A couple years ago Scott Somershoe did a bicycle big day in
the Nashville area and tallied 106 species.
Since then I have been wondering how many species were possible on a
bike route in East Tennessee. A couple
weeks ago Tom McNeil and I scouted a bike route in Carter County that started
at Carver’s Gap before dawn and ended in Johnson City. We ended up with 96 species, and many
migrants had not yet arrived, so 106 was a remote possibility. My goal really was to try to break 100. I had originally planned to go on May 1, and
in hind sight that would have probably been more productive, but after looking
at weather reports decided to the Friday before (April 29). The route would include Carver’s Gap, Roan
Mountain State Park, Hampton Creek Cove, Pond Mountain via Walnut Mountain Road
and Little Stoney Creek, Watauga Lake, Watauga Dam, Elizabethton Walkway,
Sycamore Shoals State Park, the Tweetsie Trail, and Dry Creek Rd (if I still
had any legs left).
The day started with perhaps a little too much wind at
Carver’s Gap. I checked off most of the
high elevation species I expected to find, but no Northern Saw-whet Owl. Also, I did not hear American Woodcock, which
in past years has been seen and heard at the gap, and it was slightly early for
Alder Flycatcher. I did have a flock of
Red Crossbills fly over, which was a bonus.
Coming down the mountain I saw most of the usual suspects but did not
see or hear Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, which we found during our scouting
trip. Then it was over to Hampton Creek
Cove.
You don’t really appreciate how many dogs are running around
loose on country roads until you travel them by bicycle. I never had any serious canine encounters
during the ride, but I was constantly being put on alert by the barking of
unseen dogs around the next corner or over the next hill. Somehow, they knew I was coming.
When I left Hampton Creek Cove I had only really added
Golden-winged Warbler and I was running behind scheduled. I had decided on a route up and over Pond
Mountain and so I was on my mountain bike.
Although mountain bikes are heavier and slower, this would allow a
chance to pick up a couple extra species like Ruffed Grouse and Blackburnian
Warbler, and it would take me past Watauga Lake without having to
backtrack. In the end, it took me more
time and effort than I had estimated, and I did not find anything new for the
list except Common Raven, which I should have had on Roan Mountain. Pond Mountain would have made a great ride by itself,
but the effort made the rest
of the ride a grind.
The day had started off pleasant and cool, but by the time I
got to Watauga Point on the lake it was past noon and heating up. The point was quiet; apparently all the birds
were taking siestas. One of the
Ring-billed Gulls we had found on our scouting trip was still hanging around
though, which was some small consolation for the long ride over the
mountain. It was time to head back
towards Hampton and around the other side of the lake to hopefully pick up a
few shorebirds at Rasar’s Farm we had found while scouting. There was also a side street with Purple
Martin houses to check. The road back
was busy and narrow, with rumble strips and no shoulder, which made for
exciting times when trucks with boat trailers came by.
Near the trail head for Laurel Falls I crossed the
Appalachian Trail for the third time on the ride. I had started on the Appalachian Trail at
Carver’s Gap, where I hiked up Round Bald in what turned out to be an
unsuccessful attempt to find a Vesper Sparrow.
The second crossing was up on Pond Mountain. Now I was at a popular spot on the lake where
hikers often rested at a small swimming area.
Occasionally trail angels will be found there cooking hamburgers and
hotdogs for hungry and weary hikers, so-called “trail magic”. Alas, no such luck this day. It was just me and a trail weary hiker. I didn’t even have a power bar to offer
him.
I made it back the 6 miles or so to Hampton only to discover
I had lost my hat somewhere along the way.
I stopped off at a convenience store to refuel and update my
checklist. 100 species was still within
reach with the species I still expected I could find. I was getting low on energy and short on
time, however. I needed some shorebirds,
a couple species of waterfowl, and a little luck. If I could make it to Elizabethton and the
Watauga River with the birds we had found on the scouting trip, I might still
have a shot.
The whole thing came unraveled on Siam Road. It is a busy, narrow, curvy road that should
have taken me to the Watauga Dam area and Purple Martins, Bufflehead,
Yellowlegs, and Cliff Swallows. As I was
riding hard to get off that road as quickly as possible my front tire flatted,
along with all my hopes and dreams of breaking or equaling Somershoe’s mark of
106 species. It was a terrible place for
a flat tire, with ditches on either side of the road that prevented me from
getting out of traffic. I had to carry
my bike a couple hundred yards before I could find a safe spot in the shade to
assess the damage. I had a spare tube
and air pump, so it was not a total disaster.
However, by the time I had fixed the flat I was even farther behind
schedule, and I decide I should skip that whole dam(n) area and head for the
Elizabethton Greenway, where if I flatted again (I only brought one spare tube)
I was in walking distance of my ride back to my car in Roan Mountain.
I ended the day with species 90, 91, and 92 by picking up 3
new species after dark in the Walmart parking lot behind Tom’s house: Common
Nighthawk, Killdeer (can’t believe I still needed that), and Solitary Sandpiper
(in a puddle in an area under construction).
Reviewing my list, I had a realistically shot at breaking 100 if I had
made it to the Watauga Dam area, and might have made it to 100 without going to
the dam with a little luck. In the end,
having found almost no transient migrants (birds just passing through on
migration), I had little chance at making it to 106.
I talked with Scott Somershoe before and afterward my
attempt at a bicycle big day. He was
never really worried about his mark being bested because he has birded with me
and knows my weaknesses in the areas of fitness and birding: I just recently
turned 5o, I wear progressive eyeglasses, and I am deaf in one ear. He did inform me of his plans for a bike big
day in his new home state of Colorado sometime during the first couple weeks of
May.
Tom McNeil kindly gave me a lift back to retrieve my car in
Roan Mountain. He asked if I was still
planning on joining him and his wife, Cathy, for the spring bird count at 0500
the next morning. My instinct was to
decline, but we had been talking about how we had a good shot at breaking 100
species during the count. Why not, I
thought? I told Tom the only reason I
was coming was to find the hat I lost.
The next afternoon, as we were birding along the lake and I was fighting
to stay awake, Tom asked, “Did you say your hat was blue?” I looked over and he was pointing at the
ground next to the road. When we
finished our bird count route and I picked up my car at Tom’s house, I was
considering looking for a few more species just in case we were close to 100
but not quite there. In the end, I
decided to go home and nap in the hammock on the porch and enjoy the rain
showers that had blown in. Later, Tom
texted me our tally: 97 species…
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