Decided to beat the heat by climbing a mountain. So I picked one with an
altitude that exceeds 1000' just to make sure there would be snow up there.
Folks, global warming is out of hand. Sugarloaf doesn't have the slightest
sign of glaciation anywhere. By 7 AM I was already sweating up the place.
    Ok so Sugarloaf isn't really much of a mountain. But I decided to do one
of David Curson's "bird blitzes" on it just to see what I would get if I
actually kept notes about it. I picked the Blue, Northern Peaks Trail
because it covers a lot of ground and should get the best results. I blitzed
it like a linebacker.
    Here's what I was looking for:
At-risk species             Threshold population
Whip-poor-will               10 pairs
Red-headed woodpecker  10 pairs
Wood Thrush                  160 pairs
Cerulean Warbler              10 pairs
Louisiana Waterthrush        20 pairs
Kentucky warbler              30 pairs
Worm-eating Warbler         20 pairs

    The game is to see of any of the above species can match or beat the
threshold number. If so the place will qualify for IBA status.
    So much for the first 2 - we know that ain't gonna happen. There
probably aren't more than 10 pairs of Whips or Redheads in the whole state.
So I focused on the rest.

Wood Thrush - I found 15 singing males, 2 more with a mate nearby and saw a
pair that     didn't make any noise. There were also 4 unidentified ones
that just did the 'whip,         whip' thing. I also found a fledgling that
was escorted away by an adult, probably             its mother. Only need
about a hundred and forty more pair to make the cut.

Cerulean Warbler - I heard one just past the junction with the White Trail
north of the         parking area at the top. Considering their decline,
this is a start.

Louisiana Waterthrush - Found 2 males singing not far off Mt Ephraim Road
and another     bird with food.

Kentucky Warbler - almost 1. That means zip, zilch, nada and none. That adds
up to a     lot of nuthin'. You'd think there would be one somewhere up
there.

Worm-eating Warbler - now we're getting somewhere. I really focused on these
because of an earlier discussion about them a month or 2 ago. I even plotted
the             location of each one seen and/or heard on the trail map. I
got 15 singing males and a     tragedy. Yep - a female feeding one of those
stupid Brown-headed things I hate. Saw     it just past the Snack Shack at
the top. I didn't cry. Promise. Toughed it out.

    Folks we're just 5 singing males away from perfection. I know they're up
there. I will try to brave the heat later this week to find them. If I melt,
somebody just mop up the puddle and carry on after me.
    More bad news before I go. The Gypsy Critter is eating the mountain as
we speak. I think they might even try to swallow the rocks, so if it starts
looking shorter you'll know what happened.
    On the bright side, I heard or saw no less than a dozen Yellow-billed
Cuckoos up there. I know they eat the Gypsy Critters and I think they are
gravitating toward the problem. I hope they eat so many that they save the
mountain. They might not be able to fly afterward, but we'll make sure they
get a metal for it.
    Now if it would only snow up there ...

    Jerry Tarbell
    Back in the A/C in Carroll County