FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] North Fork Holston riparian birding route

["Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>]

This morning Ron Harrington and I began our summer survey of "Birds In Forested 
Landscape"   which we do each year in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service 
and Cornell University.  This is our third survey year.  
Our fragmented forest census areas were at Sugar Hollow Park in Bristol 
Virginia and Hidden Valley Wildlife Management Area atop Clinch Mountain west 
of Abingdon, Va.  Tuesday we will be in the Fairwood area of the Mount Rogers 
National Recreation Area in Grayson County, Va.  Wednesday we have two census 
areas in Shady Valley,  Tn.

One of aspect we particularly enjoy  (in addition to getting up at 4:30 a.m. 
each morning ;-), is running limited sampling routes thru seldom-birded or 
unusual habitats when we have finished our survey areas for the day. 

The agenda of the sampling routes is similar to a Breeding Bird Survey but 
shorter with variable stops and random sampling. Mainly we spend the entire 
route "reading habitat" and matching key species.  Finding a good species is 
not the focus of the effort, nor particularly the sought reward.

Today we ran a 12.3 mile route along Va. Route 621 in Washington County.  It 
began at the Holston Community on the North Fork Holston River at 1468 feet 
elevation at the road's intersection with U.S. 19 not far from Douglas Wayside.

The route followed 14 miles of the North Fork Holston River thru spectacular 
and beautiful stretches of rural river bottom.  At one point we had at least 
three if not four Yellow-billed Cuckoos all singing at the same time from a 
hillside adjacent to the road.  We called one out with a tape and enjoyed its 
close approach and exposed perch.

The route is along the lowest elevations tracking in Washington County, Va. and 
decends just 48 feet in elevation over the 14 river miles from 19E to Rockbarn 
Road west of Benhams.

This is a shallow riparian corridor (NE to SW).  It is typical Ridge & Valley 
featuring sycamore trims to the rivered path, with mixed oaks, great spanses of 
hayfields, some old fields, abandoned structures and shade trees about the 
thinly-settled areas.  The avifauna is cookie cutter Ridge & Valley.

47 species along the way (averaging one new species to the list every 1/4 mile):

Canada Goose  20
Black Vulture  2
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Killdeer   1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo   4
Chimney Swift   6
Pileated Woodpecker   1
Acadian Flycatcher   1
Eastern Phoebe   5
Great Crested Flycatcher   2
Eastern Kingbird   3
Tree Swallow   2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   2
Barn Swallow   7
Blue Jay   4
American Crow   4
Common Raven   1 (perhaps the lowest spring record for SW Va. in the Ridge & 
Valley).
Carolina Chicadee   1
Tufted Titmouse   4
Carolina Wren   4
House Wren   2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   2
Eastern Bluebird   5
Wood Thrush   4
American Robin   3
Gray Catbird   3
Northern Mockingbird   6
European Starling   9
Warbling Vireo   2
Red-eyed Vireo   18
Black-and-white Warbler   1
Ovenbird   2
Kentucky Warbler   2
Common Yellowthroat   3
Yellow-breasted Chat   2
Northern Cardinal   4
Indigo Bunting  23
Rufous-sided Towhee   1
Chipping Sparrow   8
Field Sparrow   3
Song Sparrow   11
Red-winged Blackbird   12
Eastern Meadowlark   10
Common Grackle   4
Baltimore Oriole   1
House Finch   2
American Goldfinch   15
House Sparrow   3

Tomorrow:  The Hurricane and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker country!  We look forward 
to this wonderful area as much as we do grits at the dinner in Sugar Grove, Va.

Let's go birding.....

Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN




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