[TN-Bird] There is a reason why they call it the Pitts
- From: kbreault <kbreault@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 7 May 2013 08:46:44 -0700 (PDT)
TN Birders:
A brief update on my life goal for 10,000 Total Ticks. I left the university on
the last day of class, May 1, heading for what turned out to be a snow storm
and
the end of my plans to bird in western KS, OK and eastern MO. I knew that I
could get my 10K Total Ticks at the Pitts, but given that this was a total
ticking trip and I had limited time, I wondered if I should spend valuable time
adding at most a few birds at the Pitts when I could add considerably more in
AR? I had set aside the month of April to get my 10K Total Tick in TN but I had
little luck because of work responsibilities. Still, I had not been to the
Pitts
for several years, and if I couldn't go there for my 10K when would I go? And
so
I went and saw the numerous Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, my 10,000 Total
Tick.
The bird was also my 290 TN bird and the 5th state for the bird--I keep track
of birds I have seen in five or more states/provinces (now 392). Among the
other
birds I saw the only one not noted in recent lists was an adult Common Tern.
But the smell and pollution! Of course, I had birded in places just as bad.
Areas south of Chicago, Gary, IN, and a pulp mill in central Maine (the most
malodorous) immediately come to mind, but these are not places I would ever
entertain visiting again. How could Jeff have put up with it day after day for
more than a quarter century? As a social epidemiologist I can't believe people
living or working near the Pitts/TVA plant do not have elevated risks for
several serious illnesses, e.g., asthma, emphysema, COPD, cancer and heart
disease. Frankly, I would not recommend prolonged exposure to this area. Of
special concern would be children, the elderly, people with compromised immune
systems, those with risk factors for the above diseases, and people who smoke.
I'll go back to the area of the Pitts (among other birds I still need Least
Tern
and W. Kingbird for TN), but I'll be asking myself again why I ever undertook
this curious hobby!
Kevin Breault
Brentwood, TN
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