Results of the Fentress-Morgan County, Tennessee, Christmas BirdBlitz—29 December 2009
The second Christmas BirdBlitz (CBB) to be conducted in the Upper Cumberland Region, this count resulted in the collection of some useful data about the early winter birdlife on the Cumberland Plateau, where such data have seldom been collected in the past.
One of the more noteworthy results of the count was the discovery of a Virginia Rail at a site within the count circle where two of this species had been detected during late November 2009. Besides providing the first Christmas season record of this species in the Region, it was also the first winter season record in the Region.
Data from this CBB also added to knowledge about the population densities of many species on the plateau during winter, some of which differ moderately to greatly from population densities of the same species at lower elevations adjacent to the plateau. As an example of this matter, examine the data below for Yellow-rumped Warbler, and compare those data with data for Yellow-rumped Warbler from Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs) conducted on the Highland Rim in in the Central Basin during the same CBC season (see next paragraph for a link to those data).
To see results of the Fentress/Morgan County CBB in the context of results from CBCs during the same season in the Upper Cumberland Region (UCR), click on the link below:
Table 1. Results of the Fentress-Morgan Christmas BirdBlitz (29 December 2009) during the 109th CBC season.
| Territory Location | W (Fentress) | N (Fentress) | E (Morgan) | S (Fentress) | Total |
| Party Leader | WAW | MJH | SJS | EKL | |
| Field Observers | JCF | ||||
| Number of Field Parties | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Number Field Observers | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Start | 0700 CST | 0700 CST | 0615 CST | 0515 CST | 0515 CST |
| End | 1600 CST | 1645 CST | 1650 CST | 1700 CST | 1700 CST |
| Hours by Car | 9 | 9.25 | 9 | 2.75 | 30 |
| Hours on Foot | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 8 | 8.5 |
| Total Party Hours | 9 | 9.25 | 9.5 | 10.75 | 38.5 |
| Miles by Car | 82 | 85 | 79 | 31 | 277 |
| Miles on Foot | 0 | 0 | 0.25 | 7 | 7.25 |
| Total Party Miles | 82 | 85 | 79.25 | 38 | 284.25 |
| Owling Hours | 0 | 0 | 0.25 | 1 | 1.25 |
| Owling Miles | 0 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 24 |
| Low Temperature (F) | 22? | 25 | 26 | 25 | |
| High Temperature (F) | 31 | 33 | 37 | 37 | |
| Wind Speed (mph) | 0–10 | 0–5 | 0–10 | ||
| Wind Direction | |||||
| Sky AM | clear | cloudy | partly cloudy | ||
| Sky PM | clear | clear | clear | ||
| Precipitation AM | none | none | none | ||
| Precipitation PM | none | none | none | ||
| Moon Phase | near full | near full | near full | ||
| Canada Goose | 3 | 47 | 3 | 2 | 55 |
| Wood Duck | -- | -- | -- | 5 | 5 |
| Mallard | 6 | -- | 35 | -- | 41 |
| American Black Duck | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 2 |
| Ring-necked Duck | -- | -- | 3 | -- | 3 |
| Hooded Merganser | -- | -- | 3 | -- | 3 |
| Wild Turkey | 3 | 8 | -- | 1 | 12 |
| Rock Pigeon | 2 | 4 | 16 | 36 | 58 |
| Mourning Dove | 13 | 140 | 50 | 51 | 254 |
| Virginia Rail | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Sandhill Crane | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 2 |
| Killdeer | -- | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Great Blue Heron | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | 2 |
| Black Vulture | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | -- | -- | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Northern Harrier | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 2 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | -- | 8 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| "Krider's" RTHA | -- | -- | 1 ad | -- | 1 |
| Eastern Screech-Owl | -- | -- | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Belted Kingfisher | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | 2 |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 2 |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 4 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 34 |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 3 | -- | -- | 3 | 6 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 21 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |
| Northern Flicker | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 16 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| American Kestrel | 4 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 28 |
| Eastern Phoebe | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 16 |
| Blue Jay | 10 | 40 | 8 | 32 | 90 |
| American Crow | 15 | 71 | 120 | 114 | 320 |
| Horned Lark | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 2 |
| Carolina Chickadee | 9 | 17 | 11 | 28 | 65 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 10 | 27 | 27 | 40 | 104 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | -- | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 14 | 5 | 10 | 22 | 51 |
| Brown Creeper | -- | -- | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Winter Wren | -- | -- | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Carolina Wren | 7 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 41 |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 1 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 28 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 |
| Eastern Bluebird | 50 | 35 | 34 | 35 | 154 |
| Hermit Thrush | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 13 |
| American Robin | 3 | 87 | -- | 86 | 176 |
| Brown Thrasher | -- | -- | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 4 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 21 |
| European Starling | 67 | 190 | 1050 | 440 | 1747 |
| Cedar Waxwing | -- | -- | 1 | 25 | 26 |
| House Sparrow | -- | 22 | -- | 75 | 97 |
| American Pipit | -- | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| House Finch | -- | -- | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Purple Finch | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 |
| American Goldfinch | 5 | 19 | 14 | 12 | 50 |
| Eastern Towhee | -- | 4 | 6 | 5 | 15 |
| Chipping Sparrow | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | 2 |
| Field Sparrow | 4 | 6 | 2 | 43 | 55 |
| Savannah Sparrow | -- | 15 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| Fox Sparrow | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 19 | 46 | 25 | 94 | 184 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 17 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | -- | -- | -- | 5 | 5 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 8 | 45 | 22 | 49 | 124 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 10 | 22 | 15 | 50 | 97 |
| Eastern Meadowlark | 2 | 41 | 17 | 8 | 68 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 1 | -- | -- | 21 | 22 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | -- | 5 | -- | 2 | 7 |
| Northern Cardinal | 25 | 25 | 11 | 22 | 83 |
| Total Individuals | 320 | 1004 | 1568 | 1453 | 4345 |
| Total Species | 36 | 48 | 51 | 57 | 69 |
| Key to Observers: | |||||
| JCF--Judy C. Fuson | |||||
| MJH--Michael J. Hawkins | |||||
| EKL--Edmund K. LeGrand | |||||
| SJS--Stephen J. Stedman, compiler | |||||
| WAW--Winston A. Walden | |||||
Notes:
The center of this CBB circle
is located in Fentress County on
Bicknell Rd. about 0.5 mi. south of Banner Springs Rd. (36.2497 N
The"Krider's" form of Red-tailed Hawk was an adult observed on Catfish Farm Rd. in extreme eastern Fentress County (SJS), quite close to the county line with Morgan County.
The Virginia Rail responded to an iPod recording of its call; it inhabited a wet grassy area along a gravel road off of Rt. 62 about 1.5 km east of the intersection of Rts. 62 and 127 (EKL); two rails of this species were heard calling at the same site during late November 2009 (EKL, SJS).
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