[Bristol-Birds] South Holston field trip commentary
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:22:57 -0500
29 Jan 2011
South Holston Lake area, Sullivan Col, TN (+addendum to Washington Co., VA)
The great outing the Bristol Bird Club held this morning and led by Rick Knight,
enjoyed temperatures reaching 57 degrees. By early afternoon we were
birding in our shirt sleeves.
Participants included: Rick Knight, Jacki Hindshaw, Wallace Coffey,
Carolyn Coffey, Janice Martin, Fred Martin, Faye Wagers,
Michele Sparks, Roy Knispel, John Moyle, Bob Lawson, Sandy Lawson,
Carolyn Haynes and Darlene Boyd. The last four were with us at
the Bald Eagle nest.
We had lunch with the South Holston Ruritan Club's Bean and Soup
Supper. We enjoyed time there with John Shumate, who joined the
group for a brief visit and everyone had a great time getting in hugs
and laughs and catching up with John. He is one of the co-authors
of the book Bird Study in Shady Valley, Tennessee 1934-1999,
published by the Bristol Bird Club.
The chow down at the
South Holston Ruritan
Club's Soup & Bean
Dinner lasted nearly
two hours. We got in
shortly after the doors
opened but we couldn't
pull ourselves away
from the crock pots.
Think seafood gumbo,
black bear soup, venison,
elk and beans, kraut soup
and repeated trips thru the dessert lines to pick from the dozens of
cakes and pies, including date chocolate cake. Many birders enjoyed
five or six recipes and some even bought recipe books.
Yes, you couldn't tell it
by all the good company
everyone enjoyed
but the original mission
was to go birding.
Green-winged Teal seen
in the swamp area of
Osceola Island at the
Weir Dam was a nice
look. Rick pointed out
that two Common Loons
seen from atop the
South Holston Dam were
among the few birds we've had in the region this winter. One Long-tailed
Duck was still at Musick's Campground and some finally got to see the
species during its prolonged visit.
We got great looks, with Bob Lawson and Sandy Lawson, at the giant
Bald Eagle's nest on the upper end of South Holston northeast of
Avens Bridge. The river was frozen shore-to-shore and has been
for weeks. Their friend, Carolyn Haynes, expressed considerable
interest in birding. Darlene Boyd, a neighbor, said eagles had been
present near the nest since December. She and her husband have
watched the eagles add at least another six inches of material to
the top of the nest. They carried sticks up to three-feet in length to
the nest. One large limb of the pine tree had been pulled around by
the eagles and incorporated into the structure. It was not part of
the nest in past years.
Just as soon as we got our scopes up, Knight saw an adult eagle
standing on the nest. Excitement was high as everyone got to look
with BBC member Faye Wagers getting he life Bald Eagle right then.
Shortly, Knight and Knispel were exclaiming two eagles as the mate
came into the tree and stood at the nest with its mate. Wow !
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