Results of the Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Christmas BirdBlitz—29 December 2008
The first Christmas BirdBlitz (CBB) in the Region was conducted in Bledsoe County 29 December 2008. It was also the first winter count of any sort in that county. There are no plans to continue this count in future years, thus its being referred to as a birdblitz rather than a bird count. It was conducted on a one-time basis to collect some early winter data from a county where such data have not been collected in the past (or at least not made publicly available, if collected).
The topography of Bledsoe County is unique in the Upper Cumberland Region, being composed partly of land lying on the Cumberland Plateau at elevations of 1800-2000 ft and partly of land lying in the Sequatchie Valley, an eroded and collapsed anticline, with an elevation of about 1000 ft. This elevational diversity no doubt causes differences in the densities of the bird populations inhabiting the valley, the plateau, and the intervening escarpments during early winter. However, it should be noted that these assumed differences may have been modified this winter by an extremely good mast crop, especially soft mast, which probably increased the densities of many of the bird populations in all of these areas to some extent. Thus, the results below may not be entirely typical; they are, however, far better than no results at all, the prevailing condition prior to the conducting of this count.
To see results of the Bledsoe County CBB, peruse Table 1 (below); also, to see results of this CBB in the context of results of Regional CBCs conducted during the same season, click on the links below:
Table 1. Results of Bledsoe County Christmas BirdBlitz, conducted 29 December 2008.
| Territory Location | Valley, South including Pikeville | Plateau, NW | Valley, North | Valley, North; Plateau, East (briefly) | Total |
| Party Leader | JEM | SJS | EKL | EKL | |
| Field Observers | AFM | SJS | |||
| Number of Field Parties | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1–3 |
| Number Field Observers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Start (CST) | ? | 0530 | 0430 | 1330 | 0430 |
| End (CST) | ? | 1200 | 1200 | 1745 | 1745 |
| Hours by Car | 4.5 | 5 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 17.5 |
| Hours on Foot | 0 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 1.5 |
| Total Party Hours | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 19 |
| Miles by Car | 30 | 43 | 24 | 45 | 142 |
| Miles on Foot | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 |
| Total Party Miles | 30 | 43.5 | 24.5 | 45 | 143 |
| Owling Hours | 0 | 0.75 | 2 | 0.75 | 3.5 |
| Owling Miles | 0 | 8 | 13 | 5 | 26 |
| Low Temperature (F) | 27 | ||||
| High Temperature (F) | 48 | ||||
| Wind Speed (mph) | 0–5 | ||||
| Wind Direction | W | ||||
| Sky AM | Clear | ||||
| Sky PM | Clear | ||||
| Precipitation AM | None | ||||
| Precipitation PM | None | ||||
| Moon Phase | Near new | ||||
| Canada Goose | -- | 60 | 6 | -- | 66 |
| Wood Duck | -- | -- | -- | 8 | 8 |
| Gadwall | -- | -- | -- | 6 | 6 |
| Mallard | 2 | 80 | 7 | -- | 89 |
| American Black Duck | -- | 3 | -- | -- | 3 |
| Green-winged Teal | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Hooded Merganser | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 2 |
| Ruddy Duck | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Northern Bobwhite | -- | -- | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Wild Turkey | -- | 5 | -- | -- | 5 |
| Rock Pigeon | 6 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 24 |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | 22 | -- | 3 | 20 | 45 |
| Mourning Dove | 25 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 46 |
| Sandhill Crane | 941 | -- | 140 | 50 | 1131 |
| Whooping Crane | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 2 |
| Killdeer | -- | 2 | 1 | 71 | 74 |
| Wilson's Snipe | 3 | -- | -- | -- | 3 |
| Great Blue Heron | -- | -- | 4 | -- | 4 |
| Black Vulture | -- | 6 | 9 | -- | 15 |
| Northern Harrier | 1 | 2 | 1 | -- | 4 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 4 | 1 | 1 | -- | 6 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 5 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 15 |
| Eastern Screech-Owl | -- | -- | 6 | -- | 6 |
| Barred Owl | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Belted Kingfisher | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | 2 |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 10 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 28 |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 5 | -- | 9 | 2 | 16 |
| Downy Woodpecker | -- | 4 | 8 | -- | 12 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | -- | 2 | 1 | -- | 3 |
| Northern Flicker | -- | 3 | 13 | 2 | 18 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | -- | 10 | 4 | 1 | 15 |
| American Kestrel | 5 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 30 |
| Eastern Phoebe | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Blue Jay | 24 | 14 | 58 | 1 | 97 |
| American Crow | 42 | 158 | 135 | 26 | 361 |
| Horned Lark | -- | -- | 3 | -- | 3 |
| Carolina Chickadee | 12 | 26 | 26 | 1 | 65 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 6 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 37 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | -- | 4 | -- | -- | 4 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | -- | 16 | 6 | 1 | 23 |
| Brown Creeper | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 2 |
| Winter Wren | -- | 2 | -- | 1 | 3 |
| House Wren | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Carolina Wren | -- | 12 | 17 | 3 | 32 |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | -- | 15 | 2 | 3 | 20 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 18 |
| Eastern Bluebird | 22 | 30 | 72 | 25 | 149 |
| Hermit Thrush | 1 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 22 |
| American Robin | 61 | 75 | 90 | 98 | 324 |
| Brown Thrasher | 2 | 3 | 1 | -- | 6 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 18 | 11 | 20 | 9 | 58 |
| European Starling | 76 | 17 | 410 | 37 | 540 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 31 | 7 | 90 | 6 | 134 |
| House Sparrow | 17 | 10 | 1 | -- | 28 |
| American Pipit | -- | -- | 3 | -- | 3 |
| House Finch | 12 | -- | -- | -- | 12 |
| Purple Finch | -- | 5 | 6 | -- | 11 |
| Pine Siskin | 1 | 30 | 3 | -- | 34 |
| American Goldfinch | 6 | 9 | 35 | 5 | 55 |
| Eastern Towhee | 8 | 18 | 3 | 7 | 36 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 2 | -- | 18 | 15 | 35 |
| Field Sparrow | -- | 15 | 26 | 25 | 66 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 3 | -- | 33 | -- | 36 |
| Fox Sparrow | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 39 | 31 | 34 | 7 | 111 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 4 | 2 | -- | 2 | 8 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 4 | 8 | 3 | -- | 15 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 37 | 33 | 28 | 10 | 108 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | -- | 19 | -- | 8 | 27 |
| Eastern Meadowlark | 20 | 25 | 32 | 35 | 112 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | -- | -- | 15 | -- | 15 |
| Rusty Blackbird | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Common Grackle | -- | -- | 810 | -- | 810 |
| Northern Cardinal | 43 | 16 | 38 | 15 | 112 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 19 | 4 | 35 | 10 | 68 |
| Total Individuals | 1549 | 859 | 2334 | 560 | 5302 |
| Total Species | 42 | 53 | 58 | 45 | 77 |
Key to Observers:
| Initials | Observer's Name |
| EKL | Edmund K. LeGrand, compiler |
| AFM | Anita F. Mast |
| JEM | Joseph E. Mast |
| SJS | Stephen J. Stedman |
Comments:
Ruddy Duck: at Swafford Pond in AM (AFM, JEM) but not seen later in day.
Sandhill Crane: numerous flocks in Sequatchie Valley apparently feeding rather than migrating though rarely seen on ground.
Whooping Cranes: 2 adult-plumaged birds heard and seen on ground in cow pasture near Brushy Cemetery (north of Ninemile Rd.) at 0700–0720 CST (EKL). Birds briefly disturbed by cattle and flew up and back down after 1–2 minutes. Band combination as seen through 40x scope: Bird 1—left: white over green over white; right: transmitter (?) only; Bird 2—left: green over red; right—? over white (or white only); birds not seen later in day.
House Wren: seen and heard (SJS) on Cumberland Plateau near Watson Loop.
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