[TN-Bird] Seven Islands WR

Saturday morning, 15 birders visited Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge in east 
Knox County, as part of a Knoxville Chapter, Tennessee Ornithological Society 
field trip. Nearly 50 species were seen, with a few new ones added to the 
refuge list!
(I-40 Exit 402...follow signs to the refuge, about 3 miles)
Here are the highlights:

* Lesser Scaup (3) a female and two males drifted down the river. They even 
took flight, revealing wing patterns which sealed their identity.
* Northern Harrier (1)
* Bald Eagle, 1 adult
* Sharp-shinned Hawk (1)
* American Kestrel at least 2. Kestrels regularly put on a good show for us at 
the refuge, where they apparently nested this year. One female was seen 
hunting successfully and feeding on top of a pole.
* N Bobwhite at least 2 were seen and/or heard. This is one of the best places 
in Knox COunty to find these birds...and they happen to be at a REAL refuge - 
one where NO hunting will be allowed (unlike so many National Wildlife REFUGEs 
that provide refuge only part of the year - I've never figured that one out)
* SANDHILL CRANE (1) Not a bird commonly seen in Knox Co. This one was heard 
flying over, and as we looked for it high in the sky, we found the Bald Eagle, 
which we otherwise may have missed...thanks crane!!
* BARN OWL (1 male) We have long heard that these owls were on the refuge but 
none of the field trips out there had found one. In order to try to protect 
this bird, I won't state where on the refuge the bird was seen. (Some 
listserves do not allow posting of raptor and owl nesting/roosting sites) This 
bird was not comfortable with people being near it and flew off, eventually 
settling down in a cave in the rock wall above the river. If you'd like to try 
for a Barn Owl there, contact me directly.
* Brown Creeper (1)
* both kinglets are in town...
* American Pipit - at least one heard flying over.
* Palm Warbler (1)
* Fox Sparrow (4+) One of these sat in full sun in top of a tree - for a great 
scope view.
* Savannah Sparrow (1) there are certainly more of these out there, but we 
didn't walk through the fields where they are usually found
* White-crowned Sparrow (5+) and some were singing. Nice to hear.

also found was a recently-dead American Coot.
Very few Yellow-rumped Warblers...2 or 3

Finally, as usual, one Emu in a field on the way to the refuge ;-)

David Trently
Knoxvlle, 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.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
    TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
        jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx      (423) 764-3958
=========================================================

Other related posts: