Count year 109 One of the coldest days of the season greeted the record number of counters for the Shady Valley / Mountain City Christmas Bird Count this past January 1st. Only one party braved the single digits to try for owls and they were not disappointed. A Great Horned Owl was found hooting on the Shady Valley side of Holston Mountain and 2 Eastern Screech Owls were found on the same side of Iron Mountain. Even with weather conditions almost too good for birding (clear skies with temperature rebounding to a high of 48), 64 total species were found. This would be the new third highest number of total species for this young count only in its 12th year. Eight of those species set new high counts and three more tied their high counts. 20 total participants for the count set a new record with the previous high being 14 last year. Legend of Count Year Count Year 98 = 1997/1998 Count Year 99 = 1998/1999 Count Year 100 = 1999/2000 Count Year 101 = 2000/2001 Count Year 102 = 2001/2002 Count Year 103 = 2002/2003 Count Year 104 = 2003/2004 Count Year 105 = 2004/2005 Count Year 106 = 2005/2006 Count Year 107 = 2006/2007 Count Year 108 = 2007/2008 Count Year 109 = 2008/2009 (<-- This year's count) Participants: Party A (west side of Shady Valley) Wallace Coffey Carolyn Coffey Michele Sparks Andy Jones Chris O'bryan Charlie Parker Party B (east side of Shady Valley) Ron Carrico Rob Biller Lisa Tyler Tom Hunter Darla and Jim Anderson Party C (Mountain City and eastward) Tom McNeil Don Holt Joe McGuinness Kim Stroud Brookie Potter Party D (Mountain City and westward) Rick Knight Roy Knipsel Ellen Parker Weather Low 8F High 48F A.M. Sun P.M. Sun Light Wind - 5-10mph out of the NW Still water: Frozen Moving Water: Open High Count Birds: Mallard - 257 (230 in the Mountain City area); previous high count 124 in count year 105 Red-Shouldered Hawk - 4 (3 - Shady Valley, 1 Mountain City area); previous high count 3 in count years 101 & 105 Northern Flicker - 11; previous high count 10 in count year 104 Blue Jay - 95; previous high count 94 in count year 105 Winter Wren - 7, previous high count 6 in count year 106 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 4; previous high count 2 in count years 98, 104, & 108 Hermit Thrush - 10; previous high count 6 in count years 104 & 107 Pine Siskin - 78 (only 5th time on count); previous high count 59 in count year 105 Tied High Count Birds: Wood Duck - 2; Joins Count Years 100, 101, 108 (only 6th time on count) Red-tailed Hawk - 17; Joins Count Year 108 Common Raven - 9; Joins Count Years 99, 102, & 104 Other Good Sightings: Ruffed Grouse - 1; only the 4th time on count American Crow - 1240; 3rd highest count Brown Thrasher - 1; only the 3rd time on count - anytime you get this bird in the winter is good! (Party D, Rick Knight et al..) American Pipit - 1; only the 4th time on count (Party A, Wallace Coffey et al..) Fox Sparrow - 4; only the 5th time on count and second highest count (HC 9 - Count Year 108) Rusty Blackbirds - 8; only the 4th time on count (Party A, Wallace Coffey et al..) Purple Finch - 2; only the 4th time on count (Party B, Ron Carrico et al..) Notable Misses Great Blue Heron - 1st time in history of count that it has been missed Wilson's Snipe - ALMOST every year since count year 101 Barred Owl - interruptive on count, only 4 times on count Savannah Sparrow - 5th miss since count started, Since Count Year 104 - either miss or only 1 Final Totals (Complete List) 2008 - 2009 Counts Count Species Totals A B C D 2 34 98 112 Canada Goose 246 0 0 0 2 Wood Duck 2 0 3 0 0 American Black Duck 3 0 19 38 200 Mallard 257 0 1 0 0 Ruffed Grouse 1 0 0 55 23 Wild Turkey 78 0 0 42 1 Black Vulture 43 0 0 9 5 Turkey Vulture 14 0 1 0 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 0 1 1 2 Cooper's Hawk 4 2 1 1 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 4 2 2 11 2 Red-tailed Hawk 17 5 1 2 6 American Kestrel 14 0 0 20 2 Killdeer 22 0 0 0 0 Wilson's Snipe 0 0 0 5 0 Rock Pigeon 5 42 28 34 77 Mourning Dove 181 0 2 0 5 Eastern Screech-Owl 7 0 1 0 0 Great Horned Owl 1 0 2 2 2 Belted Kingfisher 6 2 2 2 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker 8 2 1 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4 6 3 8 3 Downy Woodpecker 20 2 Hairy Woodpecker 2 2 3 1 5 Northern Flicker 11 2 1 4 4 Pileated Woodpecker 11 1 2 2 3 Eastern Phoebe 8 19 24 26 26 Blue Jay 95 207 133 600 300 American Cro w 1240 0 0 2 7 Common Raven 9 20 13 27 26 Carolina Chickadee 86 6 4 24 17 Tufted Titmouse 51 2 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch 4 6 6 5 12 White-breasted Nuthatch 29 1 1 0 0 Brown Creeper 2 11 8 6 18 Carolina Wren 43 0 5 0 2 Winter Wren 7 2 8 2 6 Golden-crowned Kinglet 18 0 1 2 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4 8 12 33 28 Eastern Bluebird 81 7 1 2 Hermit Thrush 10 2 1 2 2 American Robin 7 6 8 10 10 Northern Mockingbird 34 0 0 0 1 Brown Thrasher 1 25 122 572 150 European Starling 869 1 0 0 0 American Pipit 1 49 0 0 0 Cedar Waxwing 49 8 2 1 10 Yellow-rumped Warbler 21 0 2 5 7 Eastern Towhee 14 30 0 6 10 Field Sparrow 46 2 2 0 0 Fox Sparrow 4 27 33 35 44 Song Sparrow 139 4 22 1 Swamp Sparrow 27 45 12 0 26 White-throated Sparrow 83 6 17 White-crowned Sparrow 23 34 3 36 33 Dark-eyed Junco 106 18 21 13 17 Northern Cardinal 69 20 2 0 0 Red-winged Blackbird 22 0 21 0 0 Eastern Meadowlark 21 8 0 0 0 Rusty Blackbird 8 0 2 0 0 Purple Finch 2 1 3 10 House Finch 14 0 0 0 0 Red Crossbill 0 4 30 23 21 Pine Siskin 78 2 27 96 26 American Goldfinch 151 10 34 51 1 House Sparrow 96 40 50 44 48 Species Totals 64 651 677 1919 1288 Individual Totals 4535 Thank you to everyone who participated in the count. This count continues to thrive with the help of everyone and sponsorship by the Bristol Bird Club. Rob Biller Shady Valley / Mountain City CBC Compiler Elizabethton, TN ************************************************* BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST NATURE CALENDAR for NE TN / SW VA: http://www.google.com:80/calendar/embed?src=eHlvbjQyQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ Be sure and visit the Bristol Bird Club website at: http://bristolbirdclub.org 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 unsubscribe, send an email to bristol-birds-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the one word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. -------------------------------------------------- Wallace Coffey, Moderator wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (423)764-****