[Bristol-Birds] Re: New Species for Buchanan County
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol Birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2004 23:16:48 -0500
Roger Mayhorn and Area Birders:
The excellent discovery of a Bufflehead in Buchanan County, VA is a great
new species for the county. It is likely an early-spring date for the
species in the coalfield counties west of the Clinch Mountains in Southwest
Virginia. They probably don't winter in that region but are spring and fall
transients.
I got a chuckle at your comments about how strange your report may seem to
those who bird at South Holston and the weir dam. Actually, most of us
take a lot for granted when we see the large Bufflehead populations there
and at Wilbur Lake in neighboring Carter County. This is the largest
wintering population of the species in Tennessee, if not in the Southern
Appalachians. We had 299 at the weir in Dec. 1998 and Tom McNeil had 345 at
Wilbur in Nov. 1991.
Bufflehead winter in slow moving to standing, shallow, freshwater in
woodland areas. No surprise for a duck that nests in old Northern Flicker
holes and other tree cavities !
Congratulations!
Let's go birding....
Wallace Coffey
Bristol
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger Mayhorn" <mayhorn@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Bristol Birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 10:05 PM
Subject: [Bristol-Birds] New Species for Buchanan County
> Area Birders,
> Buchanan county VA is a nearly dry county when it comes to having water
used
> by migrating waterfowl. Only occasionally is some species of waterfowl
other
> than Mallards or Wood Ducks found on the Levisa River. One reason for this
> is probably due to the numerous houses built along the river. Another is
> probably the coal mining that has been on going for a century. So it was
> with some interest that we listened, when a lady that works with Ed
Talbott
> at the Buchanan County Public Library, told Ed about a duck she and her
> husband had seen on a beaver pond near their home. The pond was in a very
> remote wooded area.
>
> Ed Talbott III and his father Ed Talbott II, along with myself (Roger
> Mayhorn) went to investigate on the morning of March 3rd. The duck was
still
> there and it was found to be a female Bufflehead. As strange as it may
sound
> to those of you living near South Holston Lake or the weir dam, this is
the
> first recorded sighting of this species within Buchanan county. The bird
was
> video taped and photographed. A member of this species has probably not
> received so much attention in years.
> For those interested photos have been posted at
> http://www.bcplnet.org/birdclub/gallery/Bufflehead.htm
>
> After finding the Bufflehead we spent a few hours birding the area. A
large
> part of the area was grassland and overgrown strip mining sites.
> Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks were found. The Red-shouldereds really
> put on a show for us as they circled, called, then suddenly folded their
> wings and dropped like a stone into the valley.
>
> Enjoy the birds,
>
> Roger Mayhorn
> Grundy, VA
> Buchanan County Bird Club
>
> Following is a complete list of birds observed:
>
> Accipter sp? 1
> American Crow 2
> American Robin 3
> Barred Owl 1
> Belted Kingfisher 2
> Blue Jay 1
> Bufflehead 1 female - 1st recorded sighting within Buchanan County
> Carolina Wren 2
> Common Raven 1
> Downy Woodpecker 2
> Eastern Bluebird 1
> Eastern Meadowlark 1
> Eastern Towhee 3
> Field Sparrow 1
> Hairy Woodpecker 2
> Northern Cardinal 2
> Northern Flicker 1
> Pileated Woodpecker 2
> Red-shouldered Hawk 2
> Red-tailed Hawk 1
> Ruffed Grouse 2
> Song Sparrow 7
> Swamp Sparrow 2
> Tufted Titmouse 2
> Turkey Vulture 1
> White-breasted Nuthatch 1
> White-throated Sparrow 6
>
>
> Cottontail Rabbit 1
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *************************************************
> BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
> Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at:
> http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5
>
> This is a regional birding list sponsored by the
> Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications
> between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia
> and Northeast Tennessee.
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> --------------------------------------------------
> Wallace Coffey, Moderator
> wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> (423)764-****
>
*************************************************
BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at:
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5
This is a regional birding list sponsored by the
Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications
between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia
and Northeast Tennessee.
--------------------------------------------------
You are subscribed to Bristol-Birds.
To post to this mailing list, simply send an email
to: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send
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--------------------------------------------------
Wallace Coffey, Moderator
wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(423)764-****
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