[TN-Bird] Nashville Big Day: 140 Species
- From: Ed Schneider <ed.schneider@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: tn bird <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 10:05:12 -0500
Scott Somershoe, Chris Sloan and myself attempted our first Big Day for
Davidson Co., TN yesterday - 8 May, 2011.
While I could certainly write a small book about our 15.5 hours and 201.5 miles
traveled during our epic day of birding,
I'll try to keep this email as short as I can and only delve into the most
exciting and rare highlights from the day (entire
list below).
Our first stop was at Long Hunter State Park, where we had quite an auspicious
start at 4:40am: We stopped on
Couchville Pike and heard Whip-poor-will, Chuck-will's-widow, Common Nighthawk,
Eastern Screech-Owl, and American
Woodcock all singing in a seemingly triumphant pre-dawn chorus! This stop alone
was very exciting, as we weren't confident
we'd get all three Nightjars in the County, and didn't expect Woodcock at all!
(Chuck's was a lifer for myself, one of 2 on the day).
We then hauled (gl)ass over to Snow Bunting Peninsula just upstream from Old
Hickory Dam, arriving before dawn, and
before the fishermen. Parking on the the spit, we got out of the vehicle and
listened, then started scanning the Lake as twilight
allowed. After about two dozen Ringers joined the numerous Spotted Sandpipers
and single Greater Yellowlegs on the peninsula,
I said "do you guys see that raptor straight out?" while looking through my
bins. By the time we realized the bird was getting closer
Chris said "That's a Peregrine!" and we all had to watch with our naked eyes,
as the bird was immediately on top of us and sped by
at 60 mph, just 100 feet away, flushing the gulls and leaving our smiling mugs
agape....
From there we drove to Radnor Lake State Natural Area, where we got a 7:00am
start from the Nature Center parking lot. I said as
I parked the car, "This is the spot where I had my first Mourning Warbler"; was
the first song that pierced our ears as we exited the vehicle.
We wound up hearing 3 Mournings total on our 31 Warbler species day (24 at
Radnor)....
While craning our already stiffening necks to try and turn a Red-eyed Vireo's
song into a Philadelphia, destiny afforded us a 2-3 minute
look at an adult MISSISSIPPI KITE gliding parallel the Spillway Bridge, never
once flapping it's wings as it disappeared over the ridge.
Ok, I said I wasn't going to write a book, so here are a few more
high/lowlights:
-Scott glimpsing an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER just before the entrance to Beaman
park, on the winding Old Hickory Blvd at 50
miles an hour. I quickly pulled a u-turn and we got nice looks at the bird high
in a snag (my other lifebird on the day).
-an incredible study of an ALDER FLYCATCHER singing just 25 yards away from the
Willow Flycatcher's territory to the left of the first
"crossroads" at Bell's Bend Park.
-A mixed flock of COMMON and BLACK TERN off the upstream side of Percy Priest
Dam, feeding amongst the flooded tents and
buildings of Nashville Shores waterpark.
-One of the most notable aspects to us all on our Big Day was the number of
typically common birds we "missed":
-Wild Turkey
-Green Heron
-Northern Flicker
-Belted Kingfisher
-Cedar Waxwing just to name a few....
The 2012 Nashville Big Day can't come soon enough....
Ed Schneider
Whites Creek
Davidson Co.
Location: Davidson Co, TN
Observation date: 5/8/11
Notes: Scott Somershoe, Chris Sloan and myself attempted a Big Day for Davidson
Co.
Number of species: 140
Canada Goose X
Wood Duck X
Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal X
Northern Bobwhite X
Common Loon X
Pied-billed Grebe X
Double-crested Cormorant X
Great Blue Heron X
Great Egret X
Black-crowned Night-Heron X
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron X
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Mississippi Kite 1
Bald Eagle X
Red-shouldered Hawk X
Broad-winged Hawk X
Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern) X
American Kestrel X
Peregrine Falcon 1
American Coot X
Killdeer X
Spotted Sandpiper X
Solitary Sandpiper X
Greater Yellowlegs X
Lesser Yellowlegs X
Least Sandpiper X
American Woodcock X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Caspian Tern X
Black Tern X
Common Tern X
Forster's Tern X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Yellow-billed Cuckoo X
Eastern Screech-Owl X
Barred Owl X
Common Nighthawk X
Chuck-will's-widow X
Eastern Whip-poor-will X
Chimney Swift X
Ruby-throated Hummingbird X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Hairy Woodpecker X
Pileated Woodpecker X
Olive-sided Flycatcher X
Eastern Wood-Pewee X
Acadian Flycatcher X
Alder Flycatcher X
Willow Flycatcher X
Eastern Phoebe X
Great Crested Flycatcher X
Eastern Kingbird X
White-eyed Vireo X
Yellow-throated Vireo X
Blue-headed Vireo X
Warbling Vireo X
Red-eyed Vireo X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Northern Rough-winged Swallow X
Purple Martin X
Tree Swallow X
Bank Swallow X
Barn Swallow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Carolina Wren X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher X
Eastern Bluebird X
Veery X
Gray-cheeked Thrush X
Swainson's Thrush X
Wood Thrush X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
Brown Thrasher X
European Starling X
Blue-winged Warbler X
Tennessee Warbler X
Nashville Warbler X
Northern Parula X
Yellow Warbler X
Chestnut-sided Warbler X
Magnolia Warbler X
Cape May Warbler X
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) X
Black-throated Green Warbler X
Blackburnian Warbler X
Yellow-throated Warbler X
Pine Warbler X
Prairie Warbler X
Palm Warbler X
Bay-breasted Warbler X
Blackpoll Warbler X
Black-and-white Warbler X
American Redstart X
Prothonotary Warbler X
Worm-eating Warbler X
Ovenbird X
Northern Waterthrush X
Louisiana Waterthrush X
Kentucky Warbler X
Mourning Warbler 3
Common Yellowthroat X
Hooded Warbler X
Wilson's Warbler X
Canada Warbler X
Yellow-breasted Chat X
Eastern Towhee X
Chipping Sparrow X
Field Sparrow X
Savannah Sparrow X
Song Sparrow X
Lincoln's Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
White-crowned Sparrow X
Summer Tanager X
Scarlet Tanager X
Northern Cardinal X
Rose-breasted Grosbeak X
Blue Grosbeak X
Indigo Bunting X
Dickcissel X
Bobolink X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Eastern Meadowlark X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
Orchard Oriole X
Baltimore Oriole X
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
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