Tennessee Birders by the Numbers: 2022 (Vol. 18)
Welcome to the Tennessee Birders by the Numbers (TBN) reportfor 2022. As usual,
this report will include data after Vol. 17 up until thepresent time (thus
totals from the beginning of 2023). Fortunately for birdersin the U.S. and
Canada, 2022 was one of greater travel as Covid numberscontinued to go down.
For these reasons this report will include some birdingcategories previous
covered in TBN reports prior to Covid. TBN is based on lists provided by the
American Birding Association and ebird. If you are having issues submitting
your numbers, you are welcome to send to me.
The year was an exceptional one for TN birders. Even in thelast few months
birders saw Brown Booby, Ferruginous Hawk, Lark Bunting,Red-necked Grebe, and
Townsend’s Solitaire. There is a saying that if you livelong enough most of the
birds will come to you. This appears to have somesupport as birders in TN can
in time expect to easily see 300 birds. Still, the mostspectacular bird in our
area recently was located in November by our neighborsto the north who found a
Pink-footed Goose, a code 4 bird, in Shelbyville, KY,a short trip east of
Louisville. (I am told the bird is still being seen in agroup of Canada Geese.)
Other KY birds of note this year included Limpkin (abird also seen in TN in
2021 and several other states recently) and AmericanOystercatcher.
Unfortunately, we are not finished with Covid and the numbersfor the U.S. until
the end of 2022 were dreadful: 1,090,200 deaths and 100.4million infected (a
case fatality of about 1%; last year we were at 883,000 deadand 74 million
infected). As noted last year, this official result will likelybe updated given
significant undercounting. For those interested, so far TN ranks12 among all
states in the number of deaths and infections, but 5 as arate (per 100,000) in
deaths and 8 for infections. AZ and MS tied for first inrate of mortality, and
RI was first in rate of morbidity. The top ten states indeaths were 1. AZ & MS,
3. OK, 4. WV, 5. AL, 6. AR, 7. NM, 8. TN, 9. MI, and 10. NJ. The science is
stillearly, but it seems the specific order of the state death rankings
includedifferential exposure and underlying conditions by race, ethnicity,
andoccupation (e.g., essential workers affected most); the time of exposure
(earlyin the pandemic generally was worse); and inaccurate government and
politicalinformation. Some experts suggest 400,000 deaths could have been
prevented ifscience had been appropriately privileged. The general thinking now
is Covid ishere to stay with yearly infections as with the flu, so getting
boosters whenavailable, using masks when around others who might be infected,
and reducingthe chances for exposure (including limiting travel) is still the
best way togo. As with most infections, the very young, old, and chronically
ill are themost vulnerable, so use that non-partisan common sense for whom
Americans arejustly celebrated. Science, after all, is when we rigorously apply
common senseover a long period of observation and investigation.
This TBN report will include the TN List; TN Birders onStates/Provinces List;
the All-Time Total Ticks list; the ABA Continental listcombined with the ABA
Area list and the ebird U.S. list; the ABA World list;and the ABA Canada list.
I. TN List (top 68--300 species)
As in previous years, I combined the ebird list with the ABAlist. Since some
birders use ebird exclusively, and some use the ABA, thefollowing list is as
good as can be produced currently. When there weredifferences between the two,
the highest totals were used. TN birders shouldcontinue to make changes to
insure both lists are consistent if possible. Letme know if there are any
mistakes on either the ABA or ebird lists and checkthe spelling of your names.
The ABA and ebird lists were last accessed on 1/29/23.
We now have 68 birders with 300 TN birds, up from 63 lastyear, and an increase
of 9 birders, and 14 since 2020! Covid has been good to TNbirders! Our leader
on theTN list, Michael Todd, added four more birds in 2022, a fantastic
increase atthis high level! Finally, congratulations to Abra Osario, Mac
McWhirter, EricBodker, AC Hassall, and Jerry Webb for joining the 300 club!
1. 393 Michael Todd2. 390 Mark Greene3. 388 Jeff Wilson4. 375 Tommie Rogers5.
369 Daniel Jacobson
7-t. 368 Ruben Stoll7-t. 368 Kevin Calhoun12-t. 364 Gail Clendenen12-t. 364
Steve Clendenen12-t. 364 Ron Hoff12-t. 364 Dollyann Myers12-t. 364 Victor
Stoll13. 363 Chistopher Sloan16-t. 360 Clyde Blum16-t. 360 David Chaffin16-t.
360 Alan Troyer18-t. 357 Francis Fekel
18-t. 357 terri witt19. 354 Beth Schilling20. 351. Rick Knight21. 350 Graham
Gerdeman22. 349 Chris Agee23. 346 Ken Oeser25-t. 341 Morton Massey25-t. 341
Phillip Casteel26. 339 Michael Smith
27. 337 Jeffrey Schaarschmidt29-t. 335 David Kirschke29-t. 335 Rick
Waldrop31-t. 333 Thomas McNeil31-t. 333 Damien Simbeck34-t. 333 Cyndi Routledge
34-t. 333 Steve Routledge34-t. 332 Susan McWhirter36-t. 331 Daniel Redwine
36-t. 331 Rick Shipkowski38-t. 330 Tommy Edwards38-t. 330 Paige 0.40-t. 329
Kevin Breault40-t. 329 John O'Barr
41. 324 Joseph Hall42. 321 Stephen Zipperer44-t. 320 Chuck Estes
44-t. 320 Richard Preston47-t. 318 James Brooks47-t. 318 Rick Houlk
47-t. 318 Andrew Lydeard49-t. 317 Bill Keeler
49-t. 317 Justin Nation50. 316 Steven Lasley52-t. 316 Robin Nation
52-t. 315 Scott Somershoe54-t.313 Rob Harbin54-t. 313 Pamela Lasley55. 312 Abra
Osario
56. 311 Joshua Stevenson
57. 309 Mike O’Malley58. 307 David Trently61-t. 306 Bruce Dralle
61-t. 306 Gail King61-t. 306 Mac McWhirter
64-t. 305 Bob Foehring64-t. 305 Stanley York Jr.64-t. 305 Gary Brunvoll65. 303
AC Hassall67-t. 302 Eric Bodker67-t. 302 Jerry Webb68. 301 Rack Cross
II. TN Birders on State/Province Lists
Many TN birders are nationally and internationally active in the hobby and are
on the lists for other states and provinces in the U.S. and Canada.Again, it
would be nice if ebird would increase the threshold beyond the top100 ebirders
for states/provinces, however this year I was able to access TN ebirdersin the
top 100 who have totals in other states/provinces and who have takenthe option
of sharing their numbers. Thus, going forward if you would liketo be reported
correctly in this report please take that option.
The following list includes TN birders (and those associatedwith TN birding,
e.g., Damien Simbeck and Scott Somershoe) by the number of states/provinces in
which they reported lists. The list is limited to TN birders who have at least
300 birds in TN. Included in the list are the state/province abbreviations for
those TN birders who arefirst among TN birders on these lists. And the
state/province abbreviationsthat are in parentheses are ones where the birder
has achieved 50% of thestate/province. Thus, for example, I along with David
Chaffin have reportedlists in 62 states/provinces, and David is the leading TN
birder in 11 states/provinces,and in 9 of these has received at least 50%.
Finally, like last year the top TNbirder in each state/province is indicated by
the number of birds identified inthe state/province (thus, SM-77 means I have
identified 77 birds in St. Pierre& Miquelon—SM). This year, TN birders have
achieved the majority of birdsin 40 different states and provinces (62%)! I
would think no other state orprovince has a higher percentage. Also, TN birders
have lists in 63 of the 65listing areas. The only exceptions are the Canadian
provinces of NorthwestTerritories and Nunavut. (Time for a trip!) Note some
high 200 and 300 lists for: Kevin Breault(IL), Kevin Calhoon (NM, SC), David
Chaffin (AK, CA, KY, ME), Francis Fekel(NJ), Rick Knight (LA, NC, TX), Tommie
Rogers (FL, MO), Damien Simbeck (AL), ScottSomershoe (CO), Rick Waldrop (GA),
and Jeff Wilson (AR, MS).
1-t. Kevin Breault (62/65 states/provinces), CT-188, DC-125,(DE-224), ID-173,
(IL-285), MA-218, (MD-224), (MN-251), NH-192, NV-215, NY-212,OR-215, RI-164,
(UT-230), (VA-269), (VT-192), (WI-221), 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-46.3-t. Ron Hoff (60), AB-1103-t. Dollyann Myers (60)5.
Rick Waldrop (59), (GA-329), (ND-217)6. Ken Oeser (53), HI-1018-t. Ruben Stoll
(52), WA-2288-t. Victor Stoll (52)10-t. Gail Clendenen (51), (AZ-416)10-t.
Steve Clendenen (51)11. Bill Pulliam (49)14-t. Bob Foehring (45)14-t. Morton
Massey (45)14-t. Scott Somershoe (45), (CO-389), (MT-218)15. Mike O’Malley
(44)16. Alan Troyer (43)17. Gail King (42)19-t. Joseph Hall (40)19-t. David
Trently (40), (PA-248)20. Michael Todd (39), (TN-393)21. Jerry Webb (36)22.
Graham Gerdeman (35)25-t. Paige O. (34)
25-t. Cyndi Routledge (34)25-t. Steve Routledge (34)26. Chris Agee (32)27.
Tommie Rogers (31), (FL-393), (IA-236), (KS-254), (MO-327),(NE-250)28. Gary
Brunvoll (30)29. Kevin Calhoun (29), (NM-300), (OH-231), (SC-316)
30. Francis Fekel (28), (NJ-275)31. Damien Simbeck (27), (AL-366)32. Joshua
Stevenson (26)34-t. Thomas McNeil (25)
34-t. Michael Smith (25)35. Rick Shipkowski (24)37-t. Steven Lasley (21)37-t.
Mac McWhirter (21)40-t. Rack Cross (20)40-t. John O’Barr (20)40-t. Rick Houlk
(20)41. Stephen Zipperer (19)43-t. Jeffrey Schaarschmidt (18)43-t. Christopher
Smith (18)45-t. Mark Green (15)45-t. Stanley York (15)48-t. Phillip Casteel
(14)48-t. Tommy Edwards (14)48-t. Bill Keeler (14)49. Eric Bodker (13)51-t.
Abra Osorio (11)51-t. Richard Preston (11)52. Daniel Redwine (10)54-t. Clyde
Blum (8)54-t. AC Hassal (8)55. Justin Nation (7)56. Jeff Wilson (6), (AR-336),
(MS-355)57. Rick Knight (5), (LA-325), (NC-397), (TX-463)58. terri witt (2)
III. All-Time Total Ticks (10,000+ with last reporting date)
As many of you know, the total ticks game is where you addup the number of bird
species you have identified in all states and provinces(not, of course, birds
beyond the ABA area). So, if you saw a Limpkin in TN andalso one in KY that
would be a total of two ticks. The ABA allows birders tolist their life total
ticks and annual total ticks. Because the ABA does notinclude birders who are
no longer active, the All-Time Total Ticks list belowincludes those who have
ever played the game and the date of last reporting. Thisyear I have added some
very high lists (at least those of 370 birds) of recenttotal tickers. Welcome
Bernard Morris to the 10,000 club! Finally, other TNbirders doing Total Ticks:
Dollyann Myers (9,003), Rick Waldrop (8,520),Ken Oeser (8,302), Gail Clendenen
(5,291), Steve Clendenen (5,289), DavidTrently (5,202), Scott Somershoe
(5,155), Mike O’Malley (3,881), Michael Todd(3,839), Richard Shipkowski
(3,245), Steven Zipperer (1,408), John O’Barr(1,213). Total Ticks and many
other lists are not available onebird.
1. 18,271 Paul Lehman, 20142. 15,760 Deuane Hoffman, 20073. 15,594 Kenneth
Ward, 20114. 15,004 Michael Resch, 2022, (397-CA), (415-MA),
(370-NH),(450-TX)5. 13,599 Thomas Heatley, 2019, (379-CA), (395-MI), (451-TX)6.
13,440 Kevin Breault, 2023, (440-TX)7. 13,296 Leif Anderson, 2023, (377-CA),
(451-TX)8. 12,990 Jon Dunn, 20069. 12,209 Cecil Kersting, 201110. 11,831 David
Chaffin, 2019, (385-CA), (409-TX)11. 11,262 Richard Rosche, 201112. 11,253
Jeffrey Sanders, 201513. 10,921 Stephen Dinsmore, 201014. 10,852 James Beard,
202315. 10,468 J. Pat Valentik, 201716. 10,177 Frank Bumgardner, 201517. 10,136
Robin Carter, 200718. 10,023 Bernard Morris, 2023
IV. ABA Continental List, ABA Area List, and ebird U.S. List
The ABA Continental list is birds seen without the additionof Hawaii, while the
ABA Area list includes Hawaii. Unless otherwiseindicated the totals here are
for the Continental list. Rather than provide theentire list (many hundreds of
birders), I have only included TN birders, those who have at least 300 birds in
TN. For birderswho list on both the Continental and Area list, I have included
the Area listbecause it is typically a higher total (the top TN birder for HI,
Ken Oeser,has 101 birds). Ebird does not extend beyond the top 100 birders in
the U.S.region. Going forward, ebirders not on the top 100 U.S. list would need
to reporton either the ABA Continental or Area list. And note that the lowest
birder onthe ebird top 100 U.S. list has a very high 799 birds.
So, the first name on the list is Ruben Stoll and he has arank of 6 on the
ebird U.S. list. The leader on both the Continental and ABAArea list is Macklin
Smith with 1,000 on the Area list and 944 on theContinental list, and Bruce
Barrett is the leader on the ebird top 100 U.S.list with 942. Of course, unlike
the Continental and ABA Area list, the U.S.ebird list does not cover Canada,
however very few TN birders have birds inCanada that they do not also have in
the U.S.
1. 893 Ruben Stoll (ebird)2. 889 Victor Stoll (ebird)3. 881 Benton Basham4. 846
David Chaffin (Area)5. 836 Kevin Calhoun (Area)6. 812 Dollyann Myers7. 805 Ken
Oeser (ebird)8. 787 Michael Todd (Area)9. 783 Tommie Rogers11-t. 773 Gail and
Steve Clendenen11-t. 773 Rick Waldrop (Area)12. 740 Clyde Blum13. 734 Ronald
Hoff14. 722 Kevin Breault16-t. 721 Rick Knight16-t. 721 terri witt17. 703
Richard Shipkowski (Area)18. 674 Mike O’Malley (Area)19. 634 Graham Gerdeman
(Area)20. 632 David Trently21. 625 Gail King (Area)22. 618 Rob Foehring
(Area)23. 617 Scott Somershoe (Area)24. 615 Francis Fekel25. 613 Gary Brunvoll
(Area)26. 559 Thomas McNeil27. 410 Stephen Zipperer28. 373 John O’Barr
V. ABA World List
To me, the World list is the most important one in the birding game, although
my day job has kept me from competing. Thereare no TN birders who reported on
the ebird top 100 World list. The leader inthe World is Claes-Goran Cederlund
with 9,761, followed by Peter Kaestner with 9,729 birds (these numbers provided
by Surfbirds). As in the previous list above, theWorld list only includes TN
birders. Top 100 ranks on the ABA World list areindicated.
1. 8,734 Dollyann Myers (rank 6)2. 8,692 Ronald Hoff (7)3. 6,516 terry witt
(58)4. 5,600 Rick Waldrop (93)5. 4,454 Chris Sloan6. 4,112 Gary Brunvoll7.
3,792 Michael Todd8. 3,605 Kevin Calhoon9. 3,005 David Chaffin10. 2,631 Gail
King11. 1,723 Clyde Blum12. 1,666 David Trently13. 1,341 Ken Oeser14. 1,264
Mike O’Malley
VI. ABA Canada List
There are no TN birders on the ebird top 100 Canadalist, and the following is
based on the ABA Canada list and only includes TN birders.The leader on the ABA
and ebird Canada lists is Roger Foxall with 553 birds.Canada is a great place
to bird. Some of my best birding experiences werethere. Give it a try! And if
you missed the Pink-footed Goose in KY, maritimeCanada is the best place to
look.
1. 347 Kevin Breault2. 331 David Chaffin3. 304 Rick Waldrop4. 276 Dollyann
Myers5. 267 Ronald Hoff6. 145 Kevin Calhoun7. 134 Mike O’Malley8. 105 David
Trently
That’s it for this 18th version of the TBN. Thanksto all those who updated
their totals or sent me the results. I appreciate it evenmore as I age!
Personally, 2022 was my best year since 2019, with a long tripto southern CA
and AZ. Several life birds too including California Condor. Thecondors were a
surprise—fairly easy to see at the Grand Canyon and never havingseen a video of
their flight before, the flat flying characteristics werestriking. Overall, our
group visited 12 states this year. I’m still at 59states/provinces with 100
birds or more, 40 with 200, and 5 with 300, but now722 life birds, and only
seven more code 2 birds in CA to go. Of course, in terms of my main birding
game, one important total tickingmeasure is reaching 50% of birds in
states/provinces, and I now have 29. I failedin my mini goal of 13,500, but
only by ten ticks. I should easily get there in2023, perhaps 14,000 in 2025.
I’m getting old, but at least I can hope!
You can’t list your ABA totals unless you are a memberof the American Birding
Association. It is quite affordable, and you get agreat deal with the magazine,
a revised site for listing, and you help supportthe oldest national birding
association. You may have heard about thebeetlemania craze in the early part of
the 19th century. Based onillustrated books by William Kirby, George Samouelle,
William Spence, and JamesStephens, thousands of people began to collect and
list the insects. CharlesDarwin and his cousin William Fox were major listers
identifying many hundredsof beetle species when they were at Christ College,
Cambridge University. Today it seems relatively few non-scientists are fans of
these creatures. By supporting the ABA you help keep ourbirding hobby alive.
Always be good to birds and generous to birders of allstripes, totals and
ranks! And be good to yourself and loved ones. Don’t letyour interest in birds
be an irresponsible one or cause you to assumeopportunity costs that are in
time unsustainable. For more information on meyou can see my Wikipedia page and
faculty page at MTSU (both somewhat outdated sinceI have additional
publications during Covid, and note the Wiki people don’t acceptmuch birding
information).
Kevin BreaultBrentwood, TN
