[Bristol-Birds] Blaylock, Coffey, Worley visit Shady Valley TNC sites, meet with staff,
- From: "BBC Net" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'Bristol Birds'" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 14 May 2015 17:21:38 -0400
P1050625.JPG
Dave Worley (right) and Kevin Blaylock visited Shady Valley, Johnson County,
TN
today, 14 May 2015. They birded The Nature Conservancy sites and met with
the Conservancy's Shady Valley Preserves Manager, Charles McQueen, at the
Shady
Valley office of TNC. He told the group the controlled burn planned by
the US Forest Service at the Dickey Preserve has been delayed until the fall
due to wet conditions this spring. McQueen said fencing of the critical
turtle site at Orchard Bog has been completed and a contract fencing company
will fence the large acreage area starting next week. The group of three,
including Wallace Coffey, went to the Green Mountain Branch northern
hardwood
forest habitat and birded before lunch. At Quarry Bog, they heard a
Virginia
Rail call a number of times. The rail was seen briefly. This is the same
spot
where a hen with six tiny black chicks was discovered at Quarry Bog 20 May
2001,
by Judy Moose and Janice Martin on a Bristol Bird Club field trip. Larry
McDaniel,
Don Holt and Coffey saw the chicks within a few minutes. The elevation there
is
2,800 feet. This may be the highest nesting elevation known in the Southern
Appalachians.
Quarry Bog pond addition to TNC 14 May 2015.jpgThe Nature Conservancy has
recently
purchased the quarry pond along
Quarry Road and included it in the
bog holdings. The site once had a
mobile home in a small grove of
trees on the hill above the pond.
TNC pulled the mobile home off
the site and cleaned the area.
This structure had previously been
rented by the Knoxville Zoo herpetologist Bern Tryon for decades during his
famous research in the valley. Before his illness and passing, Tryon would
spend weekends conducting research from this base. The yellow marker
in the photo above denotes the boundary of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency which now owns and managed 2/3 of the pond while TNC has retained
the rest. Birders may now access the area of Quarry Bog around the pond
area
and down towards Beaverdam Creek without having to wade Brickyard Branch.
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- » [Bristol-Birds] Blaylock, Coffey, Worley visit Shady Valley TNC sites, meet with staff, - BBC Net
