I ran the Wrigley Breeding Bird Survey route today (5/27/2012, opening day of BBS season), continuing its perfect coverage record of being run every year since the start of the BBS in 1966. This route runs from northwestern Hickman County eastwards through the communities of Primm Springs in Hickman and Fly in NW Maury Counties, then into Williamson County along Leiper's Creek Road. I have run it since 2007.
The species total for today was 79 species, a very good tally. I did not add any species to the all-time list for the route, but I did encounter two that have only been recorded a few times before: Baltimore Oriole (one previous record in 1970) and Dickcissel (two prior records). There were a couple of notable "misses:" zero Northern Bobwhites for the second year in a row, and an inexplicable complete absence of vultures of any species. The final run down Leiper's Creek Road almost always yields decent vulture tallies, but none today in spite of what appeared to be good conditions for thermals. I missed Cerulean Warblers in their usual spots near Primm Springs, but did hear one at a new location in Maury County on Leiper's Creek.
The big story of the day was record high counts for quite a few common species: Canada Goose (23), Hairy Woodpecker (5), Great Crested Flycatcher (11, tie), American Crow (53), Tufted Titmouse (77), Eastern Bluebird (30), Kentucky Warbler (13), Scarlet Tanager (18), Northern Cardinal (99, smashing the previous record of 79 set just three years ago), and House Finch (13). Notable counts were also made for Chuck-wills-widow (4, highest since 1972) and Orchard Oriole (19, highest since 1979), and three species with their second highest all-time counts: Carolina Wren (57), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (45), and Worm-eating Warbler (6).
Most of these are species that have been showing widespread and long- term increases in numbers on BBS routes in this region. The pre-dawn chorus was so thick with overlapping cardinals, wrens, and titmice that it was extremely challenging trying to sort through the cacophony. The shift in tanager numbers is interesting to me; for the third time in the last 6 years Scarlets outnumbered Summers on the route today. And, for the first time ever, Hairy Woodpeckers outnumbered Downy Woodpeckers. If you look at long-term regional trends, these patterns both look like the waves of the future for Tennessee woodlands.
Bill Pulliam
Hohenwald TN
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