Hi all,
Hope you are all well, and a happy new year.
As I previously mentioned, I spent last year birding almost exclusively in
Clarkston, a rather under-reported area on the east side of Atlanta, in
DeKalb Co. I also included the 30021 Zip Code. The study area was about
4-5 square miles.
The total number of species I ended up finding was 133, from 580 completed
checklists (there were numerous incomplete, while driving, walking the dog
etc). This was a much larger number of sightings than I had envisioned.
I am still writing things up, and still looking at various aspects of it
all (and I would LOVE feedback or suggestions regarding analysis). But I
thought I would send three tables of interest that I have put together
based upon the findings.
The first table below shows the number of different LOCATIONS I found
certain species (I have listed the most numerous). I wanted to get a
spread of the whole area, not just limit things to the small number of
hotspots there. I have broken this table into Permanent Residents and
Summer/Winter.Migrant. No great surprises here, though the Great Crested
Flycatcher seems very well represented.
Species (PR)
No of locations noted
Species (SR/WR/M)
No of locations noted
Mourning Dove
22
Chimney Swift
16
Northern Mockingbird
21
Great Crested Flycatcher
12
Northern Cardinal
20
Cedar Waxwing
13
European Starling
20
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
11
Carolina Wren
19
Golden-crowned Kinglet
11
Red-tailed Hawk
18
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
11
Red-bellied Woodpecker
18
Palm Warbler
11
Blue Jay
18
Yellow-rumped Warbler
11
American Robin
18
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
10
Eastern Towhee
18
Red-eyed Vireo
10
Pine Siskin
10
The second table below shows the number of species seen at 11 locations
that became my own personal "hotspots" - only three of these are ebird
hotspots. These sites are spread across the whole study area and show, in
my opinion, a reasonably healthy collection.
Location
Number of species
Location
Number of Species
Friendship Forest (ebird hotspot)
113 (HS total at start 86; now 127)
Park North Boulevard Industrial Estate
66
Milam Park (ebird hotspot)
70 (HS total at start 48;now 75)
Woodland Avenue
64
Forty Oaks Nature Preserve (ebird hotspot)
75 (HS total at start 38; now 78)
Clarkston Library and Community Center
64
Stoneview Park
70
Clarkston High School
65
Milam Park Woods (substantially demolished for housing mid-year)
64
Jolly Elementary School and surrounding streets
63
Church Street Cycle Path
64
The final table below is an attempt to record relative abundance or lack of
abundance. I should say that some birds were completely absent - almost
all waterfowl and shorebirds most noticeably. To get a figure for relative
abundance, I took the middle point of the highest and lowest number for
each species in DeKalb County and then compared it with my own figures. I
then calculated the percentage "above" or "below" average (percentages can
lead to some quite unwieldy numbers). I also ONLY included species that
had been seen at more than one location and also on more than two
occasions. Here are the scores below (I will talk about them at the end of
the table)
Species with % above DeKalb abundance average
Species with % below DeKalb abundance average
Pine Siskin 10,093
Black Throated Green Warbler 322
Rock Pigeon -86
Black and White Warbler -28
Broad Winged Gull 1,066
Golden-crowned Kinglet 314
Hooded Warbler -69
Common Yellowthroat -25
Sharp-shinned Hawk 850
Green Heron 306
Wood Duck -67
Indigo Bunting -20
Brown Creeper 533
White-eyed Vireo 305
Mallard -61
Carolina Chickadee -19
Swainson’s Thrush 415
Louisiana Waterthrush 300
Rose-breasted Grosbeak -61
Northern Cardinal -12
Red-headed Woodpecker 385
Scarlet Tanager 271
Chestnut-sided Warbler -57
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher -11
Cedar Waxwing 373
Barred Owl 252
Cape May Warbler -47
Belted Kingfisher -10
American Robin 333
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 244
Magnolia Warbler -47
Great Blue Heron -6
Red-tailed Hawk 224
Dark-eyed Junco -46
EasterTowhee -6
Ruby-throated Hummingbird -40
Pileated Woodpecker -6
American Redstart -37
Carolina Wren -3
Tufted Titmouse -29
Of those appearing more abundant than the DeKalb average, the Pine Siskin
figure is obviously a reflection of the irruption we had this winter.
Broad-wingeds, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Green Herons, White-eyed Vireos all
bred in the area.
Of those appearing below average in terms of abundance, it is clear that
many of these were migratory. But also some of our most common species
seemed under-represented. Figures for Rock Pigeon may be unsafe because so
many are reported as incidentals/incomplete (and therefore are not included
in the ebird calculations for abundance). Also, it may be that I
under-counted some of the more common birds. Even so, within an overall
picture of reasonable health, there seems to be some causes for concern.
Please feel free to send your observations, critique etc etc. It could be
that some kind of policy suggestion could emerge from all this to send to
Clarkston Council (at a time when there is a lot of new development going
on).
Thanks so much for reading. Thanks also to the other birders who came to
Clarkston and shared this journey of exploration.
Cheers
Drew Whitelegg
DeKalb Co.
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