Results of the First Annual Fall Bird Count in White County, Tennessee--25 September 2004
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| Common Moorhens are very seldom encountered in the Upper Cumberland Region, so the observation of one on the 2004 White County Fall Bird Count was noteworthy; this individual was photographed in Florida; photo SJS (6 January 2009). |
The first annual Fall Bird Count (FBC) in White County took place September 25, 2004, with 8 field observers taking part in this effort to monitor the bird populations in the county. These observers tallied about 5800 individuals of 113 species during the course of this day-long event.
Some public sites that were included in the coverage of the county undertaken last Saturday were the Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness and Rock Island State Park. Many miles of public roadsides were also covered by observers on count day.
Results of this count are not only compiled locally, but they are also incorporated into a state-wide database as a means of assisting land managers in making long-term decisions that might affect bird populations.
Some species of interest encountered during the day included Virginia Rail; Sora; Common Moorhen, a species rarely encountered in the Upper Cumberland Region; Marsh Wrens; Sedge Wrens with young (this species rarely breeds in Tennessee); and Bobolinks.
Two Loggerhead Shrikes were found during the count , a good sign that this predatory songbird is maintaining a population in the county. Clearing of hedgerows and roadsides has probably been a major factor in the decline of this species in many other areas.
Observers included Douglas Downs (compiler), Gregg Garrison, Nancy Layzer, Michael O'Rourke, John Owens, Barbara Stedman, Stephen Stedman, and Winston Walden.
| Party Leaders | WAW | BHS | SJS | GG |
Total |
| Party Members | MPO | DAD | |||
| JCO | NSL | ||||
| Number of Field Observers | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| Start CDT | 0630 | 0605 | 0430 | 1430 | 0430 |
| End CDT | 1800 | 1830 | 1600 | 2230 | 2230 |
| Total Daylight Hours in Field | 11.5 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 40.5 |
| Hours by Car | 9.5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 31.5 |
| Hours on Foot | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Total Daylight Miles in Field | 79.25 | 99 | 111.5 | 47 | 336.75 |
| Miles by Car | 77 | 98 | 110 | 42 | 327 |
| Miles on Foot | 2.25 | 1 | 1.5 | 5 | 9.75 |
| Owling Hours | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | 1.5 |
| Owling Miles | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 39 |
| Low Temperature (F) | 62 | ||||
| High Temperature (F) | 84 | ||||
| Sky A.M. | fog to clear | ||||
| Sky P.M. | partly cloudy | ||||
| Precipitation A.M. | none | ||||
| Precipitation P.M. | none | ||||
| Wind A.M. (mph) | 0-10 | ||||
| Wind P.M. (mph) | 0-10 | ||||
| Moon | first quarter | ||||
| Species | |||||
| Canada Goose | 97 | 3 | 186 | 7 | 293 |
| Wood Duck | 3 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 33 |
| Mallard | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Blue-winged Teal | 4 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 33 |
| Wild Turkey | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Northern Bobwhite | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pied-billed Grebe | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Great Blue Heron | 2 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 27 |
| Green Heron | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Black Vulture | 1 | 18 | 3 | 7 | 29 |
| Turkey Vulture | 32 | 9 | 17 | 0 | 58 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 11 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| American Kestrel | 6 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
| Virginia Rail | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sora | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Common Moorhen | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Killdeer | 21 | 33 | 35 | 2 | 91 |
| Spotted Sandpiper | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Solitary Sandpiper | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Greater Yellowlegs | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Least Sandpiper | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Wilson's Snipe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| American Woodcock | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Rock Pigeon | 26 | 3 | 29 | 0 | 58 |
| Mourning Dove | 59 | 87 | 14 | 3 | 163 |
| Eastern Screech-Owl | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Common Nighthawk | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Chimney Swift | 10 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 27 |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 16 | 28 | 6 | 1 | 51 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 2 | 18 | 9 | 0 | 29 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Northern Flicker | 5 | 25 | 7 | 0 | 37 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 4 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 20 |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee | 4 | 43 | 1 | 0 | 48 |
| Empidonax sp. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Eastern Phoebe | 4 | 62 | 6 | 0 | 72 |
| Great Crested Flycatcher | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Loggerhead Shrike | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| White-eyed Vireo | 2 | 38 | 5 | 0 | 45 |
| Yellow-throated Vireo | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| Blue-headed Vireo | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Philadelphia Vireo | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Blue Jay | 104 | 198 | 84 | 8 | 394 |
| American Crow | 99 | 145 | 38 | 6 | 288 |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Barn Swallow | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Carolina Chickadee | 12 | 95 | 30 | 0 | 137 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 9 | 110 | 17 | 5 | 141 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 9 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 20 |
| Carolina Wren | 31 | 75 | 23 | 0 | 129 |
| House Wren | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Sedge Wren | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Marsh Wren | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Eastern Bluebird | 19 | 120 | 13 | 37 | 189 |
| Gray-cheeked Thrush | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Swainson's Thrush | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Wood Thrush | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| American Robin | 2 | 70 | 15 | 0 | 87 |
| Gray Catbird | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 23 | 55 | 2 | 1 | 81 |
| Brown Thrasher | 0 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 20 |
| European Starling | 106 | 1670 | 125 | 0 | 1901 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Golden-winged Warbler | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nashville Warbler | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Northern Parula | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Chestnut-sided Warbler | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Magnolia Warbler | 2 | 27 | 13 | 0 | 42 |
| Black-throated Green Warb. | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Blackburnian Warbler | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Yellow-throated Warbler | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Pine Warbler | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| Prairie Warbler | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Palm Warbler | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Black-and-white Warbler | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| American Redstart | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Ovenbird | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 4 | 80 | 6 | 0 | 90 |
| Hooded Warbler | 0 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 13 |
| Summer Tanager | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Scarlet Tanager | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| Eastern Towhee | 3 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 16 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Field Sparrow | 5 | 6 | 20 | 0 | 31 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Song Sparrow | 3 | 45 | 3 | 0 | 51 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Northern Cardinal | 11 | 110 | 34 | 0 | 155 |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| Blue Grosbeak | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Indigo Bunting | 10 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 45 |
| Bobolink | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 13 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 186 | 76 | 0 | 0 | 262 |
| Eastern Meadowlark | 21 | 44 | 1 | 0 | 66 |
| Common Grackle | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 1 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 22 |
| Baltimore Oriole | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| House Finch | 2 | 55 | 1 | 0 | 58 |
| American Goldfinch | 4 | 20 | 15 | 0 | 39 |
| House Sparrow | 19 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 40 |
| Total Individuals | 1045 | 3665 | 965 | 104 | 5779 |
| Total Species | 68 | 89 | 76 | 16 | 113 |
Key to Observers:
| DAD | Douglas A. Downs, compiler |
| GG | Gregg Garrison |
| NSL | Nancy S. Layzer |
| MPO | Michael P. O'Rourke |
| JCO | John C. Owens |
| BHS | Barbara H. Stedman |
| SJS | Stephen J. Stedman |
| WAW | Winston A. Walden |
Comments:
The Virginia Rail was noted in the Heritage Marsh, a site where two observations of this species were made during July 2004.
The Sora was also found in the Heritage Marsh.
The Common Moorhen was observed in a pond near the intersection of Pollard Rd. and Will Thompson Rd.
Both yellowlegs, the Spotted Sandpiper, and the Least Sandpipers were noted at Boiling Pond.
The Wilson's Snipe was noted on Lizard Lane.
One shrike was found in the Heritage Marsh; the other on Bryan Gribble Rd.
Two of the three Sedge Wrens found in the Heritage Marsh were accompanied by a total of four young; breeding evidence of Sedge Wren in Tennessee is quite unusual.
One Marsh Wren was noted in the marshy edge of a pond in the Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness; the other was noted at the Randolph Pond on Walter Stone Rd.
Four Bobolinks were found in the Heritage Marsh; nine others were counted in the Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness.