Displaying items by tag: smokies life

 In an August 19, 1984, newspaper article from the Bristol Herald Courier, Bob Shumate and Rick Knight are pictured observing reintroduced peregrine falcon chicks at a hacking site in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Courtesy Bristol Herald Courier

Greenbrier Pinnacle in Great Smokies was epicenter of decades-long recovery effort

Holly Kays is the lead writer for Smokies Life.

GATLINBURG — With striking white-and-gray plumage, yellow beaks and talons, and powerfully compact bodies, peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) are beautiful birds in any posture. But they’re downright magical in the air—aerial acrobats capable of reaching 200 mph as they dive down onto their prey. For Johnson City, Tennessee, ornithologist Rick Knight, such sightings are especially rich in meaning.

“It’s like watching one of my kids or grandkids making his own in the world,” he said.

In the summer of 1984, Knight was 28 years old, an East Tennessee farm boy with a bachelor’s degree in biology and an abiding love for the outdoors. When he learned about an opportunity to get paid to spend all summer camping in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, he jumped at the chance.

The job revolved around four fluffy peregrine falcon chicks, which wildlife managers hoped would become the first wild peregrines to soar over the Smokies in decades. The Smokies reintroduction was a joint effort of the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Tennessee Valley Authority, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and The Peregrine Fund.

Jonathan Cox (left), wetlands biology technician for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, looks in astonishment at an eastern hellbender captured while monitoring populations in Pisgah National Forest.  Ben Dalton/N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission 

Two-year study will gain insight into hellbender reproduction; special interest in Fontana Reservoir area and its watersheds 

Holly Kays is senior writer for Smokies Life.

GATLINBURG — With wrinkly skin that comes in various shades of brown, eastern hellbenders aren’t easy to spot. These giant salamanders, which average 20 inches in length, spend most of their lives nearly invisible under rocks on the bottom of cool, fast-flowing streams. In a two-year research project starting this summer, Great Smoky Mountains National Park will use a combination of technology and traditional survey techniques to solve the mystery surrounding the hellbender’s distribution in the Smokies.

“One of the major conservation questions is: Are hellbenders reproducing in our streams?” said Jonathan Cox, wetlands biology technician for the park. “And it’s really hard to find that out because their lifespan is so long that you can have a hellbender detected in a stream for multiple decades, but it may be the same individual.”

Hellbenders can live for 30 years or more, so figuring out whether the adults alive today are reproducing successfully is imperative to securing the species’ future. Hellbender populations have declined significantly over recent decades, leading the US Fish and Wildlife Service to propose that the salamander be listed as an endangered species. A public comment period on the listing proposal is open through February 11.

A pileated woodpecker is seen seeking dinner; it is a common denizen of winter Southern Appalachian forests and likely made many Christmas bird lists.  Evan Kidd via Smokies Life

Citizen-led Audubon Christmas Bird Count tallies our feathered friends for yet another year

Holly Kays is the lead writer for Smokies Life.

GATLINBURG — Since its origin in 1900, the Christmas Bird Count has become a holiday fixture for ever-expanding numbers of birders across the globe, giving a valuable gift to generations of wildlife scientists — a massive trove of data on bird populations in the Western Hemisphere.

This annual avian census, set to commence for the 125^th time, began in an era when many bird species were facing steep declines, especially waterfowl prized for their feathers. The Christmas Bird Count was the National Audubon Society’s answer to the traditional Christmas Side Hunt, a team competition that encouraged participants to kill as many furred and feathered creatures as possible in a single outing.

“The Christmas Bird Count really got started as an alternative to those kinds of hunting efforts,” said Curtis Smalling, executive director of Audubon North Carolina. “This year is the 125^th annual Christmas Bird Count, and that makes it the longest-running community science project in North America.”

Anyone can participate in the CBC, regardless of their birding skill level, by joining one of the thousands of circles, each 15 miles in diameter, that comprise the event. The organizer of each circle chooses a day between December 14 and January 5 to conduct their count. On the appointed day, all participants in the circle have 24 hours in which to tally as many birds as they can. In addition to listing the individual species spotted, they also count the number of individual birds seen and participant hours logged.

The Great Smoky Mountains region includes circles in Gatlinburg, Cades Cove, Knoxville, Franklin, Highlands, Waynesville, Hot Springs and Asheville.

A male (left) and female common merganser perch on a rock. Though this species may winter in coastal areas, it tends to prefer freshwater habitat and winters in the Smokies in small numbers.  Warren Bielenberg via Smokies Life