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) =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ 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 ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA -------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Chris O'Bryan Clarksville, TN __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________