Dear VA Birders
I mentioned briefly in a previous email about this wonderful route in lower
King and Queen Co on the Middle Peninsula. I have finally entered the data
into the BBS site which you can see below. It shows the totals for the 50
stops, 10 stops at a time, as well as a grand total and a total number of
stops.
For the most part, the bird numbers have been fluctuating slightly around what
they were this year. One exception seems to be Bobwhite which was only 5 in 4
stops this year, 11 in 9 stops last year, 14 in 12 stops in 2010, 24 in 19
stops in 2009, and a high of 33 in 20 stops in 2002. However, in 1996, the
first year I did this survey there were only 6 in 6 stops, so there may be no
need to worry. Still, this year is the lowest on record. Usually it is
something like 20 birds in 15 stops. The habitat appears to be a similar mosaic
of habitats due to the logging operations in this area as well as some swamps,
farms, and state forest. You can see this habitat mosaic in the large numbers
of chats, prairie warblers, pine warblers, and hooded warblers, as well as the
nice diversity of other warblers in this route. Species totals since 1996 have
ranged from 62 to 76. This year I found 68 species. As usual the most common
and most widespread bird was
red-eyed vireo with 86 birds in 38 stops. The most unusual bird this year was
a Mallard which has only been noted on 2 previous surveys.
Record high counts for this route this year included 27 Acadian Flycatchers, 35
White-eyed Vireos, 15 Purple Martins, and 13 Northern Parulas.
This year I was surprised to miss orchard oriole, cedar waxwing, wood duck, and
grasshopper sparrow.
If you go to this link you can compare the years and find the data on any BBS
route. https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBS/PublicDataInterface/index.cfm
All the best
Fred
Route Summary
Observer: FRED ATWOOD
Route: TRUHART, VIRGINIA (88-914)
Run Method: 101-Standard BBS
Route Summary Information
Date Route Run: 06/11/2012
Start Time: 05:14
End Time: 10:32
Start Temp: 63 °F
End Temp: 79 °F
Start Wind: 0-Smoke rises vertically [<1 mph, <2 Kph]
End Wind: 0-Smoke rises vertically [<1 mph, <2 Kph]
Start Sky: 1-Partly cloudy (scattered) or variable sky
End Sky: 1-Partly cloudy (scattered) or variable sky
10 Stop Totals
Species 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 Total ind. Total Stops
Mallard 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
Northern Bobwhite 0 3 1 1 0 5 4
Great Blue Heron 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
Green Heron 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Black Vulture 0 0 0 0 2 2 2
Turkey Vulture 0 0 1 5 10 16 6
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
Laughing Gull 0 0 0 4 5 9 2
Mourning Dove 7 8 6 4 4 29 21
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 0 0 0 1 1 2 2
Eastern Whip-poor-will 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Chimney Swift 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 0 0 0 1 1 2 2
Red-headed Woodpecker 0 1 0 1 0 2 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 1 1 0 0 4 4
Downy Woodpecker 1 0 5 2 1 9 9
Hairy Woodpecker 0 0 0 1 1 2 2
(Yellow-shafted Flicker) Northern Flicker 1 1 0 0 1 3 3
Pileated Woodpecker 1 0 0 1 1 3 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee 4 2 3 2 5 16 15
Acadian Flycatcher 7 7 5 2 6 27 21
Eastern Phoebe 0 1 0 0 3 4 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 0 2 1 0 2 5 5
Eastern Kingbird 0 3 0 0 1 4 3
White-eyed Vireo 7 7 8 7 6 35 27
Yellow-throated Vireo 2 2 1 2 1 8 8
Red-eyed Vireo 26 16 18 16 10 86 38
Blue Jay 0 2 1 0 0 3 3
American Crow 13 8 6 4 7 38 24
Purple Martin 0 15 0 0 0 15 2
Barn Swallow 0 0 0 0 4 4 2
Carolina Chickadee 1 1 4 3 5 14 11
Tufted Titmouse 7 8 11 4 9 39 27
White-breasted Nuthatch 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Carolina Wren 9 11 4 5 5 34 22
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 5 4 1 4 3 17 12
Eastern Bluebird 0 0 0 1 2 3 3
Wood Thrush 2 0 3 1 2 8 8
American Robin 0 0 0 0 2 2 2
Gray Catbird 0 2 2 0 0 4 4
Northern Mockingbird 1 1 1 1 1 5 5
Brown Thrasher 1 1 3 1 3 9 9
European Starling 0 0 3 2 0 5 2
Ovenbird 7 7 4 10 7 35 27
Louisiana Waterthrush 0 2 0 0 0 2 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1 2 2 1 2 8 7
Prothonotary Warbler 0 2 0 0 0 2 2
Common Yellowthroat 4 10 3 7 5 29 16
Hooded Warbler 12 8 7 4 5 36 25
American Redstart 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Northern Parula 3 3 1 1 5 13 9
Pine Warbler 11 9 8 5 4 37 23
Yellow-throated Warbler 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
Prairie Warbler 8 2 4 7 2 23 16
Yellow-breasted Chat 7 7 7 10 3 34 25
Eastern Towhee 6 3 4 4 6 23 14
Chipping Sparrow 4 8 2 5 9 28 19
Field Sparrow 2 2 1 2 0 7 6
Summer Tanager 2 1 0 1 4 8 8
Scarlet Tanager 4 4 1 0 2 11 10
Northern Cardinal 9 11 9 6 10 45 26
Blue Grosbeak 3 7 1 2 1 14 11
Indigo Bunting 11 10 6 10 16 53 29
Red-winged Blackbird 0 0 2 0 0 2 1
Common Grackle 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
American Goldfinch 1 0 0 3 5 9 6
Total Species : 68 Total ind. : 904
Vehicles 0 3 7 8 4 13
Noise 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Frederick D. Atwood fredatwood@xxxxxxxxx
Flint Hill School, 10409 Academic Dr, Oakton, VA 22124
703-242-1675
http://www.agpix.com/fredatwood
http://www.flinthill.org
http://tea.armadaproject.org/tea_atwoodfrontpage.html
