[TN-Bird] Myrtle Warbler in GSMNP -- FWD: pleasing birds in the GSMNP

From: K Dean EDWARDS <kde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tennessee Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 10:24:21 -0400 (EDT)
Here's a forwarded note from CarolinaBirds listserv regarding a 
Yellow-rumped Warbler at Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mts NP.
A very rare bird in TN in the summer and I believe there are no
confirmed breeding records though Allan Trently had a suspected
breeder a couple years ago in NE Tn, I don't think it was ever 
confirmed to have been successful.

Dean Edwards
Knoxville, TN


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 17:39:21 -0400
From: Mike Tove <mtove@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: carolinabirds <carolinabirds@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: pleasing birds in the GSMNP

Greetings all,

Over the 4th weekend, my family and I took a camping trip to the Great
Smokies. July 3 was rather foggy/rainy especially in the higher
elevations - except for Clingman's Dome which was actually quite nice
(partly sunny to the west and south). I've not been there in many years
and was saddened to see hte Spruce-Fir forests on top as badly desimated
as they are in other hard hit areas (like Richland Balsam).
Chestnut-sided Warblers were all over the top - something that was not
the case 25 years ago when I was doing field research up there. However,
I did have a somewhat noteworthy bird - a "Myrtle" Warbler in full
plumage.The bird was not singing so its hard to say if it was
territorial or not, but I suspect it was most likely a breeder.

We camped at a really neat private campground about a mile in from the
Heintooga Road turnoff. The place is called "Mile High Camp Ground." At
over 5200 feet elevation, it was cool (literally). Ravens were
continually croaking around us and in the early morning, Veerys sang
along with Blue-headed Vireos, Red-breasted Nuthtches, Canada Warblers,
etc. Most pleasing for me was a healthy population of Black-capped
Chickadees - full blooded birds. For those of you who've read previous
my posts about non-Smokies Black-cappeds, this caveat is very real. I've
not seen nor heard a bona fide Black-capped away from the Smokies in
probably 20+ years. But, these birds were fully classic by every
measure: song, call (4-5 "dee" notes per second - cut-off for hybrids is
about 6-7/sec), ragged lower edge to the bib and extensive white
"patches" on the wings.

Near the campground (on the Blue Ridge Parkway) both July 4 and 5, was a
family of Wild Turkeys that seemed to like standing out in the middle of
the road. I actually had to stop to avoid running over one of the
chicks. On July 5, just a mile or less after seeing the Turkeys, we had
a Ruffed Grouse also standing in the open - right beside the edge of the
pavement. I stopped and watched at 10-15 feet. I've never perviously had
both these species so cooperative within 2-3 minutes of each other.

Finally, my appreciation for the mountains was confirmed the moment I
stepped out of the car back home, into sweltering heat and humidity.
(See, I do know there are other birds besides pelagics).

Mike Tove



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[TN-Bird] Myrtle Warbler in GSMNP -- FWD: pleasing birds in the GSMNP

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