[Bristol-Birds] Kingsport Woodcock nest, early Swallows, Herons


Sunday, March 30, 2003
Kingsport, TN

     An outing by Don Holt, Linda & Dexter Newman, and Michael Poe to 
Kingsport Sunday, despite the snow, proved very rewarding.
     A trip to Meadowview Marsh to view an active American Woodcock nest 
previously discovered by Linda Newman turned up an empty nest.  After a close 
examination of the eggshells, I believe they indicate a successful hatching 
rather than predation.  (The precocious young leave the nest shortly after 
hatching.)  If anyone observes American Woodcock there this year, with or 
without young, please let me know.
     At the Interstate 181 bridge over Long Island, we failed to find any 
Cliff Swallows around the numerous nests, but in the main river channel under 
the bridge were Tree, Barn, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows.  They, along 
with some Eastern Bluebirds, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Northern 
Mockingbird, were repeatedly landing on and momentarily clinging to the 
vertical sides of the bridge support columns.  A closer inspection revealed 
large numbers of adult caddisflies on these structures.  The swallows were 
also hawking over the shoals upstream.  Later, at the confluence of the North 
and South Forks of the Holston, we observed an estimated 200 or more swallows 
hawking over the shoals beside the island downstream.  I suspect the 
caddisflies were emerging from the shoals.
     We also located the two Yellow-crowned Night-heron nest-sites recently 
discovered in Kingsport, one at the end of Ravine Rd., and the other at the 
end of American Way.  At each site we saw one Yellow-crowned Night-heron on a 
nest, but didn't stay long enough to see a mate.  The site at American Way 
had a second smaller and seemingly unused nest nearby.
     We also visited the Great Blue Heron rookery near Fort Patrick Henry 
Dam.  There are some very large nests there.  Is that indicative of the age 
of the rookery?  Nearby along the river we saw ten Black-crowned Night-herons 
roosting in the trees and occasionally flying up toward the dam.  They might 
have been feeding there, though we couldn't see for the trees.
     Many thanks to the people who found and shared these wonderful gifts:  
Linda Dexter, Marion Finucane, Rick Phillips, Mary Jane Erwin, (and Wallace 
Coffey for his map and directions to Marion's Yellow-crown, and the 
listserves that make this sort of thing practical).  And thanks to both Linda 
and Dexter for inviting me out.  Along with Michael Poe, they are a fun and 
friendly group of birders.  I intend to guide them to some more of our local 
birding hotspots soon, but if someone can beat me to it, please take them to 
Musicks Campgound.  They have never been there and are interested in 
waterfowl.

Don Holt
Johnson City, TN
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