road upstream parallelling the river and listen for it in the rhododendrons below for the first quarter mile or so. For high elevation birds like red-breasted nuthatch, winter wren, golden-crowned kinglet, black-capped chickadee, pine siskin, yellow-bellied sapsucker, and hairy woodpecker, the best places are either the road between Newfound Gap and Clingmans Dome along the 2000m ridge in Smoky Mountain National Park, or at the end of the Heintooga Spur Road off the Blue Ridge Parkway, both uphill from Cherokee, NC. The Appalachian trail parallels the road to Clingmans Dome, but goes through thick spruce forest and birding is really better from the road, despite the traffic. First check the perimeter of the Newfound Gap parking lot for crossbills, which can be found anywhere at this altitude as a separate breeding population from the major breeding areas far to the north. There is also a population of saw-whet owls, said to call on windless nights along this road in April. Chickadees above 5000 ft are usually assumed to be black - capped in North Carolina and Carolina chickadees if below ft. Probably better, and at least more pleasant because of the lack of mobs of tourists and traffic, to bird the picnic ground and campground thoroughly at the end of Heintooga Spur Road and the road and nature trail that connect them. There is a one-way gravel road from here back to the town of Cherokee which is worth birding as time allows. Housing and the campground at Campbell Folk School is exclusively for students at the school. But very good family-style meals can be arranged there for visitors usually with some advance warning to the cook. Check at the office. Classes in blacksmithing, weaving, woodworking, folk art, nature subjects, and many more are typically a week in length at the Folk School and cost around $700 for everything. Classes are small and most weeks have different classes running. for the full schedule of classes offered. The two National Forest Campgrounds mentioned above in the site desciptions constitute most of the local camping. There are several reasonable motels in Murphy and Hayesville, as well as many restaurants. Supermarkets are on highway 64 in Hayesville and on highway 74 east of Murphy.

4 Species one can expect during a Spring weeklong visit. 1. wood duck 2. turkey vulture 3. broad-winged hawk 4. red-tailed hawk 5. American kestrel 6. wild turkey 7. northern bobwhite 8. ruffed grouse 9. American woodcock 10. killdeer 11. solitary sandpiper 12. spotted andpiper 13. mourning dove 14. yellow-billed cuckoo 15. barred owl 16. eastern screech owl 17. chuck-wills-widow 18. whip-poor-will 19. chimney swift 20. ruby-throated hummingbird 21. belted kingfisher 22. red-bellied woodpecker 23. northern flicker 24. downy woodpecker 25. hairy woodpecker 26. pileated woodpecker 27. eastern wood pewee 28. Acadian flycatcher 29. willow flycatcher 30. least flycatcher 31. eastern phoebe 32. great-crested flycatcher 33. white-eyed vireo 34. blue-headed vireo 35. red-eyed vireo 36. blue jay 37. American crow 38. horned lark 39. tree swallow 40. purple martin 41. N rough-winged swallow 42. barn swallow 43. tufted titmouse 44. black-capped chickadee 45. Carolina chickadee 46. white-breasted nuthatch 47. red-breasted nuthatch 48. brown-headed nuthatch 49. house wren 50. winter wren

5 51. Carolina wren 52. golden-crowned kinglet 53. blue-gray gnatcatcher 54. eastern bluebird 55. wood thrush 56. veery 57. American robin 58. gray catbird 59. northern mockingbird 60. brown thrasher 61. European starling 62. cedar waxwing 63. blue-winged warbler 64. golden-winged warbler 65. northern parula 66. chestnut-sided warbler 67. black & white warbler 68. black-throated blue warbler 69. cerulean warbler 70. Blackburnian warbler 71. black-throated green warbler 72. yellow-throated warbler 73. prairie warbler 74. pine warbler 75. yellow warbler 76. Kentucky warbler 77. Canada warbler 78. hooded warbler 79. worm-eating warbler 80. Swainson's warbler 81. ovenbird 82. Louisiana waterthrush 83. common yellowthroat 84. yellow-breasted chat 85. American redstart 86. scarlet tanager 87. eastern towhee 88. field sparrow 89. chipping sparrow 90. savannah sparrow 91. song sparrow 92. dark-eyed junco 93. rose-breasted grosbeak 94. northern cardinal 95. blue grosbeak 96. indigo bunting 97. eastern meadowlark 98. red-winged blackbird 99. common grackle 100. brown-headed cowbird 101. orchard oriole 102. Baltimore oriole

6 103. house finch 104. American goldfinch