FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] problematic chickadee, Grayson Co., Va.

["Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tuesday, 25 May, while running a limited sampling route thru unusually good 
habitat in the headwaters of Comer's Creek in Grayson Co., Va.,  Ron Harrington 
and I heard an apparent Black-capped Chickadee singing at a relatively low 
elevation.
The habitat is well away from the higher elevations of Canadian-type forest 
habitat of surrounding high country mountains.

The bird repeatedly sang the familar two-note song of the Black-capped.  We 
were not able to see the bird for field marks.  While it is possible that 
hybrid Black-capped X Carolina Chickadees may sing both the songs of both 
species, we felt this was probably not the case.  

The chickadee was discovered at an elevation of 3,480 feet just east of Comer's 
Creek Church and cemetery.  It was just downstream from a wide beaver dam which 
has created an extensive pond in the upper reaches of Comer's Creek.  This 
location is about 2 miles west northwest of Troudale, Va. and is just below 
Homestead Road on land of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area of the 
Jefferson National Forest.

The habitat is near or under a powerline right-of-way at the edge of an old 
field which features multiflora rose and is probably grazed from time to time.  
It is at the foot of Locust Ridge, a north-facing slope with surrounding Red 
Maple, Black Birch, White Pine, Wild Cherrry and  Black Locust.  The sweet 
scent of the Black Locust was an enjoyable fragrance.  Canada Warblers and 
Dark-eyed Juncos were evident all along the drainage.

The status of the chickadees in Southwest Virginia and much of the Appalachians 
is very debatable.  Dick Peake and others have long reported the Black-capped 
from Mt. Rogers, Tazewell Beartown and also Laurel Bed Lake on ClinchMountain.  
Suspected  hybrids make very interesting speculation.

The Black-capped has been found nesting in Virginia as low as 3000 feet 
elevation but not, to the best of my knowledge, in Southwest Virginia.

Let's go birding.....

Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN



 






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