BBC Snippets

Link: http://www.freelists.org/archives/bristol-birds/03-2008/msg00004.html

Bristol Bird Club members enjoyed the best weather you could imagine and a fabulous canoe/birding trip on the Clinch River in Russell County, Saturday, June 15, 2002. It was the highlight of a weekend that began on Friday and ended on Sunday.

Excitement was in the air when birders began arriving at The Nature Conservancy's famous Rikemo Lodge in Scott County. It is a beautiful hunting lodge built in 1969 by the former Clinchfield Railroad which used it to entertain their clients.

Luggage and packs and were carried in, boxes of food loaded to the kitchen, nine canoes ready on a trailer and a truck.

The rustic facility, is perched atop Copper Ridge amidst trees and peaceful views, 600 feet above the river. It provided an excellent base for exploring Southwestern Virginia's natural treasures.

It was located near Dungannon, as part of Gray's Island Preserve, which protects one of the most significant habitats for globally rare freshwater mussels.

Janice Martin had a new and excellent handout of the 2002 BBC Membership List, hot off the press.

Birders pulled up chairs around the long dinning tables and spent a leisurely evening chatting and having dinner together. Others lingered late into the evening in the comfortable chairs and on the couches around the 20-foot-long giant, stone fireplace.

Saturday morning found members in the kitchen getting their breakfasts ready and dressed for the much-anticipated down river birding. Don Holt had butterflies in his stomach.

Sprits were high and expectations created considerable excitement. The gang was soon car pooled to Cleveland where the canoes were launched.

Ron Lapp, and his niece who flew in from Ohio for the trip, pushed off in his personal canoe. The group was headed up by Braven Beaty of The Nature Conservancy and Janice Martin. Wallace Coffey and Carolyn Coffey followed the lead with Ed Talbott and Michelle Talbott in the next boat and Dave Worley and Diana Worley in that order. Larry McDaniel and Don Holt made up still another team and their boat followed by Mary Erwin and John Hay. Judy Musick road on board with Mary Evans and Mike Evans while Tom Horsch and Jil Riendeau paddled last to sweep along for boats that may needed assistance.

The nearly seven-mile trip took about half the day as the BBC journeyed into one of North America's most sensitive and valued biodiversity hotspots as recognized by The Nature Conservancy.

The spirited group of BBC river runners and their guests ate bagged lunches on the river bank before finally pulling in at Carterton where the boats were taken out, racked on a truck and trailer and hauled back to Rikemo.

Back at the cozy, rustic, surroundings of the former hunting lodge of hand-hewn logs with beautiful pegged floors, returning parties found Bob Quillen, Rose Lapp and June Fulbright enjoying birding in the 100-acre preserve.

 The lodging, boats and weekend were free to BBC if the club would make a trip list of birds seen and heard available to The Nature Conservancy.

Later, many gathered on the big porch with rockers while others took turns catching an afternoon nap and warm showers in their private rooms.

The lazy afternoon awoke to chips and fruits and all kinds of dips and spreads and great appetizers provided by Jil Riendeau. In early evening, dinner was on big time as birders again gathered in the great hall for Jil's catered dinner and dessert. No one wanted to leave the tables. Everyone just visited and lingered and soaked it all in. We even learned a lot about family histories and Confederate history.

They were still raving over the dinner when several birders got tangled up calling in Screech-Owls to the back porch. Even though there was an owl flying all around the building, a small group in the front yard was whistling the owl call while there were others birders calling from the back porch. The owl was not only interested but somewhat confused. Neither group knew the others were out calling and each thought the other was the owl. So they called back and forth to each other and took pride in their owl calling success. The real owl did not call but flew from front to back several times :-)

Some went on a successful after-dark birding exploration to find the Chuck-wills-widow and Don Holt surprised a woodcock. Others stayed up late talking about plans for future trips which the club could take and others turned in early for a good night in the big handmade four- poster beds.

There were so many extra birders joining the trip that BBC extended the limits and allowed some to bring their sleeping bags and sleep by the big fireplace in the lodge hall.

Most had early breakfast on Sunday and a few slept in for an extra hour or two.

Everyone thought it was a tremendous weekend and had dreams of more -- even Janice Martin who was drying out her underwear from getting a big spill in the river at the first rapids. :-0 Never grab limbs from a canoe, Janice :-( You were told that before you picked up a paddle :-)

from the archives of the Bristol Bird Club

Link: http://www.freelists.org/archives/bristol-birds/01-2008/msg00097.html

One Great Eared Grebe Moment...

Oct 2, 1994. The rarest bird ever found on a Bristol Bird Club field trip over the club's nearly 60 years of history showed up at the end of a float boat birding trip held at South Holston Lake on the first Sunday of October 1994.

A light sprinkle of rain had begun to fall late in the afternoon with dark clouds diminishing prospects of good birding and discouraging a fun trip. Several birders went on to Friendship Marina not far off U.S. 421. It would not hurt to at least show up and see if the trip had been canceled. After all, BBC member Lloyd Jones had gone to a lot of trouble to ask his brother Jay Jones to make available his float boat and get everything ready for the club. Six birders, including Lloyd Jones, who is not shown above because he was taking the photo, surprised one another by their persistence. The trip was declared a go.

It was fun being together. Another BBC field trip was underway. Rain had not chased the hardy little party home. The sprinkle stopped and birders pushed on up the impoundment north of US 421 bridge, beyond Observation Knob Park, and into Spring Creek not far from Musick's Lakeshore Campground.

Nothing worth writing home about was seen as the boat turned back near the Spring Creek Bridge and Va. Rt. 75.

Reaching the main channel, the boat crossed into Tennessee waters and started its return trip. Suddenly a grebe was seen. Everyone knew instantly it was very different than anything expected. For that matter, different than anything seen on South Holston Lake.

Lloyd Jones was the first to call out Eared Grebe. Of course field guides were out so everyone could get a satisfying comparison. All the birders knew this was really special. It was an excellent bird. None of them had seen one in this region of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

There was one previous record from almost 20 years prior. Dr. Fred Alsop had found a single bird at Patrick Henry Lake in Sullivan Co., April 3, 1977.

There was much excitement among the South Holston group. Everyone knew it was a great, great bird. No one knew how significant this find would turnout.

The motor was shutoff and the birders poised for their historical photo. No one would want to forget this fun find, this great grebe, this magic moment!

Birders far and wide were surprised. It was immediately broadcast over the "Voice of the Naturalist" Rare Bird Alert (RBA) sponsored by the Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States to birders in Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C. and Delaware. State internet bird lists were not operating in Tennessee or Virginia at that time. We had nothing like Bristol Birds Net. The Wood Thrush Shop at Nashville, TN soon had it up and running on the Tennessee RBA phone recording.

To access such information, birders telephoned long distance to the RBAs and waited until they could get past the busy signal as birders dialed and dialed to get the latest rare bird reports. It was thrilling to hear the South Holston Lake Eared Grebe report coming over the phone with such fanfare.

Birders gathered around the tape player at the very next meeting of the Bristol Bird Club to enjoy hearing the reports being played back from tapes made from the phone. We knew birders from all over were focused on what we had found. The tape recording is in the BBC archives.

All grew quiet on the Eared Grebe scene. But not for long. An almost unbelievable event awaited us just months away.

BBC member Mary Jane Erwin of Kingsport and her friend Gerald Johnson of Birmingham saw another Eared Grebe at the same location one year to the date of the first on Oct. 2, 1995. They did not know the can of worms they were opening. We were all astonished. How amazing was this ? What did this mean ?

Birders swarmed over the area. Five days later Rob Biller and Larry McDaniel found EIGHT there on Oct 7. That was a state record high count ! The next day Judy Musick of Marion, VA and McDaniel discovered the birds in Washington County, VA waters.

Karen Quesenbery, Ramsey White, Ron Carrico, Marty Hubber, Jo Anne Detta, Rick Knight, Frank Ward, Gary Wallace, Larry Routledge, James Brooks and Audrey Hoff of Knoxville were soon among the those flocking to get a look or get a new state bird or new life bird.

In November, the Eared Grebes were still being found and birders were now making trips in from several neighboring states. On the 12th there had been a record NINE found. On that day Bonita Frazier, Mark Frazier, Louise Tilson, Coffey, David Trently of Knoxville, Mark Churchill of Athens, GA, Andy Jones, Carrico and Biller were there to establish the record.

The Washington DC based Voice of the Naturalist was now suggesting that the species would winter there. Local birders were pondering if it would be possible to get an Eared Grebe on the Bristol Christmas Bird Count.

Hmmmm ?

It happened a month later on Dec. 28 with 6 Eared Grebes on the count. Spirits were high ! They were there again this year when Rick Knight saw three on the 2007 count. The grebes have been seen on six of the CBCs since then with the high count being 10 birds in 2005.

But wait ! There's more !

The maximum count at South Holston is 21 Eared Grebes seen Oct 9,1996 at Musick's Campground by Rob Biller, Ron Carrico, Wallace Coffey and Larry McDaniel. That is a state record high count for the species in both Tennessee and Virginia.

Coffey and Chris O'Bryan found two bird 31 Aug 2004 at Musick's Campground, representing the earliest fall record. McDaniel and Coffey saw a bird in full breeding plumage at South Holston in May.

Eared Grebes have awaited birders at Musick's Campground every year for 14 consecutive winters since 1994. How long does this continue ?

Archives of the Bristol Bird Club.

Link: http://www.freelists.org/archives/bristol-birds/01-2008/msg00091.html

Feb. 23, 1991. BBC President Ken Hale planned and provided leadership for the club's first annual winter Golden Eagle field trip to Burke's Garden. Such caravans of birders going there from bird clubs were scare if nonexistent 20 years ago. He guided the trips for years.

BBC birders were well aware of the large numbers of Golden Eagles wintering throughout the Clinch Mountain range of Russell and Tazewell counties in Southwest Virginia.

Lilly's Trading Post in Washington County at the intersection of Rich Valley Rd. (Va. Rt. 700) and US 19 had a mounted Golden Eagle displayed above the store shelves when we were there Oct. 22, 1964. Harry Jessee, an employee, told Wallace Coffey that in the 1930's he had trapped 12 to 15 of the birds in the area of Elk Garden in Russell County. At that time he lived in Lebanon. Harry's father was at the store that day and said the bird on display had come from Elk Garden.

Ken Hale had much experience with Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles along Clinch Mountain, and Burke's Garden. He wrote many field notes about his observations and, on one occasion with Rick Phillips, they watched a Golden Eagle in almost free fall into the road at Tumbling Creek to kill a Groundhog. With a spotting scope, they watched it enjoy a leisurely meal.

Ken was a wildlife management graduate from Tennessee Tech University and the wildlife manager area supervisor at Tumbling Creek and Laurel Bed Lake. He had banded a Golden Eagle in the area. Coffey had banded one at Roan Mountain, NC. Golden Eagles were high on the watch list.

The BBC had carefully compiled and compared results of eight Christmas counts across the region. It had not escaped BBC that Sarah Cromer and the Clinch Valley Bird Club at Tazewell had reported one or two Golden Eagles nearly every year for at least six years during the period 1983-1989. Sarah told us they were mostly coming from Burke's Garden as were the Rough-legged Hawks. They had seen Golden Eagles there for years.


Early on BBC carefully mapped all of the sites various species were frequenting in the valley.

From the early mapping efforts two of the most exciting finds during those years turned out to be owls. Dr. Fred Alsop spotted a Short-eared Owl near the Gose Mill pond on March 10, 1991. The BBC plucked a dead Long-eared Owl from a fence, Jan. 27, 1996. Ken Hale retrieved that bird and was determined to be an after the hatching year male. A careful search of that vicinity along Back Road for another bird at a roost site never found another Long-eared.

On Saturday morning, Feb. 23, 1991, BBC set out for what would be two decades of annual winter pilgrimages to Burke's Garden. That first trip stopped at Abingdon and Hansonville to meet other birders who wanted to join in. In the next few years, birders came from across Tennessee and Virginia and from neighboring North Carolina to join the search for eagles.

Over the following years, bird clubs from the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Southwest Virginia and Tennessee made trips there with their clubs to see the eagles. A group from Knoxville had planned a visit for late this month.

Of all the great memories of birding in Burke's Garden, came on one great day when many birders were standing in the middle of Back Road not far from the rock walled cemetery. Suddenly, someone shouted look coming here. Straight down the road from about a hundred yards away, there were three big raptors flying right at us. They were not more than 50 to a hundred feet above the road. They kept coming straight on. One Bald Eagle, one Golden Eagle, one Rough-legged Hawk -- all flying in formation side by side at the same height and right at us. Without a cue, all of the birders let down their binoculars and began to cheer as they floated right above us, passing light three fighters planes flying over the Super Bowl. the birders began to cheer and whistle and then a nice round of applause as they drifted beyond.

Ann and Grady McRae were there from the Bibbee Nature Club at Bluefield, WVA. Birders didn't forgot the look on their faces at the great showing of enthusiasm. They had never seen birders behave like that. Few have since.

On Feb. 16 the Bristol Bird Club goes again for its 18th consecutive winter Golden Eagle and Rough-legged Hawk trip to Burke's Garden. Everyone is invited to join in. You always have been !

From the archives of the Bristol Bird Club.