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Weekend Observations, etc.



Good morning,

What a treat it was Monday morning to have a few extra hours to enjoy the last
day of the Great Backyard Bird Count because of the sleet/freezing rain storm
here in Raleigh.  The four Baltimore Orioles ? yes, that’s four ? were
exceptionally interested in the nectar feeder.  It’s not often I see all of them
at once but Monday they put on a good show perching all together on the tree by
the nectar feeder ? must be a sign that misery loves company since everything
was completely frozen over.  They also love the peanut butter suet in the same
area but the fighting Starlings at the suet feeder gave them little opportunity
to eat from it.   There seems to be no way of keeping the Starlings away unless
I bring the suet inside.  To my great disappointment, they can even reach nearly
all of the suet in the new cage suet feeder I bought in order to give the
smaller birds a fighting chance.  Any suggestions?

Sunday evening Shelley Theye mentioned seeing the birds with ice on their
feathers and I had noticed the same thing.  I had a Brown Thrasher that appeared
quite unhappy with the state of it’s tail feathers.  It appeared that most of
them were stuck together and it spent most of the time flicking it back and
forth to try and get it unstuck - a very different look than the normal
flicking.  This began Sunday and lasted until Tuesday AM so I know it was happy
to see the temperatures rise above 32.

I hope all of you who have read this far will sign the on line petition that
John Argentati
has developed regarding the Navy’s proposed outlying landing field in Hyde and
Washington counties.  This is not strictly a North Carolina problem but should
be a concern for anyone who travels to this area for birding.  It also shows
major disregard for National Wildlife Refuges in general ? let’s hope it’s not
going to be a trend in other parts of the country.  You can sign the petition
at:

http://www.mybirdlist.com/airfieldpetition.html

I encourage you to do this ASAP ? the petition will be printed into hard copy
and sent to the appropriate personnel.  Time is of the essence so please take
action now if you haven’t done so and also ask your friends and neighbors to do
the same.

Registrants for the Audubon NC meeting are coming in ? I hope you’ll register
soon so you can have your first choice of field trips.  Several trips are
already very popular so don’t delay ? register today!  Attendance is not limited
to Audubon members - information is also available at Wake Audubon's web site
at: http://www.mybirdlist.com/wakeaudubon.html

Have a great day and enjoy the hint of Spring that’s coming this week.

Lena

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Lena Gallitano
Raleigh, NC