[Bristol-Birds] BIRDS OF NORTHEAST TENNESSEE COMING SOON !!!!!
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 16:49:23 -0400
The BIRDS of
Northeast Tennessee
An Annotated Checklist
by Richard L. Knight
2008
Second Edition
After years of anticipation and constant inquires about
when an updated edition of Rick Knight's 1994 classic
might be produced, birders should know that help is on
its way !
I have the manuscript for the Second Edition in hand.
Production is well underway. You are just a couple of
months from sitting up all night with the new edition and
having it at your finger tips in the field.
While Rick has constantly updated his data base of regional
records, serious work on the Second Edition began in
November 2005. The process will end with about two
and one-half years of effort. This is no weekend or
month-long project.
Consider that birders were not using any type of internet,
webpages, digital communications, digital photos,
cell phones and such with their birding when the 1994
edition was published. A lot has changed on the landscape.
Today we have achieves of more than 10,000 posts
to Bristol Birds Net and THE MIGRANT has published
about 1,500 pages since the 1994 first edition of Rick's
book. You can imagine all of the field trips and data
to be considered. We also benefited from years of
the former Valley Birds Net which operated out of
Bristol for about five years. A lot of birding there.
Rick and I met over dinner Friday evening for two
hours or more to finalize planning for the home stretch.
We talked extensively about technology, design, a
schedule for production, a punch list of things needed
to finish off the project. We agreed on individual
responsibilities of both the Bristol Bird Club and the
members who assist with the project. It was a very
productive evening.
The first edition is long out of print. It remains in demand
by new birders and new-to-the-region birders. For many,
it has been the manual for much of what they learned
about the occurrence and distribution of birds of Northeast
Tennessee. Most new birders in the region, or to the
region, have never seen a copy. A 1994 copy is now a
precious keepsake for your good library.
Jon L. Dunn and James V. Remsen, Jr., both members of the
American Ornithologists' Union Check-List Committee and
prominent American birders, ornithologists and authors,
gave the first edition high marks and approval as a
regional book well done.
The new edition becomes the fifth such regional book
produced, funded and distributed by the Bristol Bird Club.
The club did the same for Knight's original 1994 edition.
You will enjoy a vastly improved, expanded and detailed
accounting of the birds of the five-county "home range"
of the Lee and Lois Herndon Chapter of TOS. From its
Carter County base, the club has kept detailed records
for Carter, Sullivan, Washington, Unicoi and Johnson
counties for a period of nearly 70 years. Birding records
in the region span more than a century and portions of
three.
The Second Edition presents the status and notes on
319 species -- up 21 species in 14 years. It also
includes seven new breeding species. Records include
data thru April 2008.dat
In these pages you will join with the leading birders of
our history as they share with you, thru Rick, their
amazing discoveries, identifications and their dependable
documentation of a stunning regional avifauna.
You will have an encyclopedia to the highly-valued
birding records stretching from 1,200 ft. elevation at
Kingsport on the Holston to 6.285 ft. amongst the balds
and rhododendron at Roan Mountain. In the cloudland
of these Blue Ridge peaks you will find Unaka Mountain
(5,180 ft.), Big Bald Mountain (5,516 ft.), Sullivan County's
highest at Holston Mountain (4,280 ft.) and the remnants
of ancient bogs at 2,800 ft. in Shady Valley -- the state's
highest and most significant mountain cove.
The Ridge and Valley kneels at the mountain thrones with
great wintering waterfowl habitat and sprawling rivers
flowing thru the foothills and lowlands. Included are a host
of five TVA reservoirs, Bay's Mountain Lake, Middlebrook
Lake, Steele Creek Lake and Ripshin Lake. You will find
unique special sites like the Greenbelt at Kingsport, the
Weir Dam at South Holston and nothing beats Roan Creek,
Austin Springs and the amazing Spring Creek Embayment at
Musick's Campground.
Seven birders will join the ranks of recognition for the first
time, becoming observers citied often for their many
records included in this edition.
And additional 26 lifetime of distinction birders
have collectively contributed more than 600 years of
field work and record keeping in the region. They
all appeared in the 1994 edition.
The seven birders joining the list of recognition, have
80 years of regional birding experience, mostly in recent
decades. They are:
Robert B. Biller
Rack F. Cross.
Don A. Holt
Larry C. McDaniel
Thomas S. McNeil
Bryan K. Stevens
Allan J. Trently.
Countless other birders are recognized by full names
throughout the checklist for one or two citings which
appear in the species accounts.
If you own one of the out-of-print 1994 editions, this
is no time to let it get away. Many of the significant
records and insights no longer appear. New records
and new understanding often takes the place of that
written before. The former material is not out of date
by any measure but does not fit the editorial approach
or content design chosen by Rick. Keep the old copies!
You will want and need them for more reasons than
just sentimental keepsakes.
The Second Edition brings many rewarding new benefits
including new maps, graphic designs and useful utility.
There will be documentary photos of some of the more
significant finds.
Production includes a small army of new faces who
are contributing layout and design concepts. As an
example, Tom McNeil is busy finishing the updates
to the highly-valued and heavily-used bar graph pages.
They provide a visual snapshot of seasonal occurrence
for each species as well as extreme dates and out-of-season
birds.
Discussions have been held with the printing firm.
State-of-the-art printing and binding techniques will be
used. Two new graphic design artists will help bring
the visual presentation to a class impact.
The annotated species accounts are expanded to offer
elevational distribution, high counts for species and
out of season reports for many birds. There are many
more notes available about what is known of a
number of significant species found in the ridge and
valley region and Blue Ridge Mountain of the area.
Before you lay your head down to dream about owning
your own copy, let me tease your ever-birding heart.
Here are a few samples of species from the five-county
area which you will read about in the accounts:
Pacific Loon, Yellow-billed Loon, Yellow Rail, Clapper Rail, King Rail,
Purple Gallinule,
Common Moorhen, Piping Plover, Black-necked Stilt, Upland Sandpiper, Marbled
Godwit,
Red Knot,Purple Sandpiper, Ruff, Long-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Black-backed
Gull,
Sabine's Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Sooty Tern, Least Tern, Royal Tern,
Pomarine Jaeger,
Parasitic Jaeger, Snowy Owl, Allen's Hummingbird, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher,
Vermilion Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Northern Shrike, Violet-green
Swallow,
Sprague's Pipit, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Green-tailed
Towhee,
Clay-colored Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Lark Bunting, Lapland Longspur,
Black-headed Grosbeak
and White-winged Crossbill. Don't forget Harris Sparrow, Eurasian Wigeon, Pine
Grosbeaks
storm-petrel sp. and black-backed gull sp., Ferrugious Hawk, Kirkland's
Warbler, Harlequin
Duck and many other goodies which are discussed in the pages.
Obviously that is not nearly all of the rarities or good birds
or even good records.
You will have to wait and get your copy soon.
You only have to go to bed about 60 more times and
then Rick and the BBC will be here with his book.
Let's go birding........
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
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