Shady Valley / Mountain City CBC

The 11th consecutive Shady Valley_Mountain City Christmas Bird Count was held January 5, 2008.  It was rescheduled from the original Jan 1 date because of an inclement weather forecast.

This year many species broke many high record numbers and in some cases shattered their high record numbers.  A Loggerhead Shrike was seen on Orchard Road (in the Valley) which hasn't been previously seen on this count.   

ve completed the first count that starts the second decade of Shady Valley_Mountain City Counts, I thought appropriate to look back at the Shady Valley Count of 1962 (courtesy of the TOS archive of The Migrant).  In this one person Count (Fred W. Behrend) only 25 species and 217 individuals were seen.  It looks like the count was conducted mainly around the crossroads section of Shady Valley.  Here is the description:

"SHADY VALLEY - Area center at crossings of US 421 and State Highway 91.  Woodland 40% and field and pastures 60%.  Dec 19; 7:00am to 4:30pm.  Partly cloudy to cloudy, light SW wind.  Sprinkles at noon. Temp 28F to 42F.  Patches of old snow, particularly in woods.  Total hrs 9 1/2 (8 on foot, 1 1/2 by car); total miles 17 (5 on foot, 12 by car).  Red-shouldered Hawk, 1; Yellow-shafted Flicker, 1; Pileated Woodpecker, 3; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 4; Horned Lark , 2; Blue Jay, 4; Common Crow, 32; Carolina Chickadee, 6; Tufted Titmouse, 3; Brown Creeper, 2; Carolina Wren, 1; Mockingbird, 1; Robin, 22; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 2; Starling, 12; House Sparrow, 59; Meadowlark, 8; American Goldfinch, 13; Cardinal, 6; Red-winged Blackbird, 12; Rusty Blackbird, 3; Brown-headed Cowbird, 5; Slate-colored Junco, 6; Song Sparrow, 8.  Twenty-five Species, 217 individuals."

The numbers for Count Year 108 still mirror a lot of the birds seen in Shady Valley proper.  Most all individuals of the count in 1962 are still represented, save Horned Lark (which I tried for unsuccessfully but still could be there) and Brown-headed Cowbird.  If you look at only the numbers for Coffey and Carrico's party, they aren't all that different than above, except the area is covered more extensively. 

This years numbers total to 65 species (average species count for the past 10 years is 60.4) and the individual total is 4,470 (3,264.1 average).  The numbers are well above average which can be attributed to the record number of participants this year and to the improved weather conditions.  The winds were light (5-10mph) out of the north/ north west. 

The Allen's Hummingbird that was banded last fall had been found dead in the snow on January 3.  Apparently the massive cold front that moved through the area over the New Year Holiday was too much for the bird.  The little guy will go on the Count Week (we don't get too many count weeks for Shady Valley_Mountain City) and our sympathies go out to the family who gave the western visitor such great care.  Thank You!

The participants were Wallace Coffey, Roy Knispel, John Moyle, Chris O'Bryan, Charlie Parker, Rick Knight, Michele Sparks, Tom McNeil, Don Holt, Joe McGuinness, Kim Stroud, Ron Carrico, Richard Lewis, and Rob Biller.

The complete list follows (with footnotes) --

Referenced Audubon Count Years and their corresponding dates:

Count Year  98  1997-1998

Count Year  99  1998-1999

Count Year 100 1999-2000

Count Year 101 2000-2001

Count Year 102 2001-2002

Count Year 103 2002-2003

Count Year 104 2003-2004

Count Year 105 2004-2005

Count Year 106 2005-2006

Count Year 107 2006-2007

Count Year 108 2007-2008

 

HC = High Count

LC  = Low Count

TIE HC = tie High Count

AVE = Average

1.Canada Goose - 675 HC (AVE - 121.3 - old HC of 179 in count year 101)

 2.Wood Duck - 2 TIE HC(AVE 0.6 - 4th time on count)

 3.American Black Duck - 5 (AVE 3.2 - 7th time on count)

 4.Mallard - 59 (AVE 47.9)

 5.Hooded Merganser - 3 HC (AVE .3 - Third time on Count in count years 98, 100 and 107)

 6.Wild Turkey - 85 HC (AVE 18 - old HC of 51 in count year 106)

 7.Great Blue Heron - 4 (AVE 4.4 - no GBH in the Valley)

 8.Black Vulture 8 - (AVE 8.7 - Black Vultures only reported from Tom McNeil's Party)

 9.Turkey Vulture 2 - (AVE 14 - Turkey vultures only reported from Tom McNeil's Party)

10.Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 (AVE .8)

11.Cooper's Hawk - 2 (AVE 3.2)

12.Red-shouldered Hawk - 1 (AVE 1.7)

13.Red-tailed Hawk - 17 HC(AVE 7.7 - old HC of 14 in count year 106)

14.American Kestrel - 13 (AVE 8.4 - HC of 16 in count year 103)

15.Killdeer - 7 (AVE 9.3)

16.Wilson's Snipe - 5 HC (AVE 1.6 - old HC of 4 in count year 105)

17.Rock Pigeon - 16 (AVE 12.1)

18 Mourning Dove - 147 (AVE 183.6 - 4th lowest count year)

19.Eastern Screech Owl - 7 (AVE 5)

20 Great Horned Owl -1 (AVE .3 - 7th time on count)

21.Belted Kingfisher - 9 (AVE 7.8)

22.Red-bellied Woodpecker - 9 (AVE 6)

23.Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 8 HC (AVE 2.1 - old HC of 5 in count year 104)

24.Downy Woodpecker - 30 HC (AVE 13.3 - old HC of 24 in count year 100)

25.Hairy Woodpecker - 6 (AVE 4)

26.Northern Flicker - 7 (AVE 4.1)

27.Pileated Woodpecker - 16 (AVE 7.1 - HC 18 on count year 104)

28.Eastern Phoebe - 4 (AVE 6)

29.Loggerhead Shrike - 1 (1st time recorded on Count)

30.Blue Jay - 91 (AVE 40.9 - HC 94 on count year 105)

31.American Crow - 1003 (AVE 1010.5, HC 1672 count year 98)

32.Common Raven - 6 (AVE 5.1, HC 6 count year 104)

33.Carolina Chickadee - 91 (AVE 79.7)

34.Tufted Titmouse - 77 HC (AVE 41.5 - old HC of 75 on count year 105)

35.Red-breasted Nuthatch - 49 HC (AVE 6 - old HC of 37 on count year 105)

36.White-breasted Nuthatch - 33 (AVE 17.4)

37.Brown Creeper - 4 (AVE 1.9)

38.Carolina Wren - 50 (AVE 43.3)

39.Winter Wren - 4 (AVE 3.1 - HC 6 on count 106)

40.Golden-crowned Kinglet - 27 (AVE 26.6)

41.Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2 TIE HC (AVE .9 - 2 Ruby-crowns on count years 98 and 104)

42.Eastern Bluebird - 82 (AVE 65.5, HC 178 count year 105)

43.Hermit Thrush - 2 (AVE 3.5, ties LC on count years 98, 102, and 103 )

44.American Robin - 28 (AVE 31.9)

45.Northern Mockingbird - 36 HC (AVE 15.5 - old HC of 25 on count year 105)

46.European Starling - 643 (AVE 365.5, HC of 1026 on count year 98)

47.Cedar Waxwing - 2 (AVE 39, not present on count years 99 and 103)

48.Yellow-rumped Warbler - 19 HC (AVE 3.6 - old HC of13 on count year 104)

49.Eastern Towhee - 12 (AVE 9.4)

50.Chipping Sparrow - 1 (AVE 1.4 - Third time on count, previous count years 105 and 106)

51.Field Sparrow - 57 HC (AVE 15.6 - old HC of 45 on count year 107)

52.Savannah Sparrow - 1 (AVE 3.1, seventh year on count)

53.Fox Sparrow - 9 HC (AVE .3 - old HC of 1 on count  years 99, 100, 104; 4th time on count)

54.Song Sparrow - 266 HC (AVE 156.1 - old HC of 231 on count year 107)

55.Swamp Sparrow - 56 HC (AVE 14.4 - old HC of 36 on count year 101)

56.White-throated Sparrow - 55 (AVE 71 - second lowest on count, LC of 43 on count year 103)

57.White-crowned Sparrow - 75 (AVE- 33.7 - second highest on count, HC of 98 on count year 105)

58.Dark-eyed Junco - 178 (AVE 154.2)

59.Northern Cardinal - 112 HC (AVE 70.8 - old HC of 111 on count year 99)

60.Red-winged Blackbird - 5 (AVE 53.9, 9th year on count)

61.Eastern Meadowlark - 5 (AVE 14.3)

62.House Finch - 15 (AVE 33.2)

63. Pine Siskin - 15 (AVE 7.4. 4th year on count)

64.American Goldfinch - 93 (AVE 142.6, 4th lowest on count)

65.House Sparrow - 116 HC (AVE 39.9 - old HC of 68 on count year 106)

 
(note: the average number reflects the first 10 years of the count and may be multiplied by 10 to see the actual total for that species in the first 10 years.)

Seventeen species either broke or demolished their previous High Count and two species tied their high count.  The Allen's Hummingbird will be a count week bird.