Tennessee Birders by the Number: 2021 (Vol. 17)
Welcome to the Tennessee Birders by the Numbers (TBN) report for 2021. This
report like those of the last few years will include data since Vol. 16 up to
the present time (thus totals from the beginning of 2022). Unfortunately, as in
the previous report for 2020 this is an abbreviated volume given the continuing
Covid-19 pandemic. As a part of the epidemiological community (but I don't
focus on infectious diseases), I can report that while many researchers in 2020
were quite afraid more difficult variants would show up, I don't know of any
who thought it would actually happen. Yet here we sit at the beginning of 2022
having gone through Delta and in the midst of Omicron. I would like to think
2022 will be better, but unfortunately the feeling among many is that we may
face more variants, and that one that is both highly contagious and more deadly
is only years away. These are sobering possibilities indeed after having lived
through the death of more than 883,000 in the U.S. and the infection of 74
million (case fatality of 1.2%, although we expect the infection number to be
around 85 million, and so a lower case fatality). Quite astounding figures many
of us thought would not come to pass despite projections at the beginning of
Covid that they might. We have to hope the future will be brighter and that the
real heroes of our time, the researchers who produced the vaccines that have
saved thousands of lives, will come to have a better understanding of how to
control these epidemics. In some sense we are like John Graunt (1620-1674) who
systematically recorded bubonic plague deaths and other morbidity (the first
"lister" of disease and causes of death) in an effort to better manage that
seemingly indestructible foe (while still present in the U.S., mainly though in
the southwest, plague is treated with antibiotics and deaths are uncommon).
Like us, Graunt was hopeful human efforts would not be futile--that science
would win out over superstition.
The birding community has changed because of Covid, causing more of us to focus
on local trips closer to home. The result has been higher records for many
states. As recently reported in Birding, the number of species regularly
identified in a year in Alberta, Canada went from 330 to 345, and the province
now owns the Canadian Big Day record of 226. In Tennessee we have seen among
others a Limpkin, Snowy Owl, Bullock's Oriole and recently Long-tailed Duck is
middle Tennessee, although I have to admit that with so much work on my desk, I
have not been following all the reports. Indeed, Covid caused some of us to
focus more on professional responsibilities, a kind of silver lining in these
very difficult times.
This abbreviated TBN report will include only the TN List, TN Birders on
State/Province Lists, and the All Time Total Ticks list:
I. TN List (top 63--300 species)
As in previous years, I combined the ebird list with the ABA list. Since some
birders use ebird exclusively, and some use the ABA, the following list is as
good as can be produced currently. When there were differences between the two,
the highest totals were used. TN birders should continue to make changes to
insure both lists are consistent if possible. Let me know if there are any
mistakes on either the ABA or ebird lists. Note, we now have 63 birders with
300 TN birds, up from 54 last year--like last year a huge increase in these
Covid years. Finally, the big news this year is that Michael Todd is now the
leading TN birder! Since I came to TN many years ago (well, 26 years ago), this
is the first year I believe Jeff Wilson has not been in the top spot. Following
Michael, Mark Greene also joins Jeff with 388 birds! Congratulations to both
Michael and Mark! Note too, the late Terri Witt (or terri witt as he preferred)
is on the list at #12, as are other birders who are no longer active. While
there is not much in what we do that is of "world historical" significance--a
term from the academic literature--I like to think that our efforts do have
some historical value.
1. 389 Michael Todd3-t. 388 Mark Greene3-t. 388 Jeff Wilson4. 371 Ruben
Stoll6-t. 369 Daniel Jacobson6-t. 369 Tommie Rogers8-t. 364 Kevin Calhoon8-t.
364 Victor Stoll10-t. 363 Ron Hoff10-t. 363 Dollyann Myers11. 360 Clyde Blum12.
357 terri witt13. 356 David Chaffin14. 355 Christopher Sloan15. 353 Alan
Troyer16. 351 Rick Knight18-t. 350 Francis Fekel18-t. 350 Beth Schilling20-t.
344 Gail Clendenen20-t. 344 Steve Clendenen22-t. 344 Chris Agee22-t. 343 Graham
Gerdeman23. 341 Phillip Casteel24. 340 Ken Oeser25. 338 Morton Massey26. 336
David Kirschke27. 335 Rick Waldrop28. 332 Michael Smith30-t. 331 Thomas
McNeil30-t. 331 Damien Simbeck31. 330 Jeffrey Schaarschmidt33-t. 328 John
O'Barr33-t. 328 Rick Shipkowski37-t. 327 Kevin Breault37-t. 327 Daniel
Redwine37-t. 327 Cyndi Routledge37-t. 327 Steve Routledge38. 326 Susan
McWhirter39. 323 Richard Preston42-t. 321 James Brooks42-t. 321 Paige O.42-t.
321 Stephen Zipperer44-t. 320 Joseph Hall44-t. 320 Rick Houlk45. 318 Andrew
Lydeard47-t. 316 Tommy Edwards47-t. 316 Bill Keeler48. 315 Scott Somershoe49.
312 Chuck Estes53-t. 308 Rob Harbin53-t. 308 Pamela Lasley53-t. 308 Justin
Nation53-t. 308 Joshua Stevenson55-t. 307 Steven Lasley55-t. 307 David
Trently56. 306 Mike O'Malley59-t. 305 Bruce Dralle59-t. 305 Gail King59-t. 305
Robin Nation61-t. 303 Bob Foehring61-t. 303 Stanley York Jr63-t. 302 Rack
Cross63-t. 302 Gary Brunvoll
II. TN Birders on State/Province Lists
Many TN birders are on the list for other states and provinces and with the
removal of the ABA thresholds for listing we get a better picture of TN birders
beyond TN. (It would be nice if ebird would reduce or eliminate the threshold
beyond the top 100 ebirders, but if ebirders will send me their totals from
states other than TN I will include them.) The following list includes TN
birders (and those strongly associated with TN birding, e.g., Damien Simbeck
and Scott Somershoe) by the number of 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 lists. And the state/province
abbreviations that are in parentheses are ones where the birder has achieved
50% of the state/province. Thus, for example, David Chaffin has reported lists
in 62 states/provinces, and is the leading TN birder in 11 states/provinces,
and in 9 of these has received at least 50%. This year, like last, I was able
to include ebird birders who are among the top 100 ebirders in
states/provinces. Finally, like last year the top TN birders in each
state/province are indicated by the number of birds identified in the
state/province (thus, SM-77 means that I have identified 77 birds in St. Pierre
& Miquelon--SM). This should give birders more incentive perhaps to get out and
bird beyond TN. For example, the lowest bird total for a TN birder who is first
in a state/province beyond TN is 46 in the Yukon Territory, Canada (YT). That
amount can surely be topped! Finally, TN birders have achieved the majority of
birds in 39 different states and provinces, a small increase from last year!
1-t. Kevin Breault (62 states/provinces), CT-188, DC-125, DE-224, ID-173,
(IL-283), MA-218, (MD-224), NH-192, NV-196, NY-212, OR-215, RI-164, (UT-230),
(VA-t-268), (VT-192), WI-178, WY-171, BC-187, (MB-199), NL-132, NS-171, ON-182,
PE-124, PQ-179, SK-202, SM-77.1-t. David Chaffin (62), (AK-298), (CA-385),
(IN-235), (KY-293), (ME-276), (MI-249), (OK-254), (SD-234), (WV-203), NB-183,
YT-46.4-t. Ron Hoff (60), AB-110.4-t. Dollyann Myers (60), HI-73.5. Rick
Waldrop (59), (GA-329), (MN-226), (ND-217), (VA-t-268).6. Ken Oeser.7. Gail and
Steve Clendenen (51), (AZ-416 for Gail).8. Scott Somershoe (45), (CO-389),
MT-218.9. Mike O"Malley (44).10. David Trently (40), (PA-248).11. Gail King
(38)13-t. Tommie Rogers (31), (FL-392), (IA-237), (KS-254), (MO-326), (NE-250),
WA-208.13-t. Michael Todd (31), (TN-389).14. Kevin Calhoon (29), (NM-300),
(OH-231), (SC-316).15. Francis Fekel (27), (NJ-275).16. Thomas McNeil (25).17.
Rick Shipkowski (24).18. Joshua Stevenson (20).20-t. John O'Barr (19).20-t.
Stephen Zipperer (19).21. Rick Houlk (18).22. Clyde Blum (8).24-t. Morton
Massey (7).24-t. Darrel Wilder (7).25-t. Jeff Wilson (6), (AR-336),
(MS-355).27-t. Mark Green (5).27-t. Rick Knight (5), (LA-325), (NC-397),
(TX-463).31-t. Rack Cross (3).31-t. Bob Foehring (3).31-t. Daniel Redwine
(3).31-t. Damien Simbeck (3), (AL-366).35-t. Richard Preston (2).35-t. Bill
Pulliam (2).35-t. Christopher Sloan (2).35-t. Michael Smith (2). III. All Time
Total Ticks (10,000+, with last reporting date)
As many of you know, the total ticks game is where you add up the number of
bird species you have identified in all states and provinces. So, if you saw a
Limpkin in TN and also saw one in MS that would be a total of two ticks. The
ABA allows birders to list their life total ticks and annual total ticks.
Because the ABA does not include birders who are no longer active, the All Time
Total Ticks list below includes those who have ever played the game and the
date of last reporting. Since birders have been staying close to home during
Covid, I have only listed those total tickers who have more than 10,000 birds.
This last year, as you can see, only three birders have been active on total
ticks.
1. 18,271 Paul Lehman, 20142. 15,760 Deuane Hoffman, 20073. 15,594 Kenneth
Ward, 20114. 14,911 Mike Resch, 20225. 13,599 Thomas Heatley, 20196. 13,142
Kevin Breault, 20227. 12,990 Jon Dunn, 20068. 12,737 Leif Anderson, 20229.
12,209 Cecil Kersting, 201110. 11,831 David Chaffin, 201911. 11,262 Richard
Rosche, 201112. 11,253 Jeffrey Sanders, 201513. 10,921 Stephen Dinsmore,
201014. 10,673 James Beard, 202015. 10,468 J. Pat Valentik, 201716. 10,177
Frank Bumgardner, 201517. 10,136 Robin Carter, 2007
Unfortunately, that's it for this Covid-abbreviated Vol. 17 of TBN. There is
reason to believe 2022 will be a better year but it is much too early to tell.
Personally, 2021 was a better year than the previous one (181 total ticks
compared to 9 in 2020), as among other things I had a nice trip out west. I
went to AZ, CO, NM, UT, and WY (more on those if anyone is interested), More
importantly, 2021 was my 50th year of birding. Long ago now it seems I began
birding at Woodstock Country School, a private secondary school in Vermont that
is now defunct. The school managed the second largest inland bird banding
operation in the country. I wanted to join initially only because the other
option was to clean out horse stalls. The school had a working farm and
students were required to do some physical as well as the usual academic work.
In the end, I got the bug and was able to run the station under the supervision
of one of the biology teachers who introduced me to birding, the science of
ornithology, and the pleasure of travel to birding locations in nearby areas,
including NH, NS, MA, ME, and other places in VT. I even co-published something
of a scientific paper in American Birds (breeding bird census), my very first
academic publication at the age of 17.
Well, it has been a great ride! Dozens of wonderful places to see, including
the occasional garbage dump (a total of 349 trips out of state)! I have 100
birds in 59 states/provinces (every state with the exception of HI--hope to get
there some year), 36 with 200 birds, and 5 with 300, also 712 life birds but
with my academic job I was never able to chase rare birds as much as I would
have liked--the reason why I got into total ticking in the first place.
Speaking of the day job, the most recent publication of my research group was
on disability, unemployment status and alcohol-related liver disease (ALD)--see
my university page. Covid has caused many people to increase their alcohol
consumption, and that in turn causes very high risk for ALD mortality among
people who are disabled or unemployed especially. Many birders are retired so
be careful about alcohol consumption. My only regret in birding is that there
are now only a few places left where I can see many new birds (AB, HI, NT, NU,
YT), and most of them are a long way away and you are not likely to see lots of
birds when you get there--there is a reason why the leading TN birder on the
Yukon list has seen only 46 birds). Having said that, my group has plans for
this year (the West again), but like 2020 we can only hope Covid will allow us
to go. Age has been the most significant factor in Covid. I am a long way from
13,500 total ticks, let alone14,000, but I will soldier on if I can.
As always, you can't list your ABA totals unless you are a member of the
American Birding Association. It is quite affordable, you get a great deal with
the magazine, a revised site for listing, and you help support the oldest
national birding association. Always be good to birds and generous to birders
of all stripes, totals and ranks! For more information on me you can see my
Wikipedia page and faculty page at MTSU (both recently updated but note the
Wiki people don't want much birding information).
Kevin BreaultBrentwood, TN
