[Bristol-Birds] Historical Snippet - January 1991
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 00:20:09 -0500
BBC Snippet
In the early 1990's it was becoming increasingly obvious that the population
build up of Canada geese in the region would become a problem for wildlife
managers and our neighbors. Birders seemed to have an excellent opportunity
to gather useful data and study the problem. The Bristol Bird Club accurately
arrived at that conclusion and swiftly moved to learn more. BBC studies
continued for years.
Sure enough, the problems occurred as expected. In May 1995, the
USDA moved 222 Canada geese from Kingsport to a wildlife management
area near Tellico Lake.
Saltville struggled with the problem starting big time in Jan 2005 when the
town first started to have a limited hunting season on geese inside the town
limits around the town park. It was one of the darkest hours in town history.
Recently USDA has trapped and removed geese at Middlebrook Lake in
Bristol Tennessee as residents of the neighborhood struggled with a
controversy between themselves and the community. It did not set well
with some residents that birds were simply put to death by the feds.
BBC eventually provided information to property owners and TV and
newspaper reporters. The basic message to Saltville and Bristol is
that you can't trap the birds out of your town or neighborhood and be
done with it. The club study had found that birds keep filling back in
to the vacuum. BBC data clearly showed that the geese range far
and wide over the region and eventually find the void. It would happen
because the population in the region is large. Eventually, as the BBC
studies showed, birds would continue to spread over the region and
even into high elevation areas such as Shady Valley, TN. A single
individual might take several years establishing itself as a breeder as
seen in that high-mountain valley.
BBC gave its members an opportunity to better understand what was
happening. The club birders also gained credibility because they had
studied the problem first hand in the field and had more equity in
the conflict than just the emotions of loving and protecting birds.
The state agency researchers established the same things from their
studies but also established longevity for the birds, populations size
but especially experimented with relocating problem flocks. They
have learned a lot about the birds and their problems. But most
important to BBC, there would have been no chance to independently
study and understand these geese without the state wildlife agencies
having collared and banded so many birds.
Following the introduction of the Giant Canada Goose, Branta
canadensis maxima, into the region in the middle 1970s by TVA and
the state wildlife agencies, the Bristol Christmas Bird Count totals for
the species began to surge in 1988. That year the total hit 101. By the
year 2000 the all time peak of 882 was found on the count.
Bristol Bird Club members decided
in early 1991 to begin monitoring
the population. Geese with collars
were showing up throughout the
region. BBC members would keep
detailed lists of geese with collars,
the colors and identification numbers,
dates, locations and other useful
data. BBC established a data base
which was built on a computer
spreadsheet. Birders brought their
lists to BBC meetings or mailed them in or even passed information by
hand in the field. The data was quickly entered and kept well up to date.
Uniquely-numbered U.S. Fish & Wildlife aluminum leg bands and hard plastic,
cylindrical-type (2.75 in. X 1.96 in. diameter) neck collars were used. Neck
collars were white with individually coded combinations of black letters and
numbers. But collars with special colors such as green, blue, orange and
yellow were also seen. The yellow and white colors were local. The
other colors were birds from other states or Canada. In addition, Virginia
used many cone shaped collars that allowed more flexibility for birds to
feed and were probably more comfortable and the numbers easier to read.
On Jan 26, 1994, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist
John Baker of Marion, VA told BBC the regional population of resident birds
was believed to be about 30,000 geese. The agency was concerned
because they had just captured and relocated 16 birds from the golf course at
Tazewell. There were few birds in Tazewell, Russell and Smyth counties.
Most were in Washington County in VA and in Sullivan County in TN.
At a BBC meeting, Aug 16, 1994, Scott Whitcomb of the VDGIF told birders
that Southwest Virginia was believed to have 3,000 to 5,000 geese in the
area between Scott County and Carroll County. The agency had received
30 complaints in just a month. There had been a hunting season since 1980.
Biologist from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Tennessee
Valley Authority had become very aggressive about the goose introduction
project when they established a cooperative waterfowl propagation and release
program in 1971. The idea was that few geese were wintering in the region
and a resident population of Canada Goose could be established and eventually
hunted.
By October 1975, 800 "giant" race of the Canada geese had been released.
About 556 were produced at TWRA's Buffalo Springs Game Bird Research
Center at the community of Rutledge, TN, along U.S. 11W just northwest of
Cherokee Lake. TVA began releasing birds on July 8, 1975 with birds in
various Tennessee counties, mainly in the Knoxville area and west.
Birds arrived in Southwest Virginia in the late summer of 1976. Wallace Coffey
joined TVA and VDGIF biologists in Washington County, VA to release birds.
They delivered 32 pairs to the county, which is where almost all of the
Southwest
Virginia birds were released. The birds arrived in a white TVA station wagon
which was air conditioned (not all vehicles were at that time). Each goose was
in a burlap sack with a hole cut in it and the entire neck and head was sticking
out of each sack. Coffey joined the release team Wednesday, Aug 11, 1976,
along U.S. 58 at a farm pond just east of Abingdon. The birds had their flight
feathers clipped so they would not be able to fly for at least the first year.
A
male and female were released at each location to pair bond and hopefully
raise young. Maybe a population could be started.
Bob Duncan, now executive director of the VDGIF in Richmond, was then a
biologist with TWRA at Morristown. He came to Bristol Tennessee the following
Monday, Aug 16, with TVA and released birds at Middlebrook Lake.
Early in the decade of the 90's biologists and wildlife managers were scrambling
to get a handle on the problem and to seek solutions to complaints coming from
many directions. The states began to collect information on the distribution
and
movement of birds. BBC felt it could study this from a private approach by the
birding community. Virginia was very cooperative and provided large amounts
of information including a file folder full of collar numbers and marking
locations
and the such. Tennessee played it close to the vest and provided as little as
possible. TWRA was suspicious of the birding community's intent and gave out
information on a piece meal basis. It was difficult.
At times the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service bird banding lab at Laurel, MD
stepped in to help BBC get quick data on difficult bands. Mary Gustafson, one
of the band data persons, would often be able to supply information the
same day BBC reported a problem number. In some cases we were put in
direct contact with agency biologists by phone and they would provide BBC
additional background.
Twenty-one BBC
members worked over
the next six years to
collect field data.
The number of sightings
of geese with collars in
1991 was 16 and then
as follows: 1992 (52),
1993 (62), 1994 (593),
1995 (221), 1996 (24).
Remnant reports, after
the project was virtually
shutdown, included
1997(0), 1998(0),
1999(3) and 2000(3).
The collars began to
disappear as the birds wearing them either wore them until they deteriorated
(which some did) or until the birds died. Rick Knight and others dug into
their
files and provided old records of marked birds and band recoveries to be placed
in the data base. The older records included about 16 encounters from before
the BBC project back to 1985.
The survey concluded with 986 collars being sighted even though some birds
were sited a number of times and sometimes at locations over a wide area.
This is much of what BBC was looking for.
During the active BBC period sightings came from: Riverfront along Netherlands
Inn Rd, Kingsport (525), Clear Creek Lake in Bristol, VA (131), Virginia
Creeper
Trailhead pond Abingdon, VA (63), Saltville, VA (38), Middlebrook Lake, Bristol,
TN (37), Lodi Pond, VA Rt. 91 (35), Veterans Administration Pond, Johnson
City (18), Rural Retreat Lake, Wythe Co., VA (14), Crabtree Pond, Abingdon
(12), Lake Lawrence, Smyth Co., VA (10), Middle Fork Holston River US 58
east of Abingdon at Shallow Ford (10), Green Spring Pond south of Va Rt. 75
(5), Wilbur Lake, Carter Co., TN (4), Limestone/Leesburg, Washington Co., TN
(4), Shady Valley, TN (1). There were other reports scattered from West
Virginia
to Knoxville.
Individuals involved with sightings included: Bill & Priscilla Little (354),
Wallace
Coffey (374), Rick Knight (85), Larry McDaniel (71), Rob Biller (39), Geoff
Larsen (39), Ron Carrico (33), Bob Quillen (24), John Shumate (22), Lori
Shmuate (20), Ed Morgan (19), Peter Morgan (19), Mike Rutherford (14),
Ron Harrington (11), Stan Strickland (11), Jerry Nagle (8), Carolyn Coffey
(8), Bert Hale (3), Lloyd Jones (3), Beth Rutherford (3) and Kevin Hamed (2).
Sometimes there were two or more birders making a collar sighting at one time
so they were each given credit for reporting one. The bird collar
identification
was only counted once, however, Since BBC had reports from
people in Knoxville and elsewhere reporting a collar number, the club would
provide
whatever data it had and/or entered the number in its database. They are
not reported above. Due to the way these add up, it is difficult to get a
balance
between these accountings.
Bob Nichols, a biologist with TWRA, collared and banded birds July 17, 1991
on the river at Kingsport near Netherlands Inn Rd.
The first bird reported was Aug 18, 1991 (E55J) with a white collar and
black code. It was found at Riverfront Park, Holston River, Kingsport,
Sullivan TN. Kathy Birchfield found it injured on the river bank. Kathy
worked with the Sullivan Co Humane Society out of Kingsport.
The last was a mated pair. One was a six-year-old bird
(+J9) white collar with black code, seen May 14, 2000
at the Spring Creek Mudflats, South Holston Lake,
Washington Co. VA by Wallace Coffey. It had been
collared July 7, 1994 at the Virginia Creeper Trail Head
Pond, Abingdon, VA. With it was (+JL) white collar and black code collared
May 14, 1994 at the same Virginia Creeper Trail Head Pond. It was also at
least six years of age.
Virginia wildlife officials collared and banded birds as follows: Abingdon and
Clear Creek Lake (July 1994 = 85) , Rural Retreat Lake, Hungry Mother State
Park Lake and Meadowview Pond (July 1994 = 100), Buller Fish Hatchery on
South Fork Holston River, Smyth Co. and Rural Retreat Lake (July 1974 =
100), Saltville Golf Course (July 1994 = 60 collared, 33 banded without
collars and 125 caught and moved to the town park but not marked).
At the Buller Fish Hatchery on South Fork Holston River, Smyth Co. (July 1974)
biologists captured and marked 67 birds with yellow collars for experimental
purposes. They were transported 30 air miles NW to Laurel Bed Lake on top
of the Clinch Mountain Wildlife Management Area and released to see if they
would stay or where they might go. If the birds simply stayed on the state
wildlife area, then it would be possible to relocate birds from problem areas.
One of these birds (A7E) dispersed and Coffey and Larry McDaniel observed
it at Shallow Ford on the Middle Fork Holston River in Washington County, VA
on 27 Dec 1994. Biologist determined it to be an adult female when it was
captured
and marked. She moved up to Shady Valley, TN where she was seen by John
Shumate on Mar 20, 1995. She later fledged four young from the first ever
nesting of the species in Shady Valley in 1997. On Jun 8, 1998, A7E was again
nesting and had eggs. She had 3 young Jul 6, 1998. She disappeared within the
next couple of years. BBC birders had documented the further extension of
breeding in the region -- especially in Shady, Tennessee's highest valley.
Meanwhile TWRA spent 10 years marking 10,000 birds with collars. Mostly they
were white and most were not in the Northeast Tennessee region.
A bird marked with an arrow pointing down and the letter/number A0 had been
marked July 6, 1994 at Meadowview Pond, 3 miles NE of Abingdon, VA. It was
found Nov 24, 1994 at Green Springs Pond just south of Va Rt. 75 in Washington
Co,
VA near South Holston Lake by Coffey, Ron Carrico, Rob Biller and Larry
McDaniel.
It was again observed Dec 27, 1994 along the Middle Fork Holston River at
Shallow
Ford, Washington VA, by Coffey and McDaniel It was next observed by Coffey
Nov 4, 1995 at Green Spring Pond in Washington Co, VA. And finally, Rick
Knight
found the bird at Austin Spring on Boone Lake in Washington Co., TN on May 3 &
8,
1996.
A bird (E03J) seen by Coffey and later by Bob Quillen at Clear Creek Lake near
Exit 7 in Bristol VA during late Dec 1993 was found Jun 25, 1994 at Netherlands
Inn Road in Kingsport by Priscilla Little.
Another bird (E06Y) seen by Coffey and McDaniel Dec 5, 1993 at Netherlands
Inn Road was found six days later by them at Clear Creek Lake. It was back
at Netherlands Inn Rd. six weeks later on Jan 24, 1994. It was seen there
three more times until June 25 of that year.
Bird C99X became famous for being at Clear Creek Lake almost every time
birders showed up. But it had first been found at Netherlands Inn Rd. Dec 5,
1993
by Coffey and McDaniel and then showed up a week later at Clear Creek Lake
where it was found until Jan 16, 1996. It did, however, take a side trip down to
Middlebrook Lake, Dec 11, 1994 (Coffey).
A7Z with a yellow collar was captured at Buller Hatchery, marked, moved and
released at Laurel Bed Lake July 6, 1994. It was seen Jan 22, 1995 at Lodi
Pond between Damascus and Glade Springs by Rob Biller and Ron Carrico .
It was later seen Oct 20, 1996 at Rural Retreat Lake in Wythe Co. VA by Biller
and Carrico.
A bird, J42X, marked July 6, 1994 at Netherlands Inn Rd. in Kingsport by state
officials was seen almost 70 miles away on July 1, 1995 at Rural Retreat
Lake, Wythe Co., VA, by Wallace Coffey, John Shumate and Lorrie Shumate.
Knight and others had many records of birds banded in other states and
Canada which were seen in the region.
Among those were the most memorable examples of four birds: 61KA, 65KA,
71KA and 72KA. This group of four, marked Jul 18, 1990, 56 mi. NE of
Attawapiskat, Ontario, showed up in late winter at the VA Center Pond in
Johnson City in 1992, 1994 and 1995. Bird 65KA made a side trip along the
way and was seen Feb 5,1992 at the Big Sandy Unit of the Tennessee NWR
in Benton or Henry counties of TN. The next year it was discovered
Oct 13, 1993 at Cleveland, Ohio. The collar 71KA also made the same
side trips with 65KA. They were a wild lot and stayed close with one another
during at least most winters during that period.
Whatever race the Ontario birds were, they appeared smaller than the local
residential population known as Giant Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
maxima.
If birds are made for flying then wings are their own excuse for being. Or
was that a rose ? Whatever ? But the BBC members have been well
rewarded and are much more knowledgeable about the birds of the region
for having invested their efforts.
from the archives of the Bristol Bird Club
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