[TN-Bird] Tennessee Birders by the Numbers: 2014 (Vol. 10)
- From: kbreault <kbreault@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: TN-Bird Listserv <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 16:41:12 -0800
Tennessee Birders by the Numbers: 2014 (Vol. 10)
Welcome to Tennessee Birders by the Numbers (TBN) report for 2014.The year
ending on December 31, 2014 was a wonderful one for rare birds in TN, and with
gulls like Iceland and Little 2015 looks like that will continue. Note that
because of work responsibilities it has taken me more time to put the TBN out
this year (the ice storm helped quite a bit this week), and so some results
will include those in January and February of this year.
This report also includes an updated All-time Total Ticks list, an list based
on the recent book, Rare Birds of North America by Steve Howell, Ian Lewington
& Will Russel, and an updated Tennessee Total Ticks (TTT) for counties and
related information.
I. TN List
As noted last year Jeff Wilson continues to be on the list given his
extraordinary position. Hopefully, the ABA will continue that tradition.
1. 388 Jeff Wilson
2. 363 Michael Todd
3. 360 Clyde Blum
4. 359 Mark Greene
5. 355 Terry Witt
6. 352 Dollyann Myers
7. 351 David C. Chaffin
8. 350 Kevin Calhoon
9. 349 Tommie Rogers
10. 341 Rick Knight
11. 339 Ron Hoff
12. 336 Steve Clendenen
13. 334 Gail Clendenen
14. 326 Rick Waldrop
15. 323 Francis Fekel
16. 312 Scott Somershoe
17. 307 David Trently
18. 305 Ken Oeser
19. 300 Thomas McNeil
20. 297 Kevin Breault
21. 290 Stephen Zipperer
23. 282-t Darrel Wilder
23. 282-t Gail King
25. 280-t Mike O'Malley
25. 280-t Rack Cross
26. 273 Chloe Walker
27. 268 Q. Gray
28. 265 Rick Shipkowski
29. 264 Gary Brunvoll
30. 258 Larry Peavler
II. TN Birders on States/Province Lists
Many TN birders are on the lists for other states and provinces and with the
removal of thresholds we perhaps get a better picture of TN birding. The
following list includes TN birders (but unfortunately not Jeff) by the number
if states/provinces in which they reported lists. Also included are the
state/province abbreviations for those TN birders who are first among TN
birders on these other lists. So for example, David Chaffin has reported lists
in 61 states/provinces and in the indicated 16 states/provines is the leading
TN birder. Note that I did not include areas, e.g., Hawaii, that are not in the
ABA area. This list represents an increase of 23 birders over the 17 of last
year.
1. David C. Chaffin (61 states/provinces), AK, AL, CA, IN, KY, ME, MI, OK, PA,
SD, WV, AB, BC, NB, PQ, YT (#1 among TN birders)
2. Kevin Breault (58), CT, DC, ID, IL, MA, MT, NH, NV, NY, OR, RI, UT, VT, WI,
WY, MB, NS, PE, SK
3. Rick Waldrop (58), GA, MD, MN, MS, ND, VA, ON
4. Dollyann Myers (54)
6-t. Ron Hoff (51)
6-t. Ken Oeser (51)
8-t. Mike O'Malley (38)
8-t. David Trently (38), NF
9. Gail King (33)
10. Tommie Rogers (31), CO, DE, FL, IA, KS, MO, NE, NM, WA
11. Michael Todd (30)
12. Kevin Calhoon (25), OH, SC
13. Scott Somershoe (24)
14. Francis Fekel (22), NJ
15. Steve Clendenen (18)
16. Gail Clendenen (17), AZ
19-t. Clyde Blum (8)
19-t. Thomas McNeil (8)
19-t. Stephen Zipperer (8)
20. Darrel Wilder (6)
22-t.. Mark Greene (5), AR
22-t. Rick Knight (5), LA, NC, TX
23. Rack Cross (2)
III. ABA Area
The following are our TN birders on the ABA Area list, including totals and
ranks in the top 100. Thus, Benton Basham has 881 species and a rank of 4th.
1. Benton Basham 881 (4)
2. David C. Chaffin 821 (18)
3. Dollyann Myers 782 (68)
4. Tommie Rogers 771 (80)
5. Kevin Calhoon 764 (97)
6. Rick Waldrop 747
7. Clyde Blum 740
8. Gail & Steve Clendenen 716
9. Ron Hoff 689
10. Terry Witt 680
11. Michael Todd 673
12. Darrel Wilder 663
13. Kevin Breault 657
14. Ken Oeser 649
15. David Trently 626
16. Francis Fekel 615
17. Gail King 607
18. Jon Mann 603
19. Mike O'Malley 593
20. Thomas McNeil 529
21. Q. Gray 527
22. Gary Brunvoll 514
23. Scott Somershoe 510
24. Chloe Walker 317
25. Stephen Zipperer 311
IV. Canada
As noted last year the end of thresholds for reporting has meant that we have a
better idea of who is participating. On the Canada list, David Chaffin is first
among TN birders with 332 birds (a rank of 72), followed by Kevin Breault, 279
(101), and Rick Waldrop, 263 (115).
V. Lower Forty-Eight
This list includes all states with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, and is
highly correlated with the ABA Area list. Our top leaders for 2014 are: David
Chaffin and Tommie Rogers, both at 748, Kevin Calhoon at 741, Rick Waldrop at
732, and Clyde Blum and Gail & Steve Clendenen at 716.
VI. United States
Our leaders on this list are: David Chaffin at 831, Dollyann Myers, 827, Kevin
Calhoon, 802, Clyde Blum, 777, and Tommie Rogers at 771. Congratulations to
Kevin Calhoon for breaking 800!
VII. AOU North
The AOU stands for the American Ornithological Union, established in 1883, and
the AOU North list is covered by the AOU checklist of North American birds, and
includes North and Central America and island groups like Hawaii. On the North
list, Rick Waldrop has a very strong position with 1732 birds and a rank of 7,
followed by David Chaffin at 1282, Clyde Blum, 1040, and Gary Brunvoll, 1021.
VIII. AOU South
In the South, Rick Waldrop is again our leader with 2314 birds and a rank of 9,
followed by Gary Brunvoll with 752, Gail King with 750, and David Chaffin at
525.
IX. Mexico
The ABA Mexico list has Dollyann Myers at the top position with 732 birds and a
rank of 23, followed closely by Clyde Blum with 685 and a rank of 32. Gail King
also has 660, followed by Gary Brunvoll, 591, and Rick Waldrop, 567.
X. Central America
TN Birders high on the Central America list are: Rick Waldrop, 909 with a rank
of 9, Dollyann Myers, 693, Ron Hoff, 630, Terry Witt, 615, and David Trently,
605.
XI. West Indies & Caribbean
Our leaders here are Rick Waldrop with 306 birds, Kevin Calhoon with 200,
Dollyann Myers at 195, and Ron Hoff with 157.
XII. Europe & Western Palearctic
Our top three on this list are Rick Waldrop, 361, Dollyann Myers, 208, and
David Chaffin with 186.
XIII. Asia
On the Asia list we find Ron Hoff at 1865, and a great rank of 10, Dollyann
Myers at 1827, rank of 12, Terry Witt with 1488, Rick Waldrop with 886, and
David Chaffin at 787.
XIV. World
Dollyann Myers and Ron Hoff continue to add birds and increase their rankings
on the World list, Dollyann with 8008!!, and a rank of 8, and 7945 with a rank
of 9 for Ron. Other leaders are Terry Witt with 6350, and Rick Waldrop with
5019. Note that Dollyann's total is now 91.4% of the top position (8765), held
currently by Claes-Goran Cederlund of Sweden. I did not get to an All-time
World list this year, perhaps next.
XV. North America
Rick Waldrop is our leader on the NA list with 1732 and a fantastic rank of 3,
followed by Dollyann Myers with 1531, Ron Hoff at 1390, Terry Witt at 1329, and
David Chaffin with 1299.
XVI. South America
Dollyann Myers and Ron Hoff lead this list with 2473 and 2472, respectively,
and rankings of 10 and 11. Other leaders are rick Waldrop at 2314, and Terry
Witt with 2078.
XVII. Africa
Dollyann Myers and Ron Hoff also lead this list with 1658 followed by Terry
Witt with 1285.
XVIII. Australasia
On this list, Dollowann Myers and Ron Hoff rank 4 and 5, respectively, with 987
and 978 birds.
XIX. Eurasia
Here, Ron Hoff takes the top spot with 2071, followed by Dollyann Myers at
2058, Terry Witt at 1585, Rick Waldrop with 1103, and David Chaffin with 932.
XX. Atlantic Ocean
Like last year we had two birders on the Atlantic list, Mike O'Malley with 66,
and Dollyann Myers with 36.
XXI. Pacific Ocean
On the Pacific list our leaders are Dollyann Myers with 416, Ron Hoff with 401,
Francis Fekel at 160, and Rick Waldrop with 118.
XXII. Indian Ocean
Ron Hoff has an outstanding rank of 2 on this list with 250 birds, followed by
Dollyann Myers with 241, a rank of 5.
XXIII. South Polar Region
On this list Mike O'Malley is our leader with 25 birds and a rank of 71,
followed by Dollyann Myers with 20, and Ron Hoff with 18.
XXIV. ABA Millennium
This list includes all the birders who have been the most active regarding the
ABA Area since the century began (specifically, this is the ABA Area for the
21st century). First on the list is Clyde Blum at 714 with a rank of 17, Gail &
Steve Clendenen with 677, Michael Todd with 672, David Chaffin at 663, Kevin
Breault with 556, and Mike O'Malley at 402.
XXV. Photographed ABA Area
Mike Todd and Tommie Rogers are our leaders here both with 635 and a rank of
22, followed by Kevin Calhoon, 612 with a rank of 27, Clyde Blum, 602 with a
rank of 32, Ron Hoff, 439, Mike O'Malley, 426, Q. Gray, 389, and Rick Waldrop,
117.
XXVI. Photographed World
Ron Hoff has a great ranking of 2 on this popular list with a strong 3937 (an
increase of 253 birds over last year), followed by Mike Todd at 1431 and a rank
of 10, Mike O'Malley, 540, and Rick Waldrop, 291.
XXVII. World Families
As you might expect, Dollyann Myers and Ron Hoff are the leaders on this list
with 232 families at a rank of 6, followed by Rick Waldrop with 166 families
and a rank of 114.
XXVIII. All Territories & Provinces
This list is quite similar to the Total Ticks list (below) and combines all the
territories/provinces in Canada. Our leader here is David Chaffin with a rank
of 20 and 1061 birds, followed by Kevin Breault at 968 with a rank of 25, and
Rick Walrop, 594, rank of 40.
XXIX. Total Ticks
As many of you know, Total Ticks has been my focus for many years, and year
after year we have seen that TN birders generally rank in the top 3 of all
states (in 2011 we were #1), on the number of birders doing Total Ticks. David
Chaffin leads the TT list with 11,502 birds and a rank of 3, followed by Kevin
Breault, 10,919 with a rank of 5. Rick Waldrop is at 9049, Dollyann Myers has
6768, David Trently, 5202, Ron Hoff, 5600, Ken Oeser, 4697, Gail Glendenen,
4501, Steven Clendenen, 4500, and Mike Todd with 3839. Note that in the
"miscellaneous" category below I have included the All-time Total Ticks list
(this list can also be found on my biographical blurb on the ABA site).
XXX. Canadian Provinces
While not many TN birders go far north the removal of thresholds have made
clear that some certainly do, namely: Kevin Breault, David Chaffin, Mike
O'Malley, David Trently, and Rick Waldrop. Currently, David Chaffin is our TN
leader on the Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick (rank of 7), Quebec, and
Yukon lists (the only TN birder on the Yukon list). Kevin Breault leads in
Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island (rank 5), and Saskatchewan (rank
8). Rick Waldrop is our leader on the Ontario list, and David Trently leads in
Newfoundland & Labrador. As noted before, there are no TN birders for Northwest
Territories, Nunavut and St. Pierre et Miquelon (only one person in the ABA on
the latter list with 15 birds). However, as I noted last year if you are going
to Newfoundland & Labrador (truly a great place for birds), don't forget that a
short ferry ride away is St. Pierre et Miquelon--and you should do much better
than 15!. As you have seen on
previous volumes of TBN, the Canadian provinces are some of the easiest places
to bird in the ABA Area and are some of the most beautiful--my personal
favorite at this point is Prince Edward Island.
XXXI. Annual Lists
This year on the ABA Area annual list we have Kevin Calhoon, 415, with a rank
of 15, Thomas McNeil, 376 (26), David Chaffin, 324 (37), and Chloe Walker, 293
(a rank of 46).
XXXII. Annual List for Tennessee
On the 2014 annual list for TN, Terry Witt leads with 269 (28 on the all-time
list), followed by Chloe Walker, 249, John O'Barr, 238, Stephen Zipperer, 238,
Thomas McNeil, 215, Kevin Calhoon, 215, Joshua Stevenson, 203, and David
Chaffin, 195. At this point note that 254 puts you in the top 50 on the
all-time list, the first place still held by Jeff Wilson at 307 in 2002, the
only birder to have seen 300 or more birds in a year.
XXXIII. Miscellaneous
A. All-time Total Ticks (top 15)
There have been changes on this list in the last year, so:
1. 18,271 Paul Lehman
2. 15,760 Deuane Hoffman
3. 15,594 Kenneth Ward
4. 13,585 Thomas Heatley
5. 13,197 Michael Resch
6. 12,990 Jon Dunn
7. 12,209 Cecil Kersting
8. 11,502 DAVID CHAFFIN
9. 11,262 Richard Rosche
10. 11,175 Jeffrey Sanders
11. 11,016 Leif Anderson
12. 10,921 Stephen Dinsmore
13. 10,919 KEVIN BREAULT
14. 10,136 Robin Carter
15. 9,864 James Beard
B. Rare Birds of North America
Over the holiday break in 2014 I was given the book: Rare Birds of North
America by Steve Howell, Ian Lewington & Will Russel (Princeton Univ. Press,
2014), certainly well worth the money if you are interested in truly rare
birds. Here we are talking about rare vagrants of North America: 5 or fewer
individuals found annually in North America. What am I talking about? Well, we
were recently very excited about the Iceland and Little Gull, but these are
Code 2 and 3 birds, respectively. How about a Swallow-tailed Gull, only twice
seen in California, or the Black-headed Gull, also twice seen in North America
(Florida and New York). One thing the book allows us to do (Appendix C) is rank
states and provinces on where these very rare birds were initially found, so
the following is a list of the state/province locations of birds new to North
America, 1950-2011. Now, I fully expected Alaska to be first on the list, and
it is as you can see below but I was not so
sure how Texas, California, Florida and Arizona would rank. Unfortunately, you
won't see TN on the list despite our Hooded Crane (still being researched).
1. AK 76 (birds)
2. TX 30
3. CA 21
4. FL 19
5. AZ 14
6. NL (Newfoundland) 9
8-t. MA 6
8-t NC 6
9. LA 3
15-t. ME 2
15-t. NM 2
15-t. NY 2
15-t QC 2
15-t VA 2
15-t WA 2
28-t AB 1
28-t AL 1
28-t BC 1
28-t DE 1
28-t MB 1
28-t MS 1
28-t NJ 1
28-t NS 1
28-t NU 1
28-t OK 1
28-t OR 1
28-t PA 1
28-t RI 1
C. Tennessee Total Ticks
Since last year there has been a tremendous interest in TTT--Tennessee Total
Ticks. Here are the results for 2014. Totals greater than 100 were included,
and 41 birders listed TN counties, an increase of more than 20%. Also, if we
compare this list for the one for 2013, we find 53,066 birds for 2014 compared
to 33,551, an astounding increase of 58.2%. And what will it take to get to
10,000 TTT? This is easily doable. Note that with 95 counties in TN it will
only take an average of about 105 birds per county. I kind of like the notion
of shooting for 100 per county.
1. 8392 Ron Hoff
2. 8039 Dollyann Myers
3. 6187 David Chaffin
4. 6004 Scott Somershoe
5. 3940 Ken Oeser
6. 3593 Gail & Steve Clendenen
7. 3389 Mark Greene
8. 2935 Stephen Zipperer
9. 2462 David Trently
10. 1945 Kevin Breault
11. 1121 Thomas McNeil
12. 1018 John O'Barr
13. 550 Francis Fekel
14. 499 Kevin Calhoon
15. 490 Joshua Stevenson
16. 488 Andrew Gilbert
17. 477 Tommie Rogers
18. 367 Bill Lotz
19. 253 Terry Witt
20. 221 Rack Cross
21. 192 David Hollie
22. 165 Mike O'Malley
23. 115 Jim Nelson
25-t. 112 David Gibson
25-t. 112 Joe Cox
And, as we asked last year, who are the leaders in our 95 Tennessee counties?
The following list includes the number of counties in which birders were the
number one birder in the county. So, for example, Ron Hoff is the number one
birder in 29 TN counties. (The overall total does not equal 95 because there
were ties--more than one person leading the county.
1. 29 Ron Hoff
4-t. 14 David Chaffin
4-t. 14 Dollyann Myers
4-t. 14 Scott Somershoe
5. 13 Mark Greene
8-t. 4 Thomas McNeil
8-t. 4 David Trently
8-t. 4 Stephen Zipperer
9. 3 Kevin Breault
17-t 1 Kevin Calhoon
17-t 1 Gail & Steve Clendenen
17-t 1 Rack Cross
17-t 1 Francis Fekel
17-t 1 Ken Oeser
17-t 1 Mike O'Malley
17-t 1 Tommie Rogers
17-t 1 Terry Witt
And, what were the highest totals across counties? Here, I include birders with
at least 200 birds in a county.
1. 294 Kevin Calhoon, Hamilton
2. 290 Mark Greene, Lake
3. 280 Mark Greene, Shelby
4. 265 Tommie Rogers, Hamilton
5. 260 Mark Greene, Obion
6. 257 David Chaffin, Hamilton
7. 254 Mark Greene, Gibson
8. 253 Terry Witt, Rutherford
9. 243 Mark Greene, Fayette
10. 236 Francis Fekel, Davidson
11. 235 Scott Somershoe, Davidson
12. 233 Scott Somershoe, Rutherford
14-t. 230 Ron Hoff, Anderson
14-t. 230 Thomas McNeil, Carter
15. 227 Stephen Zipperer, Rutherford
17-t. 226 Thomas McNeil, Washington
17-t. 226 Dollyann Myers, Anderson
18. 221 Rack Cross, Sullivan
20-t. 217 Ron Hoff, Knox
20-t. 217 Ron Hoff, Rhoane
22-t. 216 Gail & Steve Clendenen, Knox
22-t. 216 Thomas McNeil, Sullivan
23. 213 David Trently, Knox
24. 212 Tommie Rogers, Marion
25. 210 Kevin Breault, Davidson
26. 207 Scott Somershoe, Lake
28-t. 206 David Chaffin, Bradley
28-t. 206 Gail & Steve Clendenen, Blount
29. 204 Kevin Calhoon, Marion
31-t. 200 Dollyann Myers, Knox
31-t. 200 Dollyann Myers, Roane
What about the counties where the fewest birds have been reported by the top
birder? The biggest opportunities?
1. 46 (birds) Hickman
2. 50 Lewis
3. 56 Lincoln
4. 58 Houston
5. 61 Carrol
8-t. 63 Fayette
8-t. 63 Perry
8-t. 63 Wayne
9. 64 Moore
10. 67 Maury
12-t. 68 Hardenman
12-t. 68 Macon
13. 70 Grundy
14. 71 Dickson
15. 72 Tipton
16. 75 Hamblen
17. 77 Decatur
Well, that is it for the TBN 2014 report. Best of luck for 2014! Of course, I
apologize in advance for any errors. Many numbers and calculations were
involved. If I've made a mistake let me know and I'll make the change next
year. If I made a big mistake I'll email the group asap. On a personal note,
because of my work as an editor and having to retool my university courses into
online versions, 2014 was not an especially good birding one for me, with only
222 Total Ticks, the fewest amount since I began serious total ticking in 2004.
But things are looking up as I expect to spend a month or so in the Pacific
Northwest, including states/provinces in which I have few or no birds, AK,
BC--and I may even get to the Yukon if I am lucky. Looking forward to that as
it has been many years since I was in the coastal West.
Now, as I always say, you can't list your ABA totals unless you are a member of
the American Birding Association (http://www.americanbirding.org/). It is still
quite cheap and you get a great deal with the major magazine, "Birding," the
new magazine called the "Birder's Guide" series that takes on a specific topic
in significant detail every issue (travel, gear, listing/taxonomy, etc.), and a
much better interactive site for listing.
Always be good to birds and generous to birders of all stripes, totals and
ranks! Good birding and good totaling!
Kevin Breault
Brentwood, TN
http://mtweb.mtsu.edu/kbreault/
Other related posts:
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