FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Warbling Vireo, King Rail, eagles, Jefferson Co, IMBD

[K Dean EDWARDS <kde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I decided to combine Mother's Day and International Migratory
Bird Day for a Take Your Mother Birding Day.  Mom, Dad and I
hit a few of my old haunts in Jefferson County, TN (I escaped 
the wedding shower Amber went to).  

We covered the ponds at New Market, Cherokee Dam and Mossy 
Creek WVA plus the area around their house.  Mostly water
birding with little woodland birds but a great day with some
AWESOME birds.  Highlights follow.

All for Jefferson Co., TN, Saturday, 8 May 2004


BALD EAGLE, nest with 1 adult and two young that looked ready
to leave the nest

KING RAIL, 2 at Mossy Creek WVA at the observation tower.
I first heard the "outburst of grunts" call which threw me
for a mental loop because the first thing that came to mind
was all the Clapper Rails I've heard at Huntington Beach State 
Park in SC.  Then came the long series of evenly spaced "chips" 
but slower (more time between chips) than on the Stokes CD.  
Later, a second bird joined in and they were alternating chips.
We were never able to see the birds in the cattails which were
about 100+ ft away.  I could be wrong but I'm pretty comfortable
with the call.

5 shorebird species:
Killdeer, 5
Semipalmated Plover, 1
Least Sandpiper, 12
Solitary Sandpiper, 1
Spotted Sandpiper, 1

Ring-billed Gull, 1
FORSTER'S TERN, 2 from Cherokee Dam

EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, 1 at one of the two locations I know of
for this species in Jefferson Co.  I still know of only one
record for Knox Co.

BARN OWL, 1 at my parents' house

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, 1

all 7 swallow species including:
Cliff Swallow, 50+ at Cherokee Dam nesting under the bridge
Bank Swallow, only 1 at New Market near a traditional colony
in mine tillings

Loggerhead Shrike, 1 at the traditional site in New Market

WARBLING VIREO, 2, a pair at Mossy Creek WVA defending the large 
hickory between the road and the walkway to the observation 
tower.  We could not find a nest but I'm sure there was one 
or the beginnings of one.  A bit more of a "trash" bird in 
West TN, but for East TN, this is a great find and very 
accessible for many to see.  There's a good number of them at 
Rankin WMA but they're hard to see.  

White-crowned Sparrow, 3 at parents' feeders


Jefferson Co. is definitely an under-appreciated bird mecca.


I went to check a large (~50 acre) field in New Market where
I've had Dickcissel and Grasshopper Sparrow in the past...
it's now a 50-acre tomato field.

On different note, we've had 2 Luna Moths at our house in 
west Knoxville this weekend.


Dean Edwards
Knoxville, TN





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