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Carolina RBA Dec. 24 Update



hotline: Carolina Rare Bird Alert
date: December 24, 1999
number: 704-332-2473
to report: 704-332-2473 or 704-532-6336 or PiephoffT@aol.com
coverage: North and South Carolina
compiler: Taylor Piephoff, Carolina Bird Club

Hello, this is a Dec. 24 update of the Carolina Rare Bird Alert featuring 
birding news from North and South Carolina sponsored by the Carolina Bird 
Club. Highlights on this report include:

MURRELET SP.
LECONTE'S SPARROWS
ROSS'S GOOSE
SNOW BUNTING
GLAUCOUS GULL
COMMON EIDER
CAVE SWALLOWS

A MURRELET sp. (most likely a Long-billed murrelet) has been discovered on 
the Catawba River near Great Falls , SC. The bird is above the Fishing Creek 
Dam and is probably best seen from the boat launch on the  Chester County 
side of the river. ( The other side of the river is in Lancaster Co., SC). A 
scope is needed to satisfactorily see this bird. Birders are asked to take 
extensive field notes when viewing the murrelet so it can be identified to 
species.

One to two LECONTE'S SPARROWS continue to be seen at Radio Island near 
Beaufort, NC. A ROSS'S GOOSE  also continues to be seen behind the Food Lion 
in Beaufort, NC. Other interesting birds in that area include SNOW BUNTING, 
up to 4 WILSON'S PLOVERS (rare in winter) and YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON 
(also rare in winter) at Rachel Carson Sanctuary. For more information on the 
birding around Beaufort, NC contact John Fussell  at <jfuss@bmd.clis.com>.

A SNOW BUNTING has been present for at least 6 days at  Ebenezer Point at 
Lake Wylie in York Co. SC. Look in the open area along the shoreline; the 
bird is always seen in association with the Killdeer there. If the bird is 
not in that area try scoping over to the island across from the boat docks. 

A female COMMON EIDER is being seen at Huntington Beach State Park in SC at 
the north jetty. It may be easier to see the eider from the Garden City, SC 
side of the inlet.

A 1st winter GLAUCOUS GULL has been present for about a month at Fort Fisher 
in NC. It semms to hang out between the 1st and 2nd crossovers onto the 
beach. A flock of SNOW BUNTINGS has been reliably seen in this same location 
for about a month also.

The influx of CAVE SWALLOWS earlier in the season to the NE and mid-Atlantic 
US may have left a few stragglers in the SE still. On 12-20 a bird was 
observed most of the afternoon in Iredell Co. NC but could not be relocated 
the following day. Earlier this month an injured Cave Swallow was found in 
Morehead City, NC. The bird died and is now a specimen in the NC Museum. 

A MISSISSIPPI KITE was reported from the Butner Gamelands near Durham, NC on 
12-18. There have been no other reports of this bird since that date.

Thanks this week to Bruce Smithson, Lex Glover, John Fussell, Norm Budnitz, 
and  Steve Shultz for their calls and reports.

Taylor Piephoff
PiephoffT@aol.com
Charlotte, NC