The 66th consecutive Elizabethton Christmas Bird Count was held on 14 Dec 2008, with 27 observers in 6 groups participating. They tallied 73 species and 6668 individuals. The species total is slightly above the recent (20 year) average of 72 . The all-time high was 79 species found in 1995 & 2001. Foremost among highlights was a Le Conte's Sparrow found near the airport. This was the first on this CBC and just the fifth record in the 5-county area. It was seen again on the 16th. Also notable: Gray Catbird 1 - 4th time in last 6 years on this count (only once previously - 1949). Palm Warbler 1 - 5th time in last 10 years (only once previously - 1947). Chipping Sparrow 4 - 5th year in a row & 8th in last 11 years (few previously). Pine Siskin 204 - first triple digit count since 1989; found 11 times in last 20 years. All-time high numbers on this count were tallied for 5 species: Bufflehead - 266 Bald Eagle - 5 Red-tailed Hawk - 21 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 34 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 32. Two species have essentially vanished from this count: N. Bobwhite - found only 5 times in last 21 years; Loggerhead Shrike - found only 3 times in last 18 years. Neither was seen on this year's count. Complete list: Canada Goose 283 Gadwall 3 Am. Black Duck 1 Mallard 183 Ring-nk. Duck 3 Bufflehead 266 Ruffed Grouse 1 Wild Turkey 30 Com. Loon 4 Pied-billed Grebe 14 Horned Grebe 2 Great Blue Heron 24 Black Vulture 10 Turkey Vulture 21 Bald Eagle 5 (3 ad., 2 imm.) Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 Cooper's Hawk 3 Red-tailed Hawk 21 Am. Kestrel 18 Am. Coot 1 Killdeer 9 Ring-billed Gull 75 Rock Pigeon 430 Mourning Dove 262 E. Screech-Owl 11 Great Horned Owl 3 Barred Owl 2 Belted Kingfisher 9 Red-bellied Woodpecker 34 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 10 Downy Woodpecker 24 Hairy Woodpecker 5 N. Flicker 36 Pileated Woodpecker 18 E. Phoebe 14 Blue Jay 161 Am. Crow 414 Com. Raven 4 Carolina Chickadee 108 Tufted Titmouse 71 Red-breasted Nuthatch 6 White-brested Nuthatch 24 Brown Creeper 2 Carolina Wren 91 Winter Wren 8 Golden-cr. Kinglet 28 Ruby-cr. Kinglet 42 E. Bluebird 131 Hermit Thrush 12 Am. Robin 72 Gray Catbird 1 N. Mockingbird 66 Eur. Starling 2050 Cedar Waxwing 216 Yellow-rumped Warbler 135 Palm Warbler 1 E. Towhee 22 Chipping Sparrow 4 Field Sparrow 24 Le Conte's Sparrow 1 Fox Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 162 Swamp Sparrow 1 White-thr. Sparrow 181 White-crowned Sparrow 4 Dark-eyed Junco 62 E. Meadowlark 6 Purple Finch 5 House Finch 85 Pine Siskin 204 Am. Goldfinch 292 House Sparrow 26 ################### Rick Knight Johnson City, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________