FreeLists / tn-bird / [tn-bird] Harris' Sparrow, Brown-headed Nuts, etc

[Charlie <cmmbirds@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi folks,

First, for those of you who want to know, I did see the immature
Harris' Sparrow (HASP) today.  Now the details...

Decided to follow a bird-finding guide almost verbatim for the first
time in my birding career today.

I followed (in reverse) the section of Bierly's guide.  I think the
title is ("Finding Birds in East Tennessee?"  Sorry, it's out in my
truck and I'm warm now!

At any rate, I stopped at nearly every location he lists for the
"west Chattanooga" section:  from Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge (which was
called something-or-other goose management area back then) to
Chicakamauga Dam.

General impression is that the facts are still good.  The map had no
errors that I could detect, and all the places listed that I tried
are still there - though some have more development around them, of
course.

This was my first time seeing mass numbers of Sandhill Cranes outside
Texas and Florida - wonderful!  It was also by far the coldest I've
ever been when seeing more than one crane at a time.  Unfortunately,
Hiwassee had little else to offer, besides the friendly company of
the Wilkerson's, who were nice enough to share some good birding
tips, once they'd finished helping a bunch of (5th grade?) kids.

I arrived at the previously described location for HASP at about 9
am.  There were several HUNDRED sparrows -it was wonderful.  Chipping
(whish I didn't expect), Song, White-throated, White-crowned, Swamp,
even a Savannah.  But it took me a while to locate just one of the
HASP.  This is only the second I've ever seen, and it acted the same
way as my first.  Jumped up from being hidden *right in front of me*,
stuck out it's tongue, said "nyah nyah nyah" and flew out of sight,
not to be relocated.  Times like that when I don't begrudge Audobon
his gun.

There seemed to be Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers everywhere I went today.
 I saw at least 20 individuals, which outnumbers all the other
woodpeckers combined.

I apologize for not mentioned this before, but the first weekend of
January, Tracey Everson and I saw and heard several Brown-headed
Nuthatches at the marina which is just across route 153 from
Chickamauga Dam (if you were to jump off the dam on the up-stream
side, and swim kinda to your right, you'd get there, but driving may
be easier.)  They were in the lone pine tree that is immediately next
to the boat launch there.  Today when we returned, there were none in
that tree, but we did find a single one in the small stand of trees
just beyond there, on the little point of land that juts into the
lake.

I also had both scaup at Booker T. Washington SP (shhh, don't tell
anyone I was there on a Tuesday)  There is a very nice nature trail
that goes along the bluff.  I had many land birds, and some distant
views of a number of water birds.  If you pass the gated entrance
(thank  you, Mr. Sundquist) and take a left just before the next big
church, the trail head is a few hundred yards down on the left. 
There is parking for 3 small, well-parked cars.

Good day!

Let it snow!!!!!

Charlie






=====
**************************************************
Charlie Muise, Senior Naturalist
Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont
Townsend, TN  lat 35 deg, 38'23"  long 83 deg, 41'22"

"Do something. If it works, do it again. If it does not work, do something 
else. But above all else: Do Something." (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)

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