All - Over the past number of years, I have been working on an up-date
of JJ Murray's Birds of Rockbridge County, Virginia which was the first
publication of the Virginia Avifauna by VSO. Murray's book was
published in 1957, and as you might guess there have been a number of
changes in the avifauna of Rockbridge Co. due to changes in habitat,
construction of things like I-81 and I-64, construction of flood control
lakes, loss of ponds and the invasion of new species (House Finches for
example) or the loss of species (Bewick's Wren). I have used Murray's
book, Christmas Bird Count records that span nearly 85 years, and a
recent database that includes observations of a number of local birders.
The up-dated book currently exists as a web-based book. The Birds of
Rockbridge Co. web site is attached to my faculty research webpage:
http://www.vmi.edu/fswebs.aspx?tid=41325&id=4294972715&libID=4294972712
At present, the book is designed to by a dynamic document that can be
kept up to date to reflect new species, changes in status, changes in
arrival or departure dates, or additional photographs. I have broken
the book into "chapters" with photo links for many of the species within
the chapters. The photo links take you to a Flickr photo gallery for
that species. Also, you can visit the Birds of Rockbridge Co. photo
gallery at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vmibiology/collections/
I will note with great humility that some of the photographs really
aren't very good. They serve as documentation of a species within
Rockbridge County.
Dick Rowe
VMI Biology
