FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Seven Islands - eagles in nest

[David Trently <dtrently@xxxxxxx>]

east Tennessee
Knox County
Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge


Today (11-6-04) there were two adult BALD EAGLEs sitting in a nest in a tree 
on an island in the river just off the Steamboat Island Trail at Seven Islands 
Wildlife Refuge. This was a large nest, and looked fairly new. I'd say it was 
bigger than a Great Blue Heron nest - which can be seen on the opposite shore 
of the river.
One eagle flew off, soon followed by the other, and they both sat in trees 
along the river. A couple hours later, one eagle was still being seen soaring 
up the river.
I imagine this is not a time of year when eagles are working on nests, and 
these birds may have just been sitting in one they found, but I'll be checking 
this area in the future.
One problem is that the tree is near where work is being done to construct a 
water-control structure which will flood an area and hopefully bring in 
waterfowl and shorebirds to the refuge. Hopefully the work won't keep the 
eagles away.

Other birds seen here:

about 50 Canada Geese
female Northern Harrier. This one was calling (sort of like a soft bark) as it 
hunted over a field.
LARGE accipiter. First seen perched in a tree then flying into a field to 
chase dozens of sparrows and/or goldfinches. Hard to judge size since it was 
by itself when I could see it well, but it was either a large immature female 
Cooper's Hawk (most likely) or...who knows, maybe a N Goshawk.
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
over 100 Turkey Vultures heading south
Mourning Doves
Belted Kingfisher
N Flickers
Downy Wp
Hairy Wp
Red-bellied Wp
E Phoebe
lots of American Crows
Blue Jays
Carolina Chickadees
Tufted Titmouses (I read somewhere that that is actually the correct plural 
for it! Who knows?....)
several Carolina Wrens
2 Winter Wrens
and I heard what were probably a couple House Wrens
E Bluebirds
American Robins (only 1 or 2)
N Mockingbirds
Brown Thrasher   1
the Loggerhead Shrike is still present, in the area before the last barn.
Eur Starlings
one Palm Warbler
a single female Common Yellowthroat
N Cardinals
Field Sparrows
2 Fox Sparrows
HUNDREDS of Song Sparrows
Swamp Sparrows
2 dozen or more White-crowned Sparrows
White-throated Sparrows
Red-winged Blackbirds, about 10
E Meadowlark, only 1
House Finches
lots of American Goldfinches

This was one of the rare times I did not hear any bobwhite. Also no Savannah 
Sparrows, though I'm sure there were some there. And no Yellow-rumped Warblers 
-- where are all of them?

Still a small number of butterflies around, with mostly Sleepy Orange, 
Variegated Fritillary, Painted Lady and Clouded Skippers.

David Trently
Knoxville, TN
dtrently@xxxxxxx

=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    ========================================================