[Bristol-Birds] Historical Snippet -June 15-20,1936
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 21:30:43 -0400
BBC Snippet
A group of Tennessee birders, participating in a Tennessee Ornithological
Society summer jamboree, June 15-20,1936, at Roan Mountain is likely the
first state TOS activity held in Northeast Tennessee.
Bruce P. Tyler of Johnson City had been elected President of TOS
and was helping host birders from across the state, along with his birding
companion, Bob B. Lyle, also of Johnson City.
The party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. John Bamberg, F. S. Carpenter,
Alfred Clebach, Jr.,
Dr. Cynthis C. Counce, George Davis, Amy Deane, Albert F. Ganier, Robert
B. Lyle, Evelyn
Schneider, Mable Slack and Bruce P. Tyler. This photo, posed with an old
beech,
is only part of the group and the only person identified is Albert F.
Gainer (wearing a tie).
Roan Mountain contains some of the most unique flora and fauna in the eastern
United States. Much national attention has been directed to identifying and
classifying these unique features as well as being recognized for its
outstanding
scenic qualities of high mountain balds, rhododendron gardens, and spruce-fir
timber types. It contains more than 300 species of plants, some rare and
endangered,
and wildlife, some at their northern and southern limits. A yellow birch tree
(Betula
alleghaniensis) found in the hardwood forest was determined to be 385 years old.
Despite the fact there had been notable naturalist on Roan Mountain in the 1800s
and early 1900s, TOS took note of the lack of specific information about
distribution
by elevation and sometimes almost nothing about whether birds were seen in the
vicinity of Roan Mountain or on the mountain itself.
The group stayed in a lodge located at
what was then called Toll House Gap
near the site of the former Cloudland Hotel
(6150 ft.); the lodge was at 6100 ft. The
gap is located along the road from Carver's
Gap up to the gardens and is where the
first large parking lot is on the right as you
get most of the way to the top.
The mountain, from about 5000 ft. upward,
is of the Canadian type in its fauna and
flora. This was particularly evidenced by
Sketch of lodge by Lyle & Tyler the presence, from
Roan High Bluff to Roan
High Knob, of an almost unbroken line, at or near the summits, of balsam fir
and red
spruce. The once splendid forests of fir and spruce had been cut out, nearly
to the
tops, thus damaging the scenic aspects and perhaps altering the bird life.
Albert F. Ganier of Nashville was the leader of the TOS group.
He became known as the "Dean of Tennessee Ornithology" in
the years to come. His first published paper was in 1899. He
was one of five founders of the state society. In 1926 he was
president of the Tennessee Academy of Science and was a past
president of the famous Wilson Ornithological Society. He led
the party to the very high elevation of Roan (6313 ft.) which is
unsurpassed in the eastern United States, except for a few peaks
in the Mount Mitchell group and in the Great Smokies.
The party of twelve bird students from TOS had as their purpose to make as
complete
a list as possible of the breeding birds to be found about the summits. They
confined
their observations to the area lying above the 5000 foot contour, which
generally
embraced the Canadian type habitat. They found a total of 32 species but
doubtless
a few others were not seen.
In the mid-1930s, Tyler was playing a very
active role in TOS. He was the East
Tennessee regional editor for THE MIGRANT,
the state journal of ornithology. He was
participating in TOS activities. Tyler had
become a very good friend with Ganier and
the two were beginning to focus on various
aspects of the birdlife of Northeast Tennessee.
He was also leading an annual Christmas Bird
Count at Johnson City.
In the photo at the left, Tyler is shown doing
daily chores at the ranger cabin which had
been built along with a fire tower in 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corps
program.
The window at the top is a loft which had a ladder leading to another area
which could be
used for sleeping quarters. Below is a photo of the same cabin today. It is at
the summit
of Roan High Knob. The cabin was renovated
in 1980 and now serves as the Roan High
Knob Shelter of the Appalachian Trail. At 6285 ft.
elevation it is the highest shelter on the AT. It
sleeps 16 and it the largest shelter on the famous
trail.
Look at the difference in forest growth about
the cabin site since the photo above was made
in June 1936. This alone gives us a different
perspective about what the habitat was like
in some areas of Roan Mountain then and today. It had been heavily cut over.
One of the prize discoveries in June 1936 was the nest of a RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCH.
It was found by John Bamberg on June 23, at 5900 ft., containing 5 nearly fresh
eggs.
It was built 9 feet above the ground and a foot below the top of a dead spruce
stub 12 in.
in diameter, on a cut-over slope. The tree was punky
and the wood soft, so the nuthatch had excavated its own
characteristic hole to a depth of 9 inches. As usual
with this species, a small amount of gum had been
brought and applied to the exterior about the entrance.
A scanty pad of soft inner fibers of bark was beneath
the eggs. The bird flushed readily when the tree was
pounded on but later became harder to evict as a
series of photos were being taken. A new nest cavity,
partly finished, was found in the dead top of a small
buckeye at Big Meadow and in a nearby spruce, old
birds were watched at 10 feet, feeding young as large
as themselves. By this it would seem that there was an
early season nesting as with the White-breasted Nuthatch,
Ganier concluded in his report.
Other species of interest included:
Duck. HAWK (PEREGRINE FALCON).-One flew low
over the "Rhododendron Gardens" on June 22, with
prey in its talons. A "Peregrine" was also observed
around Roan High Point, by Tyler, on June 24. The cliffs at the High Bluff,
which Ganier wrote
" that he lacked time to examine closely," seemed well adapted to an eyrie, he
thought.
PRAIRIE HORNED LARK -A pair and a young bird on the wing, were observed by "all
of
us on the summit of Little Roan (5800 ft.) just s.w. of Carver's Gap." It was
an extensive
nearly bald summit; the grass on top was short and therefore suitable for this
short-legged,
ground walking bird. The presence of this species there, when it was doubtless
nesting,
was of particular interest. Tyler and Lyle had previously reported it there, on
June 30, 1935.
NORTHERN RAVEN - Ganier considered this as perhaps the highlight of the trip
when
the sight of a flock of 7 or 8 of these birds were seen June 25, flying
leisurely westward
along the north side of Little Roan [evidently Round Bald as we know it
today].They saw or
heard one or more Ravens each day of their visit and at all points on the
mountain.
VEERY.-Fairly common
in the fir belt and down the
slopes into the deciduous forest.
In the edge of the latter, at
Big Meadow (5500 ft.) a nest
was found on June 24, with 3
early fresh eggs. It was built
2 feet above the ground in one
of a patch of small beech sprouts
in thick woods. The bulky nest
was built on a foundation of
beech leaves and was principally
of weed stems and fibers. An old
nest was found nearby on a low
The TOS birding party at The Big Meadow (5200-5700 ft.)
limb of a small spruce.
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK -A male observed singing on the south side of Little
Roan,
near top at elev. 5700 ft., in deciduous growth.
EASTERN VESPER SPARROW -- Ganier was pleased, and a little surprised, to find
one
of these birds feeding on the grassy bald summit of Little Roan at elev. 5700
ft. It probably
had a nest in the vicinity for conditions there were quite suitable, he wrote.
from the archives of the Bristol Bird Club
and the pages of THE MIGRANT
Photos from the Bob Lyle Collection
left to Wallace Coffey.
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