[Bristol-Birds] Hooded Mergansers and Buffleheads left early on.

Area Birders:

Among our wintering waterfowl, the Hooded Merganser and Bufflehead are the 
species to make an early exodus from the region for northern migration.

Hooded Mergansers were fairly well gone by late March when Susan Hubley found 
22 at
Rogersville.  Rob Biller had 10 lingering along the Watauga River on 15 April.  
There
have been no others reported on Bristol Birds Net since.  It first appeared 
that much of
the Bristol area wintering population of more than nearly 300 birds had begun 
to disperse 
with a significant high pressure over the region Feb 6 and the last birds at 
Middlebrook
Lake may have been 11 found Feb 28.

The population of Bufflehead was still good at the Weir Dam on Mar 20 when Rick 
Knight 
counted 84.  Michelle Talbott and Ed Talbott counted just 31 there a week later 
on Mar 29.
Rob Biller had 15 along the Watauga River from Elizabethton to Wilbur Dam and 
42 on 
Wilbur Lake April 5.  Following those reports it appeared that, for the most 
part, wintering 
birds were essentially gone.

The wintering population on the Bristol Christmas Bird Count tallied 265 Hooded 
Mergansers
and 147 Bufflehead with Elizabethton at 159 Bufflehead.  No other region counts 
had more
than 10 Bufflehead and only Bristol had more than 10 Hooded Mergansers.

While a few migrants may yet be seen, it is well to note that both species have 
lingered 
well into the summer months or summered in Northeast Tennessee over the years 
with a 
number of records for each.  The same is not true of Southwest Virginia.

If you have any additional late records or perspective, please post them to the 
net.

Let's go birding......

Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN

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