Tag Archives: Spring migration

Sandhill crane adopts grocery store parking lot during migration stop

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I felt certain I’d misheard when fellow birder Brookie Potter phoned me and reported a sandhill crane in the parking lot of the Food City grocery store located in south Johnson City. Plagued with a bad connection, it took a second call to clarify his remarks. “Did you say there’s a sandhill crane in the parking lot at Food City?” I asked him when I called back and established a better connection.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • The sandhill crane walks toward a flooded field behind the grocery store.

Early naturalist John James Audubon painted this work depicting a sandhill crane.

He confirmed that I’d heard correctly, which launched a quick trip to the aforementioned grocery store. I’m familiar with the store and knew that there are large fields surrounding this particular Food City and an adjacent section of stores. When I arrived, I began scanning the field. A sandhill crane is a fairly tall bird and should stick out. No luck. I called Brookie back and told him I was at the Food City but saw no sign of a crane.

“It’s here,” he said. “In the parking lot.” He gave me specific directions. Moments later I arrived in my car and saw a sandhill crane taking careful steps as it moved through the aisles of parked cars. 

The crane first attracted the notice of John Neth, a resident of the Milligan College community, who notified other area birders. When I arrived I found Brookie and his wife, Jean, who had her camera and was taking photos of the crane as it ambled tamely through the parking lot. 

Photo by Bryan Stevens• The sandhill crane looks more natural after retreating to a wet field behind the grocery store.

I saw my first sandhill crane in a harvested corn field in early 1999 In Shady Valley, Tennessee. Since that first sighting, I have observed sandhill cranes near Musick’s Campground at Holston Lake in Bristol, Tennessee, as well as along the Tennessee River in Knoxville. I also saw dozens of these majestic birds during a trip to Utah in the spring of 2006. I’ve also seen sandhill cranes in Florida. Many of the cranes living in the Sunshine State are quite tame, ranging into private yards and onto airport tarmacs. My theory is that the bird at the Food City is a Florida visitor based on its trusting nature toward humans and its level of comfort in the artificial environment of an asphalt parking lot.

A sandhill crane stands over four feet tall, with a wingspan stretching more than six feet, making it one of the largest birds found in Tennessee. Every winter, thousands of sandhill cranes migrate to the 6,000-acre Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge located on Chickamauga Lake at the confluence of the Hiwassee River with the Tennessee River. In the more mountainous areas of northeast Tennessee, western North Carolina and southwest Virginia, sightings of these cranes are considerably more rare.

In December 2011 and January 2012, a hooded crane made headlines by appearing with the sandhill cranes gathered at Hiwassee. Hooded cranes normally winter in southern Japan, as well as locations in South Korea and China. On occasion, endangered whooping cranes have also mingled with the large flocks of sandhill cranes at Hiwassee. 

My observations of a whooping crane are confined to a single occasion about 20 years ago when a migrating individual made a brief stop at a field in Greene County. The whooping crane is a continuing success story for the Endangered Species Act. A March 2018 Fish and Wildlife Service report estimates that the total current population of whooping cranes is about 800 individuals, which is a dramatic increase from the low point for the species in 1938 when the world’s whooping cranes numbered only 15 adult birds in a single flock.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A snapshot of the first arrival among male ruby-throated hummingbirds in 2020.

Readers continue to share hummingbird sightings

People have continued to report their first spring sightings of ruby-throated hummingbirds with me. 

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John Whinery reported that his first hummingbird of spring was a female ruby-throated hummingbird on the morning of April 19.  “I saw her just southwest of Fall Branch along Highway 93 a mile in Greene County,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

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Rhonda Eller reported her first hummingbird of the season on April 19. “So happy to see my first hummingbird at the feeder this morning,” Rhonda wrote on Facebook.

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“Got our first sighting of a hummingbird this morning about 10:30,” Russ MacIntyre wrote in an email on Monday, April 20. “We put our feeders out on April 4 or April 5.” Russ lives on Hazelnut Drive in Jonesborough, Tennessee. 

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Tom McNeil in the Piney Grove community of Hampton was pleased to announce on Facebook the arrival of a hummingbird at his home. “Finally! A male arrived at 4:20 p.m. on April 20.”

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Phyllis Moore shared on Facebook that she saw her first hummingbird at home in Bristol, Virginia, on the morning of April 20.

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Anita Clemmer reported on Facebook that she saw her first spring hummingbird on April 22. “I got my first ruby-throated hummingbird today in Deep Gap, North Carolina,” she posted.

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Felicia Mitchell, Emory, Virginia, share the news of her first sighting in a Facebook message. “First hummingbird at my feeder on April 24 at 7:10 p.m.,” she wrote. 

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I appreciate all the responses I received this year from people glad to welcome their hummingbirds back. 

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Here are a few more photos of the sandhill crane during its April visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Returning ruby-throats, like the rest of world’s hummingbirds, never fail to dazzle

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Photo by Anne and Saturnino Miranda/Pixabay.com • The Cuban emerald is a species of hummingbird found in a wide range of semi-open habitats in Cuba, as well as the Isle of Pines and the western Bahamas. Numbering 330 species, the world’s hummingbirds dazzle humans with their incredibly diverse plumages.

Experts estimate that there are 330 species of hummingbirds, all of which are found in the New World. Consider that these dazzling little birds have been given vividly descriptive names, such as cinnamon-throated hermit, red-tailed comet, blue-chinned sapphire, lazuline sabrewing, sparkling violetear, fiery topaz, green-tailed goldenthroat, bronze-tailed plumeleteer,  amethyst-throated mountain-gem, peacock coquette, red-billed emerald, empress brilliant, purple-backed sunbeam, green-backed hillstar, orange-throated sunangel, black metaltail, marvelous spatuletail and blue-tufted starthroat.

The only reliable species to inhabit the eastern United States from spring to fall each year is the ruby-throated hummingbird, which is currently arriving at various points from Florida to Maine and westward to states like Illinois, Minnesota and Oklahoma.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Numbers of Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the region tend to fluctuate each year, but people should see a spike in their numbers when the hummingbirds end summer nesting and start migrating south again this autumn.

One of my most memorable hummingbird sightings took place in January of 1999 during a cruise in the Bahamas. A stopover in Nassau and a visit to the Paradise Island Resort permitted me a fleeting glimpse of a Bahama woodstar, a small hummingbird with a superficial resemblance to the ruby-throated hummingbird. The real beauty from my visit to the Bahamas, however, took place on a private cay maintained by the Disney Cruise line. While many passengers enjoyed the sun and sand of the beach, I walked nature trails to find birds. 

Photo by Daniel Roberts/Pixabay.com • The calliope hummingbird is the smallest of its kind known to reside in North America.

I found Western spindalis, then known as stripe-headed tanager, as well as black-faced grassquits and bananaquits, and I got several close looks at male and female Cuban emeralds, a hummingbird found in a wide range of semi-open habitats in Cuba, the Isle of Pines and the western Bahamas. The male is almost entirely metallic or iridescent green and measures almost four inches long. The ones I encountered were also curious and quite tame, often flying within inches of my face. 

Other than the two hummingbirds I saw during that trip, my remaining hummingbird observations have been confined to the United States. That hasn’t prevented me from seeing such unexpected hummingbirds as green-breasted mango, calliope hummingbird, black-chinned hummingbird, rufous hummingbird, Allen’s hummingbird, and broad-tailed hummingbird. 

Photo by Anne and Saturnino Miranda/Pixabay.com • It’s not difficult at all to see how the male Cuban emerald in such vibrant green plumage acquired its common name.

If I ever win the lottery, I plan to see as many hummingbirds as I can. For now, I am happy to report that ruby-throated hummingbirds are returning to northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and western North Carolina.

I received an email from Susie Parks, who lives in the North Cove section of McDowell County in North Carolina. “My daughter, Luanne Graham, and I sighted our first hummer on March 28,” Priscilla noted. 

“I read your column in the McDowell News,” she added. “I am 84 years old and have been a birder most of my life.” 

Susie added that she and her daughter are both retired teachers who live next to each other. “We put our feeders out earlier than usual because she had heard that the hummers might be arriving earlier this year,” Susie wrote.

Susie noted that the first hummingbird sighted at her own feeder arrived on the first day of April, a few days after the hummingbird that visited her daughter’s feeder. “I keep a journal and I always note the first sighting,” she added, “and this is the earliest hummer I have ever recorded.”

This sightings by Susie and Luanne are the earliest I’ve had reported to me this year. 

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Facebook friend Jimmie Daniels in Newland, North Carolina, reported on her Facebook page that the first hummingbird of spring arrived at 6:24 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8.  “We just saw our first hummingbird and that always makes me happy,” she wrote. “If you have not put out feeders yet, it is a good time to do that.”

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Bob Cheers of Bristol, Virginia, reported a ruby-throated female arrived at his home at 7:55 a.m. on Friday, April 10. He speculated that the hummingbird was possibly “the same gal that arrived last year on the same day but 10 hours later.” Bob added that hummingbirds are amazing and that it was almost inconceivable to him that it could be the same bird. Bob, who had read in previous columns that downy woodpeckers and Carolina chickadees occasionally take a sip of sugar water from hummingbird feeders, also asked if I had ever heard of a red-bellied woodpecker feeding regularly at a hummingbird feeder. I’ve not personally witnessed this, but perhaps some readers have seen red-bellied woodpeckers at sugar water feeders. Let me know!

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Despite a perceived disadvantage of size, ruby-throated hummingbirds are quite capable of thriving in a giant world.

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Brenda Hickman Dishner posted on my Facebook page that she spotted her first hummer of spring on Friday, April 10. “We live near Highway 421 and Houston Dam in Bristol, Tennessee,” she added.

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Philip Laws, who lives in Limestone Cove in Unicoi County, reported to me on Facebook that he saw his first hummingbirds on April 10. “Hummers returned to Limestone Cove on Good Friday,” Philip noted.

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Jeanne Siler Lilly reported her first spring hummingbird with a comment on my Facebook page. “I saw one at my feeder on April 10,” she wrote, adding that the bird visited a couple of times.

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Mary Jones in Johnson City said her first hummingbird this year arrived on April 11. “I had one show up the Saturday before Easter and every day since,” she wrote in a Facebook comment. 

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Dianna Lynne in Elizabethton saw her first hummingbird this spring on April 11. “They stopped in on Easter morning at the porch feeder here in Stoney Creek,” Dianne said in a comment on Facebook.

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Erwin resident Amy Wallin Tipton saw her first ruby-throated hummingbird on Easter Sunday.  “I just wanted to let you know I just saw my first male ruby-throat of the season,” Amy wrote in a Facebook message. “It was at 11:55 a.m.”

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Lia Pritchard saw her first hummer of the season on Easter Sunday at her home in Fall Branch, Tennessee. Her father, Glen Eller, shared the report of Lia’s sighting.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Keep hummingbirds happy with a sugar water solution of four parts water to one part sugar.

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Lynda Carter, who lives in Jonesborough, saw her first hummingbird at 8:45 a.m. on Monday, April 13, after a stormy night. “The bird may have blown in sideways from Arkansas last night,” Lynda joked in an email.

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Richard Lewis in Bristol sent me a message on Facebook to announce the arrival of his first spring hummingbird. “I had my first ruby-throated hummingbird Monday, April 13, at 6 p.m. at my home in Bristol, Tennessee,” he wrote.

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Joneen Sargent, who lives in Sullivan County west of Holston Lake off Highway 421, emailed me at 8:06 p.m. on Monday, April 13, to report her first spring hummingbird. “Just saw my first hummingbird of the season,” Joneen wrote. “Gives me hope.”

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Jane Arnold emailed me to notify me of her mother’s hummingbird sighting. Her mother, Betty Poole, who lives in Abingdon, Virginia, saw her first hummingbird — a female — on Wednesday, April 15. Jane’s still awaiting her first spring hummer. 

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Priscilla Gutierrez saw the first hummingbirds of spring the morning of Wednesday, April 15. “I put out a feeder and by 6 p.m. they were coming to [the] feeder,” Priscilla added in a comment on my Facebook page. 

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Erwin resident April Kerns Fain posted on her Facebook page at 5:32 p.m. on Thursday, April 16, that she saw her first hummingbird. 

Erwin resident Pattie Rowland posted on my Facebook page that she saw her first ruby-throated hummingbird on Friday, April 17. “Just saw a hummer in Erwin,” Pattie wrote. 

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Sharee Bowman reported her first hummingbird of spring in a Facebook message. “I saw my first hummingbird in Cedar Bluff, Virginia, on Friday, April 17,” she wrote. 

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A ruby-throated hummingbird lifts its wings to shake water droplets off its back.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds make welcome return to region

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Photo by TheSOARnet / Pixabay.com • Male ruby-throated hummingbirds usually migrate ahead of females. These tiny birds must cross the Gulf of Mexico, without stopping, to reach their nesting grounds in the eastern United States. The journey across the Gulf can take them 18 to 22 hours, dependent on weather conditions.

Pat Stakely Cook‎ of Marion, North Carolina, reported the earliest spring sighting of a ruby-throated hummingbird.
Pat posted, “Hummingbird is back here in Marion, North Carolina,” on my Facebook page at 5;45 p.m. on Sunday, April 5.
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Sam Jewett emailed me to report a first spring sighting.
“My first red-throated one showed up Monday, April 6, at Lake James in North Carolina, and boy, has he been hungry,” Sam wrote.
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Judy and Bill Beckman, who reside on Springbrook Road in Unicoi, reported their own sighting.
“We just had our first hummingbird visit our feeder at around 5:50 p.m. on Monday, April 6,” the couple wrote in an email to me.
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Joy Patton, who lives in Marion, North Carolina, also reported her first hummingbird on April 6.
“I put my feeder up a few days early this year because the weather has been so nice,” Joy wrote in an email. “The second day, April 6, a male ruby-throated hummingbird visited and ate and ate!”
Joy added that her daughter, Cindy Pierce, who lives near Fayetteville, North Carolina, saw her first hummingbird that same day.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A ruby-throated hummingbird lifts its wings to shake water droplets off its back.

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Judi Sawyer, a resident of Roan Mountain, Tennessee, reported the first hummingbird arrival on her Facebook page. Judi is a fellow member of the Lee and Lois Herndon Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society. “The hummers are back,” Judi wrote on her page on Tuesday, April 7.
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Bristol resident Vivian C Tester posted on my Facebook page on Wednesday, April 8, about her first sighting. “I just had my first hummer stop by,” Vivian wrote. “So glad I had just put my feeder out.”
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The ruby-throated hummingbird, known by the scientific name of Archilochus colubris, is one of more than 300 species of hummingbirds. All hummingbirds are found in the New World and are completely absent from the Old World. Male ruby-throated hummingbirds launch their spring migration about 10 days prior to female hummingbirds. Most of these tiny birds make an incredible non-stop journey across the Gulf of Mexico each year to return to our yards and gardens across the Eastern United States.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Despite a perceived disadvantage of size, ruby-throated hummingbirds are quite capable of thriving in a giant world.

Based on the number of people who shared hummingbird sightings with me, these tiny birds have a lot of big fans. If you would like to host your own hummingbirds, here are some crucial tips:
• Make your yard a zone that’s free of insecticides and pesticides. Residues of these chemicals can remain on blossoms, which then run the risk of sickening a hummingbird. In addition, hummingbirds subsist on more than nectar. They consume many tiny insects and spiders. Eating bugs that have been contaminated with dangerous chemicals can also sicken or kill hummingbirds.
• Provide shrubs and trees in your landscape to make your yard more inviting. Hummingbirds claim favorite posts and perches, where they will rest when they are not visiting our gardens or feeders. Shrubs and trees can also provide locations for concealing nests built by female hummingbirds.
• Cultivate plants that offer nectar-producing blooms. While hummingbirds are known to favor the color red, these nectar-sipping birds will also visit blooms of other colors. Some favorite spring blooms include the flowers of red buckeye, wild columbine, crossvine and native varieties of azaleas. As spring advances into summer, the diversity of flowers available to lure hummingbirds into your garden will increase dramatically.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A male ruby-throated hummingbird perches near a feeder that he is ready to defend from all comers.

I am still awaiting my first hummingbird of spring. I’m confident it won’t be long. Invariably, the first hummingbird to show up in my yard is a male with the gorget — or throat patch — of red, iridescent feathers that gives his species its common name.
He’ll be especially welcome this particular spring.
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Share a sighting, ask a question, or make a comment by emailing ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A female ruby-throated hummingbird approaches a feeder for a sip of sugar water.

Sounds of spring grow more varied as season advances

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • Former common name rufous-sided towhee became Eastern towhee, which is far less descriptive of the bird’s appearance. In spring, male towhees become persistent singers. Listen for their “drink-your-tea” song as the males perch on elevated branches and twigs.

The sounds of spring surround us from sunrise to sunset with much of this seasonal chorus being provided by our feathered friends, the birds. In these weird weeks in need of something distracting, I’ve been letting nature’s sounds, as well as sights, provide some measure of relief from stressful headlines and anxious thoughts.

The mornings around my home often begin with a loud, insistent “Peter! Peter! Peter!” uttered from the woods or even just outside my bedroom window. Male tufted titmice, little gray relatives of chickadees with a distinctive crest and large, dark eyes, sing their urgent “Peter! Peter! Peter!” as a constant refrain in their efforts to attract mates now that they feel spring in their blood.

A series of rat-a-tat-tats echoes from deeper in the woods as woodpeckers tap their sturdy bills against the trunks of trees. The three most common woodpeckers at my home are red-bellied, downy, and pileated, and they all have their own unique vocalizations, as well.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Woodpeckers not only vocalize, they also add to the spring cacophony by drumming against the trunks of trees.

The pileated woodpecker produces clear, far-carrying resonant piping sounds that can last for a few seconds each blast. The much smaller downy woodpecker produces a whinny of high-pitched notes that descend in pitch toward their conclusion. The red-bellied call is probably the one that stands out the most. The call’s a harsh, rolling “Churr, churr, churr” given almost like an expression of exasperation as they circle tree trunks and explore branches.

Since their return earlier this month, the resident red-winged blackbirds are often some of the earliest singers these days. According to the website All About Birds, the male red-winged blackbird’s “conk-la-ree!” is a classic sound of wetlands across the continent of North America. According to the website, the one-second song starts with an abrupt note that transforms quickly into a musical trill.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A male red-winged blackbird sings to attract mates and ward off rivals.

Some birds helpfully introduce themselves with a song that repeats their name. One such common bird is the Eastern phoebe. In recent weeks, a pair has been checking out the rafters of my garage for potential nest sites. The male spends much of the day producing his strident “fee-bee” call, which is a perfect phonetic rendition of the bird’s common name.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • The Eastern Phoebe’s song is a repetitive rendition of its own name — “fee-bee” — given over and over.

Then there’s one of my favorite songs of spring, which is produced by the Eastern towhee, which is also known by such common names as “ground robin” and “swamp robin.” These birds, which are actually a species of sparrow, also have some instantly recognizable vocalizations. With the arrival of spring, the males seek elevated perches for extensive singing bouts to attract mates and establish territories. Their song has been interpreted, quite accurately, as “drink your tea!” They also have some alarm notes, such as “€œChew-ink”€ and “€œToe-Hee,” of which the latter provides the basis for this bird’s common name.

Of course, other wildlife joins the chorus. I have so many spring peepers at the fish pond and in the wet fields around my house that the noise from these tiny amphibians can reach deafening levels. The chorus is bound to grow more diverse and louder as spring advances. Take some time to enjoy the sounds of nature at your own home.

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To share your own sighting, make a comment or ask a question, send email to ahoodedwarbler@aol.com. I’m also on Facebook.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • An alert Eastern towhee female forages on a lawn.

 

Annual Spring Bird Count gives snapshot of local bird populations

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CommonMerg

Photo by Bryan Stevens • This female Common Merganser was photographed resting on a log during this year’s Spring Bird Count.

The recent five-county Spring Bird Count conducted Saturday, May 4, by the Elizabethton Bird Club found 145 species in the five Northeast Tennessee counties of Carter, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington. The count included such cities as Erwin, Bristol, Johnson City, Jonesborough, Kingsport and Mountain City.

BS-OrchardOriole-Forsythia

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Orchard orioles, like this bird, as well as Baltimore orioles, were found on the Spring Bird Count.

A total of 57 participants in 11 parties counted during the annual survey of avian populations in the region. The long-running count is the only spring census of birds conducted in Northeast Tennessee.

This year marked the 76th consecutive year that the Elizabethton Spring Bird Count has been conducted. The weather was mostly favorable, except for a late afternoon band of thunderstorms that passed through rather quickly.

A total of 154 species were tallied, which is slightly above the recent 30-year average of 149 species. The all-time high was 166 species found in 2016.

Count-NightHeron

Several species of herons, including this Yellow-crowned Night Heron, were found for this year’s Spring Bird Count conducted by members and friends of the Elizabethton Bird Club.

Long-time compiler Rick Knight noted some highlights:
• Lingering gadwall and buffleheads.
• Four common merganser hens were found at sites on the Watauga River. These birds make up part of a regional breeding population.
• An American bittern.
• Both night-heron species.
• Bald eagles.
• Three sora rails.
• Three Forster’s Terns.
• Six Black-billed cuckoos.
• Two Northern Saw-whet owls.
* Four yellow-bellied sapsuckers, which are part of a regional breeding population.
• A single willow flycatcher.
• A pair of loggerhead shrike at a new site for the species.
• A single hermit thrush singing on territory at Roan Mountain.
• A single dickcissel.
• Two purple finches lingering later than usual.
• Nine pine siskins.
• A total of 29 warbler species, including golden-winged, Swainson’s, cerulean and Canada.

Siskin-Yellow

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Pine siskins are often considered winter birds, but some of these birds nest at higher elevations in the region.

Canada goose, 454; wood duck, 60; gadwall, 1; mallard, 151; bufflehead, 3; and common merganser, 4.

Ruffed grouse, 1; wild turkey, 38; pied-billed grebe, 1; double-crested cormorant, 82; American bittern, 1; great blue heron, 115; green heron, 15; black-crowned night-heron, 5; and yellow-crowned night-heron, 4.

American kestrel, 9; black vulture, 117; turkey vulture, 99; osprey, 10, sharp-shinned hawk, 1; Cooper’s hawk, 6; bald eagle, 5; red-shouldered hawk, 1; broad-winged hawk, 2; and red-tailed hawk, 18.

Sora, 3; killdeer, 29; spotted sandpiper, 27; solitary sandpiper, 16; lesser yellowlegs, 2; least sandpiper, 5; Wilson’s snipe, 1; and Forster’s tern, 3.

gbbc-killdeer

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Killdeer, a species of shorebird in the plover family, is a permanent resident in the region and was the most common shorebird on the count.

Rock pigeon, 179; Eurasian collared dove, 2; mourning dove, 263; Eastern screech-owl, 4; great horned owl, 1; barred owl, 7; Northern saw-whet owl, 2; common nighthawk, 1; chuck-will’s widow, 8; and Eastern whip-poor-will, 28.

Chimney swift, 112; ruby-throated hummingbird, 25; belted kingfisher, 13; red-headed woodpecker, 2; red-bellied woodpecker, 92; yellow-bellied sapsucker, 4; downy woodpecker, 21; hairy woodpecker, 1; and pileated woodpecker, 41.

Eastern wood-pewee, 18; Acadian flycatcher, 8; willow flycatcher, 1; least flycatcher, 5; Eastern phoebe, 103; great crested flycatcher, 21; and Eastern kingbird, 77.

Loggerhead shrike, 2; white-eyed vireo, 16; yellow-throated vireo, 2; blue-headed vireo, 60; warbling vireo, 5; red-eyed vireo, 261; blue jay, 194; American crow, 246; and common raven, 14.

BarnSwallows.jpg

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A nest of barn swallows demonstrates the affinity of this species for human structures.

Northern rough-winged swallow, 134; purple martin, 33; tree swallow, 240; barn swallow, 188; and cliff swallow, 584.

Carolina chickadee, 106; tufted titmouse, 142; red-breasted nuthatch, 10; white-breasted nuthatch, 17; brown creeper, 3; house wren, 63; winter wren, 7; and Carolina wren, 153.

Blue-gray gnatcatcher, 66; golden-crowned kinglet, 10; Eastern bluebird, 129; veery, 27; Swainson’s thrush, 3; hermit thrush, 1; wood thrush, 91; American robin, 581; gray catbird, 76; brown thrasher, 65; Northern mockingbird, 88; European starling, 654; and cedar waxwing, 39.

Ovenbird, 127; worm-eating warbler, 28; Louisiana waterthrush, 27; Northern waterthrush, 1; golden-winged warbler, 3; black-and-white warbler, 96; Swainson’s warbler, 8; Tennessee warbler, 1; Nashville warbler, 1; common yellowthroat, 23; hooded warbler, 157; American redstart, 14; Cape May warbler, 6; cerulean warbler, 1; Northern parula, 44; magnolia warbler, 4; bay-breasted warbler, 2; Blackburnian warbler, 10; yellow warbler, 11; chestnut-sided warbler, 30; blackpoll warbler, 1; black-throated blue warbler, 71; palm warbler, 1; pine warbler, 8; yellow-rumped warbler, 5; yellow-throated warbler, 20; prairie warbler, 5; black-throated green warbler, 75; Canada warbler, 40; and yellow-breasted warbler, 8.

hooded-warbler

Photo by Bryan Stevens • The hooded warbler was the most common warbler on the count, with a total of 157 individuals found.

Eastern towhee, 153; chipping sparrow, 128; field sparrow, 68; Savannah sparrow, 3; grasshopper sparrow, 5; song sparrow, 303; white-throated sparrow, 2; white-crowned sparrow, 1; dark-eyed junco; 54; summer tanager, 2; scarlet tanager, 86; Northern cardinal, 248; rose-breasted grosbeak, 15; blue grosbeak, 7; indigo bunting, 145; and dickcissel, 1.

Red-winged blackbird, 381; Eastern meadowlark, 95; common grackle, 371; brown-headed cowbird, 110; orchard oriole, 34; Baltimore oriole, 46; house finch, 68; purple finch, 2; pine siskin, 9; American goldfinch, 166; and house sparrow, 59.

CBC-Bufflehead

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Lingering waterfowl, such as these buffleheads, were found on the annual Spring Bird Count.

April sees the annual return of hummingbirds to the region as readers share their first spring sightings of tiny gems

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Hummer-Print_edited-1

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Male ruby-throated hummingbirds show the namesake red throat. The feathers on a male’s throat are iridescent, which means they can change when seen from different angles. In poor light, the ruby-red throat can look almost black.

Bob Cheers, a resident of Plantation Road in Bristol, Virginia, sent an email to announce the arrival of his first hummingbird of spring at 6:20 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10.

“I put the feeder out April 2, which is earlier than previous years, after reading your March 31 article in the Bristol Herald Courier,” Bob wrote. “It brought to mind the one year that I failed to get the feeder out early and spotted a hummingbird hovering outside of my family room window, in the exact location my feeder has hung for the last 30 plus years. That little guy had to have been a repeat customer.”

Bob wrote that he’s intrigued by the fact that this year’s arrival date falls within the spread that ranges from April 9 to April 14 that he has established since he started recording the returns in 2009. “What triggers their departure from Central America and their guidance system, considering the variable winds encountered, that sends them back to my feeder within a five-day period each year?” Bob asked in his email.

I had to do some digging to find an answer to Bob’s question. According to the website, Hummingbird.net, the phenomenon of migration among hummingbirds is not well understood.

Hummer-Male

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A ruby-throated hummingbird sips from a sugar water feeder.

“Most ruby-throated hummingbirds winter between southern Mexico and northern Panama,” the website reveals. “Since hummingbirds lead solitary lives and neither live nor migrate in flocks, an individual bird may spend the winter anywhere in this range where the habitat is favorable, but probably returns to the same location each winter.”

The time they spend on this wintering range is remarkably brief. “Ruby-throats begin moving north as early as January, and by the end of February, they are at the northern coast of Yucatan, gorging on insects and spiders to add a thick layer of fat in preparation for flying to the United States,” the website notes.

According to the website, some hummingbirds skirt the Gulf of Mexico and follow the Texas coast north, while most apparently cross the Gulf, typically leaving at dusk for a nonstop flight of up to 500 miles, which takes 18 to 22 hours depending on the weather.

The force that compels hundreds of thousands of individual hummingbirds to all migrate at the same time remains mysterious. The reason these birds migrate is simpler. In the eastern half of the United States and Canada, ruby-throated hummingbirds face no competition from their own kind. If they remained in Central America, they would have to compete with dozens of species of hummingbirds during the nesting season. From the standpoint of the ruby-throated hummingbird, why not take a trip and claim a monopoly over some resource-rich terrain? It’s worked for these tiny flying jewels so far.

So, Bob became the first person to report a hummingbird arrival to me this year, but plenty of other people lined up to share their sightings, too.

Amy Wallin Tipton in Erwin, Tennessee, sent a message via Facebook to report her first hummingbird arrival for the spring. “Just saw my first hummer,” she wrote. Amy reported that the hummer, a male, arrived at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10. “I’m so glad they are back,” she shared.

Ginger Brackins also reported that she saw her first ruby-throated hummingbird of spring on Wednesday, April 10, at her home in Erwin, Tennessee. She noted that it was a week earlier than last year. Ginger notes the arrival dates each year on her calendar. Ginger’s message about her sighting arrived thanks to her daughter, Gina McKinney, who emailed me on her mother’s behalf

Hummer-Farm

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Ruby-throated hummingbirds returned to the region in early April.

Joneen Sargent reported that her first hummingbird put in an appearance at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 11, at her home in Bristol, Tennessee. In her email, she also asked if I had heard of downy woodpeckers drinking from sugar water feeders.

I answered her question by informing her that I’ve noticed downy woodpeckers, as well as Carolina chickadees, taking sips from my feeders. The chickadees can get quite acrobatic in their efforts to indulge their taste for sweets.

“We had our first male hummer at the feeder on Thursday, April 11, here in Bristol, Tennessee,” reported Tom and Sue Faucette in an email. “He came back on April 12-13.”

Lynne Reinhard reported that she saw her first hummingbirds of spring on Friday, April 12. “They are back!” Lynne proclaimed in a Facebook message. She wrote that the first hummingbird of the season arrived at 3 p.m. at her home on the upper end of South Holston Lake.

Snad Garrett saw her first hummingbird of spring on Stoney Creek in Elizabethton, Tennessee, on the evening of Friday, April 12.

Merry Jennings in Abingdon, Virginia, saw her first hummingbird on Friday, April  12, around 6 p.m., but hasn’t seen it since. “I put out the feeder on Thursday, April 11,” she noted in the email she sent me.

Lisa Brewer, who lives near Boone Lake in Piney Flats, Tennessee, reported that her first hummer arrived around 3 p.m. on Friday, April 12.

“I put my hummingbird feeders out last Sunday and had been watching every day for the first hummer to arrive,” she wrote in her email. “I was really excited to see a male ruby-throated hummingbird, and I saw what appeared to be the same one on Saturday and Sunday.”

Lisa added that this is the first year she has been able to get her feeders out in time for the first hummingbirds arriving in this area. “So I wanted to be sure to let you know when I saw my first one,” Lisa wrote.

Hummer-CloserUp

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Keep hummingbirds happy with a sugar water solution of four parts water to one part sugar.

Glen Eller saw his first hummingbird for the spring season on Friday, April 12, at 5:55 p.m. at his home in Fall Branch, Tennessee. “it was a male,” Glen reported in an email.

Karen Fouts posted on Facebook that she saw her first hummingbird of 2019 on Friday, April 12, at her home in Marion, Virginia. She also reported rose-breasted grosbeaks at her feeders.

Lois Cox and Wilma Boy reported their first male ruby-throat hummingbird on Saturday, April 13, at 2:30 p.m. at home in Bluff City, Tennessee. In her email, Lois noted that they needed to get out their feeders for the visiting bird. “It was a male,” Lois wrote in the email. “Hope it comes back.”

Deb Clark sent me an email on behalf of her mother and her sighting of a spring hummingbird. “My mother, Louise Tilson, has asked that I send you a message sharing her good news that she’s having hummingbirds at her backdoor feeder,” Deb wrote in the email.

Deb added that her mom lives in the Riverside community near Chilhowie, Virginia, on the banks of the South Fork of the Holston River. “She put out her feeder about a week ago,” Deb wrote. “The first little fellow showed up Friday, April 12, at about three-thirty in the afternoon.”

Deb relayed that her mother said the hummer came and perched on the feeder, drinking like he was starving.

Louise reported multiple visits by solitary male hummingbirds several times through Friday afternoon, but she wasn’t sure whether it was one bird making several trips or different birds.

Lane and Phyllis Duncan, who reside in the Rich Valley community in Smyth, Virginia, sent me an email to report their first hummer of spring on Friday, April 12, at 3:30 p.m.

Karen Shaffer sent me an email to announce the arrival of a hummingbird at her home. “I’m so excited to report we saw our first hummer on Saturday, April 13, at 11 a.m. at our home on Rich Valley Road, Bristol, near the Benhams and Nordyke communities.”

Karen said she heard the bird before she saw it. “It was visiting our blooming yellow holly bush,” she wrote. “Such a tiny thing — but vivid in color at the throat, so a male, I guess. Yay!”

Gloria Walter Blevins reported in a Facebook message that she saw her first hummingbird this spring on Friday, April 12, at her home in Damascus Virginia. The hummingbird — or another one — returned the following morning. Gloria also noted that she has bluebirds building a nest at her home.

Priscilla Gutierrez, Limestone Cove community in Unicoi County, Tennessee, reported on my Facebook page that she saw the first spring hummingbird Friday, April 12, at 6:45 p.m. “They have been coming ever since,” she noted.

April Kerns Fain in Erwin, Tennessee, posted about her hummingbird sightings on Saturday, April 13, on Facebook. “The hummingbirds are back,” she wrote. “I’ve seen a male at my feeders several times today.”

Rubythroat-TheSoarNet

Photo by TheSOARnet / Pixabay.com • Male ruby-throated hummingbirds usually migrate ahead of females. These tiny birds must cross the Gulf of Mexico, without stopping, to reach their nesting grounds in the eastern United States. The journey across the Gulf can take them 18 to 22 hours, dependent on weather conditions.

Jane P. Arnold sent me an email to notify me of her mother’s hummingbird sighting. Her mother, Betty Poole, who lives in Abingdon, Virginia, saw her first hummingbird — a male — on Saturday, April 13. The following day, a female ruby-throated hummingbird also showed up at the feeder.

Jane added that she’s still waiting to see her own first hummingbird for the spring.

Helen Whited of Richlands, Virginia, reported her first spring hummingbird arrived on Saturday, April 13. “I just saw my first hummingbird of the season,” she wrote in her email. “Just one male so far. I have had my feeders out and waiting for a couple days. I thought this warm spring weather might bring in a few. So exciting!”

Sharee Bowman wrote a post on her Facebook page to announce her first spring hummer sighting on Saturday, April 13. “Hummingbird came yesterday to my feeder and, yes, it is the first one I have seen this year,” she wrote.

Felicia Mitchell saw her first spring hummingbird on Saturday, April 13. “He is happy to be home,” she reported in a comment on my Facebook page.

Brenda Hickman Dishner posted on my Facebook page about hummingbird arrivals. “They arrived at our house in Bristol, Tennessee, near Holston Dam on Highway 421, on Saturday, April 13, about 10:30 a.m.,” she wrote in her posting.

Vivian C. Tester sent me a Facebook message to report that she saw her first spring hummer at her home in Bristol, Tennessee, on Sunday, April 14.

Linda Kessinger Rhodes saw her first spring hummingbird visiting her feeders at her home in Tennessee Hills by the Walmart on the Parkway in Bristol, Tennessee, on Sunday, April 14. She posted her sighting on my Facebook page.

RubyRed

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A male ruby-throated hummingbird perches near a feeder that he is ready to defend from all comers.

Rhonda Eller saw her first hummingbird on Sunday, April 14, at 1:20 p.m. In her post on my Facebook page, she noted that she hung the feeder out last Wednesday before heading to Louisville to visit family. “I am always pleasantly surprised for the first spotting of one here on Horseshoe Bend in Chilhowie, Virginia,” she added. “Oh, the bluebirds are here, too, and have a nest with three eggs.”

Cheri Miller posted on my Facebook page about her sighting. “I saw one Sunday, April 14, in the Brown’s Branch community in Hampton, Tennessee, eyeing an orchid blooming in the window,” she wrote in her post.

Ron Bartlett reported by email that a single male showed up at his feeder on Sunday, April 14. “I live in McDowell County, North Carolina,” Ron shared. “This is about a week later than normal. Perhaps he was held up trying to cross the border.”

Donna Barnes Kilday of Erwin, Tennessee, posted to my Facebook page that she saw her first hummingbird of spring on the morning of Monday, April 15.

Janie Compton, a resident of Chesterfield, Virginia, saw her first hummingbird on Monday, April 15. Her friend, Phyllis Moore, posted news of Janie’s sighting on my Facebook page.

Rubythroat

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Despite a perceived disadvantage of size, ruby-throated hummingbirds are quite capable of thriving in a giant world.

Emily Rogers, from Jonesborough, Tennessee, reported on my Facebook page that she had her first hummingbird of spring in Tennessee’s oldest town on Monday, April 15.

Linda K. Sproles of Bristol, Tennessee, got her first visit from a female hummingbird on Monday, April 15, in the late afternoon. Last year, she said her first sighting took place on Apr.14 while in 2017 she first saw a returning hummingbird on April 16.

Philip Laws, a resident of Limestone Cove in Unicoi County, Tennessee, saw his first hummingbird on Tuesday, April 16, at 4:20 p.m.

Tom and Cathy McNeil, who reside in the Piney Grove community of Hampton, Tennessee, reported their first spring hummingbird on Facebook on Tuesday, April 16.

I saw my first hummingbird this spring when a male visited several of my feeders around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16. I enjoyed welcoming him home.

Readers are welcome to continue sharing their hummingbird sightings. Plenty of other colorful birds are also making spring migration stops, and I love to hear what everyone is seeing in their own yards. Email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com with questions, comments or observations.

Ruby-throatedFemale-EYE

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A female ruby-throated hummingbird settles onto the perch of a sugar water feeder.

April brings flurry of spring migrants to region

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Louisiana Waterthrush

Photo by Adobe Stock • Subtle plumage differences, as well as habitat, behavior and seasonal presence, are factors in distinguishing the Louisiana waterthrush, pictured, from the closely related Northern waterthrush. The Louisiana waterthrush nests along fast-moving streams in the area while the Northern waterthrush does not breed in the region.

I’m always happy for the arrival of April because I know the month hails the arrival of some of my favorite birds. The roughly 50 species of New World warblers that occur in the Eastern United States have captivated me from the time I first picked up a pair of binoculars. The warblers offer color, energy, complex songs and much more for the bird enthusiast to enjoy.

The month started out with my first sighting of a purple finch for the year. The finch must have been a harbinger of birds to come because in quick succession I observed many early migrants, including brown thrasher, blue-headed vireo, blue-gray gnatcatcher and chipping sparrow, as well as several warblers.

PurpleFinches

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A study of the facial pattern of a female purple finch helps contrast her from similar female house finches. Again, the notched tail is also a good indication of the bird’s identity.

The first warbler to arrive in the woods around my home this year was a singing male black-throated green warbler. Three others — black-and-white warbler, yellow-throated warbler and Louisiana waterthrush — followed quickly after my sighting of the black-throated green warbler.

The Louisiana waterthrush stood out among these early observations. This warbler is a specialist of creeks and streams, and my sighting took place near a roaring creek swollen by a rainy spring. This water-loving warbler also has a loud, ringing song that can still be hard to hear because of the fact the bird is usually near the background noise of rushing water.

B&WWarbler

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A black-and-white warbler creeps over the bark of a pine in search of insect prey.

 

While many warblers have shown signs of decline in recent years, the Louisiana waterthrush appears to have bucked that trend. According to the website, “All About Birds,” Louisiana waterthrush populations were stable between 1966 and 2015, based on statistics from the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight, a network of organizations engaged in all aspects of avian conservation, estimates a global breeding population of 360,000, with almost all of those individuals spending at least part of the year in the United States. About a quarter of the population retreats into Mexico during the winter season. The rest winter in Florida and some of the Gulf Coast states, as well as the islands of the Caribbean.

While most songbirds are fortunate to survive two or three years in the wild, at least one Louisiana waterthrush lived to the age of at least 11 years and 11 months. The bird, a male, was seen in New Jersey in the wild and identified by a band on one of his legs. He had been banded in the same state, according to the website, “All About Birds.”

The waterthrushes are the only two species in the genus Parkesia, so named to honor American ornithologist Kenneth C. Parkes, who was for many years curator of birds at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The common name of the Louisiana waterthrush is not a very apt one, as this bird does not have any special affinity for the state of Louisiana. Someone collected some of the early specimens of the Louisiana waterthrush in its namesake location, and the name has stuck through the years.

The only other warbler in the genus Parkesia is the Northern waterthrush which, unlike its relative, likes to live near quiet, sedate pools, ponds and bogs, not rushing streams.

Hummingbirds getting closer to region

Tommy and Virginia Curtis of Smithville, Tennessee, reported their first ruby-throated hummingbirds of the spring on the email group, “TN-Birds.” The hummingbird arrived on April 7.

“We had two male ruby-throated hummingbirds arrive late Sunday afternoon,” they wrote in their email. “That is a little later than the April 1 arrival times in the past.”

The two visitors had apparently agreed to co-exist.

“So far they are eating peacefully, and neither is attacking or dominating the one feeder,” the couple reported. “We keep wondering when the white-throated sparrows and dark-eyed juncos plan to leave, as we have had many of them all winter.”

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Photo by Skeeze/Pixabay • A white-throated sparrow perches on a branch to sing its easily recognizable song. Many Americans translate the sparrow’s song as “Ol’ Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.”

The couple also shared that they have been hosting a small flock of purple finches. “They normally don’t show up at our feeders unless there is snow on the ground, but we have enjoyed seeing them daily,” they wrote in their email.

Of course, the Curtises live in DeKalb County in Middle Tennessee. As of press time, I still haven’t received any reports of hummingbirds arriving in East Tennessee or Southwest Virginia. I’m confident these tiny winged gems will arrive soon. I hope to update on hummingbird arrivals in next week’s column.

Remember to share your hummingbird sighting by emailing me the date and time of the sighting to ahoodedwarbler@aol.com. I’m also on Facebook should anyone want to contact me through that social media platform.

RubyRed

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A male ruby-throated hummingbird perches near a feeder that he is ready to defend from all comers.

 

Prepare to welcome returning hummingbirds as migrating birds make their way back

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Rubythroat-TheSoarNet

Photo by TheSOARnet / Pixabay.com • Male ruby-throated hummingbirds usually migrate ahead of females. These tiny birds must cross the Gulf of Mexico, without stopping, to reach their nesting grounds in the eastern United States. The journey across the Gulf can take them 18 to 22 hours, dependent on weather conditions.

As it has done for many years now, the website journeynorth.org is tracking the progress of ruby-throated hummingbirds as they return to the United States.

Most of the first sightings of hummingbirds made each spring are of male hummingbirds. The males arrive first so they can find and defend a choice territory for the purpose of attracting females. Indeed, there are many more sightings this week for male ruby-throated hummingbirds from Journey North citizen scientists who live along the Gulf Coast states.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A ruby-throated hummingbird perches at a feeder for a sip of sugar water.

On Facebook, I have been doing my own tracking based on posts from friends living farther south. For instance, Marcie McGehee Daniels in Summerville, South Carolina, made a Facebook post on March 22 to share news of her first-of-season ruby-throated hummingbird.

“He drank for a few seconds and then rested in the shade for about 10 minutes, worn out from his trip!” Marcie posted on her Facebook page. She also posted a fantastic photo of the intrepid migrant.

As demonstrated by Marcie’s post, the migration of ruby-throated hummingbirds is drawing closer to our region. They cross the Gulf of Mexico without stopping to reach the Gulf States. Once they make that difficult flight, they will spend some time recuperating before they spread out to make their way northward. Residents in Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina should soon be making their first sightings of ruby-throated hummingbirds since these tiny flying gems departed last October.

Ruby-throated-WILLOWS

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Numbers of ruby-throated hummingbirds in the region tend to fluctuate each year, but people should see a spike in their numbers as the hummingbirds pass through the region this month as they migrate north for another nesting season.

On a recent visit to Fripp Island, South Carolina, I didn’t see any ruby-throated hummingbirds, but I did observe other birds that reminded me that many of my favorite birds should be returning to my home within the next few weeks. I enjoyed sightings of several species of warblers, as well as various shorebirds. Many warblers return to the region in April, and shorebirds may make migration stops at area lakes and rivers as they push rapidly toward breeding grounds in regions far to the north in Canada and Alaska.

Some of the first of the resident summer birds to return to the region each year includes species such as Louisiana waterthrush, brown thrasher, chipping sparrow, tree swallow and blue-gray gnatcatcher. Not too long after these “early birds” have returned, people can expect to start seeing the vanguard of the ruby-throated hummingbird spring migration as these tiny birds, which weigh no more than a nickel, return to their summer nesting grounds across the eastern United States and Canada.

Jean-Thrasher

Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter •  A brown thrasher scans the grass for insect prey.

As one might imagine, such tiny birds face a range of threats. In addition to offering sugar water feeders and planting gardens with nectar-bearing plants, there are other ways to help ruby-throated hummingbirds thrive.

The American Bird Conservancy recommends paying attention to our buying habits. In the winter months when they are far from their summer homes, ruby-throated hummingbirds are known to winter on shade coffee farms. Unlike today’s typical “sun” coffee farm, which razes all trees but the coffee itself, these traditional farms grow coffee in the shade of native trees. By doing so, they produce superior coffee and provide habitat for dozens of migratory songbirds, according to the ABC.

The importance of shade coffee for migratory birds was confirmed by naturalists Kenn and Kim Kaufman, who estimated that a single shade coffee farm in Nicaragua sheltered more than 1,200 migratory bird species—including the ruby-throated hummingbird—on just 90 acres. The ABC notes that buying bird-friendly coffee is an easy way people can help hummingbirds and many other migratory birds.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A rufous hummingbird hovers nears a feeder.

While the eastern United States is home only to the ruby-throated hummingbird as a nesting hummingbird species, the western half of the United States and Canada can claim about a dozen nesting species, including rufous hummingbird, Allen’s hummingbird, Anna’s hummingbird, broad-tailed hummingbird, black-chinned hummingbird, calliope hummingbird, buff-bellied hummingbird, broad-billed hummingbird and violet-crowned hummingbird.

To track the progress of ruby-throated hummingbird migration for yourself, visit http://www.journeynorth.org to monitor their approach to our region. Ruby-throats typically arrive in our region in early April. The early date for a ruby-throated hummingbird arrival in 2018 took place on April 4. If you don’t have your feeders outdoors and waiting for them, it’s time to do so.

As always, I love to hear from readers about their first hummingbird sighting of the year. Jot down the time and date and contact me by email at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com. You can also report your sightings on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ahoodedwarbler. I can hardly wait for one of our favorite birds to get back. Let’s give them a hearty welcome.

Rubythroat

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Despite a perceived disadvantage of size, ruby-throated hummingbirds are quite capable of thriving in a giant world.

Regional bird count detects population trends

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Driveway-Heron

Photo by Pattie Rowland • A Great Blue Heron explores a paved driveway at a home in Erwin, Tennessee. Rookeries, or nesting colonies, in Erwin have expanded the population of this large wading bird locally.

Members of the Elizabethton Bird Club and birding organizations in Kingsport and Bristol fanned out across Northeast Tennessee on Saturday, May 5, for the 75th consecutive Elizabethton Spring Bird Count. A total of 60 observers (a new participation record) looked for birds in Tennessee’s Carter County and parts of the adjacent counties of Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington.

Counts like this one, as well as surveys such as the Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas, now in its third season, provide valuable information to assist responsible agencies and organizations with the protection and preservation of the nation’s birds.

This year’s spring count tallied 152 species, slightly better than the overall average of 149 species established over the last 30 years. The most ever species tabulated for this count was 166 species back in 2016.

Downy_Peanuts

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Many of the birds found during a survey liked the Spring Bird Count are observed at feeders, such as was the case with this downy woodpecker.

I counted birds along the Watauga River in Elizabethton and on Holston Mountain. Some of the better birds I saw during the daylong outing included Baltimore oriole, Blackburnian warbler, warbling vireo, and yellow-billed cuckoo.

I also saw numerous great blue herons. It’s notable that this large wading bird has become much more common in the region, thanks to recent rookeries, or nesting sites, in Erwin, Elizabethton, Bristol and other locations. In recent years, new rookeries have also been established in southwest Virginia in locations such as Saltville and Damascus. A total of 123 great blue herons were found on this year’s spring count.

So it was with much interest that I read on my Facebook page the story of an encounter Pattie Rowland, a resident of Erwin, Tennessee, had with a rather tame great blue heron. Instead of flying away when Pattie stepped outside, a visiting heron strolled around her yard and down her neighbor’s driveway.

Pattie wondered if the heron could be a fledgling from the rookery in Erwin. While that’s certainly a possibility, the bird could also be an adult nesting in the rookery and wandering a little farther afield than usual in search of food for its young. In addition to fish, great blue herons will also feed on earthworms, amphibians, reptiles and even small rodents. As I mentioned to Pattie, herons are like people. Each bird is an individual; some are shy, others are curious and adventurous, which may find a heron exploring a paved driveway instead of a water lily-choked pond.

Heron-OnNest

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Great blue herons have expanded their nesting range into the region.

This heron has only been known to nest in Unicoi County since 2007. In addition, count participants found 144 double-crested cormorants, another bird affiliated with water that has proliferated as a summer nesting bird in the region.

Despite the increasing numbers of great blue herons and double-crested cormorants, they were far from the most numerous bird found on the spring count. The European starling claimed the distinction of most abundant bird on this year’s count with a total of 921 individuals found. Other abundant birds included cliff swallow (864); American robin (844); Canada goose (648); red-winged blackbird (546); and American crow (377). Although the count produced many good birds, it was also notable for some misses, including Northern bobwhite, sharp-shinned hawk and Kentucky warbler.

RW-Blackbird-Erwin

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A male red-winged blackbird sings to attract mates and ward off rivals.

In the wild, great blue herons can live for 15 years. The great blue heron’s diet is often dictated by opportunity with these large birds known to feed on prey that ranges from fish and crustaceans to small alligators and baby turtles. These herons will also feed on insects, rodents, amphibians, reptiles and even nestling birds. A great blue heron will basically try to eat anything that it can capture and swallow.

The great blue heron is the largest North American heron, as well as the world’s third-largest heron species. Other herons around the world with descriptive common names include Goliath heron, black-headed heron, purple heron, zigzag heron, capped heron and whistling heron.

The great blue heron isn’t the only heron found in the region. Other herons that can be found locally include green heron, yellow-crowned night-heron and black-crowned night-heron, all of which were found on the recent bird count.

If you’re interested in observing great blue herons for yourself, consider visits to the wetlands at Sugar Hollow Park in Bristol, Virginia, or the waterways around Osceola Island Recreation Area near Holston Dam in Bristol, Tennessee. These herons can also often be found stalking fish, frogs and other prey around the edges of ponds or streams.

The official results of the Spring Bird Count by the Elizabethton Bird Club are presented below:

Canada goose, 648; wood duck, 70; mallard, 176; Northern shoveler, 1; greater scaup, 1; bufflehead, 1; and red-breasted merganser; 4.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A family of Canada geese swims in the Watauga River in Elizabethton, Tennessee.

Ruffed grouse, 4; wild turkey, 45; common loon, 5; double-crested cormorant,144; great blue heron, 123; great egret, 2; green heron, 29; black-crowned night-heron, 2; and yellow-crowned night-heron, 8.

 

Black vulture, 121; turkey vulture,167; osprey,12; bald eagle, 8; cooper’s hawk, 8; red-shouldered hawk, 2; broad-winged hawk, 8; and red-tailed hawk, 27.

 

Killdeer, 41; spotted sandpiper, 37; solitary sandpiper, 35; greater yellowlegs, 2; lesser yellowlegs, 8; least sandpiper, 10; white-rumped sandpiper, 1; and ring-billed gull, 2.

gbbc-killdeer

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Killdeer, a species of shorebird in the plover family, is a permanent resident in the region.

 

Rock pigeon, 217; Eurasian collared-dove,10; mourning dove, 251; yellow-billed cuckoo, 17; black-billed cuckoo, 3; Eastern screech-owl, 8; great horned owl, 2; barred owl, 8; common nighthawk, 5; chuck-will’s-widow, 7; Eastern whip-poor-will, 43; chimney swift, 185; ruby-throated hummingbird, 51; and belted kingfisher, 15.

Red-headed woodpecker,10; red-bellied woodpecker, 129; yellow-bellied sapsucker, 5; downy woodpecker, 55; hairy woodpecker, 6; Northern flicker, 44; and pileated woodpecker, 59.

American kestrel, 19; Eastern wood-pewee, 43; Acadian flycatcher, 32; least flycatcher, 2; Eastern phoebe, 82; great crested flycatcher, 31; Eastern kingbird, 123; and loggerhead shrike, 1.

 

White-eyed vireo, 21; yellow-throated vireo,10; blue-headed vireo, 86; warbling vireo, 17; red-eyed vireo, 280; blue jay, 231; American crow, 377; fish crow, 2; and common raven, 22.

Purple martin, 82; tree swallow 206; Northern rough-winged swallow, 131; barn swallow, 226; and cliff swallow, 864.

Carolina chickadee, 197; tufted titmouse, 213; red-breasted nuthatch, 11; white-breasted nuthatch, 44; brown creeper, 3; house wren, 53; winter wren, 7; Carolina wren, 225; blue-gray gnatcatcher, 110; golden-crowned kinglet, 5; and ruby-crowned kinglet, 2.

Eastern bluebird,181; veery, 15; gray-cheeked thrush, 1; Swainson’s thrush, 3; wood thrush, 109; American robin, 844; gray catbird, 77; brown thrasher, 72; Northern mockingbird, 138; European starling, 921; and cedar waxwing, 144.

Bluebird-Pool

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A handsome male Eastern bluebird perches on a chain-link fence.

Ovenbird, 170; worm-eating warbler, 42; Louisiana waterthrush, 37; Northern waterthrush, 3; golden-winged warbler, 2; black-and-white warbler, 118; Swainson’s warbler, 3; Tennessee warbler, 1; common yellowthroat, 23; hooded warbler, 192; American redstart,12; Cape May warbler, 4; Northern parula, 44; magnolia warbler 7; Blackburnian warbler, 11; yellow warbler, 34; chestnut-sided warbler, 18; blackpoll warbler, 5; black-throated blue warbler, 71; palm warbler, 5; pine warbler, 13; yellow-rumped warbler, 53; yellow-throated warbler, 43; prairie warbler, 14; black-throated green warbler, 97; and Canada warbler, 34.

Eastern towhee, 250; chipping sparrow,137; field sparrow, 74; savannah sparrow, 2; grasshopper sparrow, 4; song sparrow,322; swamp sparrow, 1; white-throated sparrow, 10; white-crowned sparrow, 7; and dark-eyed junco, 74.

Summer tanager, 3; scarlet tanager, 97; Northern cardinal, 376; rose-breasted grosbeak, 37; blue grosbeak, 6; indigo bunting, 148; dickcissel, 2; and yellow-breasted chat, 10.

Bobolink,16; red-winged blackbird, 546; Eastern meadowlark, 144; common grackle, 474; brown-headed cowbird, 144; orchard oriole, 28; Baltimore oriole, 35; house finch, 96; pine siskin, 79; American goldfinch, 382; and house sparrow, 47.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A male house finch perched on a cable. These finches are native to the western United States but became established in the eastern states thanks to the illicit pet trade.

Hummingbirds not the only birds returning to region as spring migration advances

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A Ruby-throated Hummingbird perches on a sugar water feeder.

A voiceover for a promotional trailer for an upcoming movie in the Jurassic Park franchise asks the question “Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur?” and answers it with the sentence “The first time you see them, it’s like a miracle!”

Obviously, dinosaurs aren’t walking the earth — except in this highly successful movie franchise — although experts maintain that dinosaurian descendants (birds) still roam the world.

Dinosaurs, of course, have impressed humans with immense size ever since their enormous fossils began to be uncovered. Hummingbirds also impress with size, or rather the lack of it. It’s that tiny size that has prompted people to describe them as “miracles” from the time the first European explorers sailed to the New World in the late 1400s. When Spanish explorers first encountered them, they had no equivalent birds in Europe to use as a reference. They referred to hummingbirds as “joyas voladoras,” or flying jewels.

So, how many remember their first sighting of a hummingbird? These tiny birds, still accurately and often described as flying gems, are worthy of the word “miracle” being used to define them. When we see the ruby-throated hummingbirds return to the region every spring, our belief in miracles is strengthened.

I still have readers sharing reports of their first hummingbird sightings this spring.

• Marty Huber and Jo Ann Detta in Abingdon, Virginia, sent me an email about their first spring hummingbird sighting.

They reported that they got their first look at a spring hummingbird on April 18 at 5:04 p.m. “We were excited and have been looking since the beginning of the month,” they wrote. “Last year we didn’t see our first until April 23.”

• Ed and Rebecca Feaster of Piney Flats, Tennessee, put out their feeders after reading one of my columns earlier in April.

“We are happy to report that we saw a little female ruby-throated hummer on the morning of April 20,” they wrote in their email. “We were thankful to offer her nectar as she seemed very, very hungry!”

The Feasters noted that they have been in the Tri-Cities area for three years.

They had previously lived more than 20 years in the Roanoke Valley. “Birders in that area said to look for the hummers to arrive when the azaleas bloom,” they wrote. “The same seems to hold true here as the ones around our home began to blossom just a couple days ago.”

• Jane Arnold, a resident of Bristol, Virginia, sent me an email about her first hummer sighting.

“Just wanted to let you know that my first hummer of the year arrived at 10:20 a.m. Saturday, April 21,” she wrote. “I was so excited to see him! I had taken my feeder out to hang (it was sitting on a table) and [the hummingbird] flew to it.”

• Don and Donna Morrell emailed me with their first hummingbird sighting of spring. “My wife Donna and I saw our first hummingbirds on April 22,” Don wrote.

The Morrells saw both a male and female hummingbird. “We are located behind South Holston Dam,” Don added. “We are glad our friends are back. Also on that same day we saw an eagle and white crane.”

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A migrating Great Egret makes a stop at a golf course pond.

Most likely the white crane was a great egret, which is also migrating through the region right now. Although often called cranes, egrets are part of the family of wading birds that includes herons. North America’s true cranes are the endangered whooping crane and the sandhill crane.

• Facebook friend Sherry Thacker reported a first sighting of a ruby-throated hummingbird on April 22.

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Photo Courtesy of Helen Whited • A Baltimore Oriole visits a feeder “baited” with an orange slice.

“It came looking at the thistle seed feeder that is red,” she reported. “I had not put up the sugar water feeder, but I did today.”

Sherry reported seeing some beautiful hummingbirds last year.

Of course, we are in the midst of spring migration, which means hummingbirds are hardly the only new arrivals.

• Helen Whited in Abingdon, Virginia, has seen two very brightly-colored species of birds pass through her yard this spring. On April 17, her feeders were visited by male rose-breasted grosbeaks. “I am so excited to see my first grosbeaks,” she shared in an email that also contained a photo featuring two of the visiting grosbeaks. On April 21, Helen sent me another email with a photo of a male Baltimore oriole visiting a specially designed feeder made to hold orange slices to attract fruit-loving orioles. Grosbeaks and orioles are two migrant species of birds that deliver splashes of tropical color to the region each year.

Helen had prepared for the visit by the Baltimore oriole. In an email from last year, she had told me that her husband had promised her an oriole feeder for her birthday. I’m glad she’s been able to report success in bringing one of these bright orange and black birds to her yard.

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Photo Courtesy of Helen Whited • A pair of Rose-breasted grosbeaks take turns visiting a feeder.

• Anita Huffman of Rugby, Virginia, saw a male rose-breasted grosbeak on April 22. She reported her sighting on Bristol-Birds, a network for sharing postings about bird observations in the region.

• John Harty, a resident of Bristol, Tennessee, sought my help with identifying a new bird in his yard. Based on his description of the bird — the shape of a robin, reddish-brown coloration and a taste for suet cakes at John’s feeder — I suggested that his bird was probably a brown thrasher.

Brown thrashers returned to my home in late March and almost immediately sought out my suet feeders. Other recent arrivals have included several warblers — hooded, black-throated green and black-and-white — as well as tree swallows, which immediately got down to the business of selecting a nesting box. All of these birds nest in the gardens and woods around my home.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • Brown Thrasher perched in a Mimosa Tree.

Some birds, however, announce their arrival not with bright colors but with beautiful songs. On April 23, I listened as a wood thrush sang its flute-like song from the edge of the woods just outside my bedroom window. The sweet song of this thrush is one of my favorite sounds of spring.

Every bird is a miracle, whether you’re seeing or hearing them for the first time or welcoming them back for another spring and summer season.

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Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service • The Wood Thrush often sings its flute-like song from deep under cover in dense woodlands.