FreeLists / tn-bird / [tn-bird] Possible checkout Rutherford Co site & possible Bewick's Wren on film

[FINCH64@xxxxxxx]

A short weekend birding excursion to see Loggerhead Shrikes and Eurasian 
Collared Doves near the New Life in Christ Church parking lot on Florence 
Road near Blackman community not far from I-840 and I-24 - just a hop, skip 
and jump from our house - has given me an idea.

I also visited the nearby Blackman United Methodist Church parking lot and 
got to see Chimney Swifts as they flew very low over an adjoining field 
catching bugs. I am only used to seeing them flying higher in the air over 
our yard at dusk. This was in the early am last Saturday.

I am pretty sure I saw one Loggerhead Shrike sitting on a wire over the field 
next to the parking lot of the New Life in Christ Church. I went for the 
video cam in my car and when I turned back it was gone. I will have to keep 
going back there until I get one on film. I went back tonight and got 
Eurasian Collared Doves and Mourning Doves on film so I can compare. Still 
only silhouettes. I'll keep trying to get shots with more detail of the 
Eurasian Collared Doves. I saw one on the wire right at the entrance to the 
neighborhood on Majesty Drive right off Florence Road. I also got a Northern 
Mockingbird on film hopefully to compare it with a Loggerhead Shrike.

But this gave me an idea that other rural church parking lots in our area 
might yield some results for birding. I have decided to try different ones as 
I drive around on my usual daily errands. I also plan to check out parks and 
cemeteries - particularly those near water.

Today I checked out my first site for this project - the parking lot of a 
fairly new church on Almaville Road between I-24 and Nissan. It's called All 
Saints Episcopal Church. In the back of the property is a wonderful view of a 
very large field. Some really big trees in the middle of the field and lots 
of trees bordering the field. I am only a novice birder and although I heard 
a lot of birds I could only recognize the calls of the following with any 
certainty: American Crow, Northern Cardinal and Red-winged Blackbird. So 
maybe someone more experienced might uncover alot more species there. Also it 
might be worth checking out this fall for migrants. Just an idea. I was on my 
way to do errands in Smyrna so I couldn't stay long at the site. Also it was 
between 3 and 4 pm and it was very hot today - got up to 100 degrees - and I 
made the notation that the birds were not very visible - just audible.

Sunday morning between about 11 am and noon I caught on film what I believe 
to possibly be a Bewick's Wren. I got it on film for almost 7 minutes exactly 
sitting on a branch in a cedar in our back yard - actually back up by the 
woods. Near a brush pile. It even preened itself giving a very good view of 
it's front. However I did not get a good view of its back or its tail for 
better ID. My main comment about the bird is that it seemed very 
"un-Carolina-like" in its manner. To me a Carolina Wren is like a "monkey 
bird." It's here. No it's there. No there it is. Constantly nervously 
twitching and flitting here and there. This bird was much calmer. It also 
appeared plumper than the Carolina Wrens in our yard. Maybe it was just 
puffing itself up while preening? It was rufous brown on its back. It's 
underside was very pale - looks very white to me in the film especially when 
it is preening. A few dark streaks on its breast. What appears to be buff on 
the rump. The white eye brow is definitely there. I continued filming until 
stupid me had to try to shift my foot and that startled the bird which was 
less than 20 feet from me in a low branch of a cedar. Then it flew away out 
of the frame and when I looked up and tried to find it again it was nowhere 
to be seen. I was up on that hill back by the edge of the woods (choked with 
cedars here by the way) and had seen a pair of wrens whose "churr" to me 
didn't sound like a Carolina Wren. I saw one of them near a bush attending to 
what may be a nest in that bush. The other one was on the other side of me 
and ran under some cars that are parked in our back lot (we run a car-hauling 
business out of our house). I went to fetch my video cam from the house. When 
I came back the birds were gone but I filmed what appeared to be a 
globe-shaped nest in that bush anyway.

I went over toward the brush pile I mentioned above and 2 birds appearing to 
be wrens seemed very agitated when I approached the brush pile. That's when I 
started filming.

I have notified those in charge of the Bewick's Wren project about the film 
via email. So far no reply. I have viewed the film several times and I just 
can't see it as a Carolina Wren. The only thing I can consider is that maybe 
in the light the underside looks paler to me than it actually is but 
especially when it is preening it looks very white to me. I have labeled the 
film cartridge with the approximate time and the date and the notation 
"Bewick's Wren?" so that I don't accidentally record over the film.

In reference to the Scissor-tailed Flycatchers at Smyrna Airport, another 
birder told me they are in a restricted area. I don't know how one goes about 
getting permission to get in there. I go to Smyrna every weekday on errands 
for our family company and would be willing to loan my camera and donate the 
film to someone to get footage of them for the NTOS.

Anybody have any other suggestions in reference to the possible Bewick's 
Wren? Do I need to also notify someone at NTOS itself? I would really like 
someone to see the film first. I would feel like a total idiot if it is only 
a Carolina Wren in bad lighting in my camera - lol

Thanks for letting me ramble.

Barry Jernigan
Murfreesboro, TN 

PS I have never heard or seen any House Wrens on our property so if it is a 
Bewick's Wren perhaps it will have a good chance of nesting successfully.
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