[TN-Bird] Forks of the River WMA - KTOS field trip report
- From: David Trently <dtrently@xxxxxxx>
- To: TN-Bird <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 08:34:42 -0500
east Tennessee; Knox County
About 20 members of the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological
Society visited the Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area in east Knox
County from about 4:30 - 7:30 p.m. Saturday, February 25. Our main goal for
this trip was to see American Woodcock display flights. We split into two
groups, stationing ourselves in areas where these displays have been seen in
past years, with plans to get a better count of the number of birds present
here. (better than if we all stayed in one spot only)
Before dark, we birded around the WMA. There was not a lot of bird activity,
but we did manage to find a few species (see list below). A flock of hundreds
of Common Grackles (which we saw soon after I said we don't get many grackles
in this area in winter:-) was scanned, but we could not pick out any Rusty or
Brewer's Blackbirds, and only one Brown-headed Cowbird.
Just before we split up, someone spotted a raptor sitting in the top of a dead
tree. It was right in the area where a Merlin was seen at least from March
4-10, 2003. The spotting scopes went on the bird - and it was indeed a MERLIN.
Soon, another raptor was seen on top of another tree nearby - it too was a
Merlin! Since one bird stayed for at least a week in 2003, it is possible
these birds could still be there over the next few days. If you walk in past
the gate near the parking area, you will be walking slightly uphill...then
slightly downhill, over a small stream...to an path that goes off to the right
(to the wetland). As you reach this path, scan the taller trees to the right.
Once we reached our designated sites, we weren't disappointed. Woodcocks began
calling soon after sunset, and continued for a good half hour. The cloudy sky
kept it light, perhaps encouraging the birds to continue displaying longer
than they often do here. We had a hard time actually seeing them in flight,
but we did see a few as they moved from place to place, or came back to the
ground after displaying. A few birders happened to be in the right place and
got to see one on the ground briefly.
The group in the cedar glade counted 4 birds; the group in the field past the
silo counted 6, so we got a total of 10 AMERICAN WOODCOCK.
On the walk out, we got 2 EASTERN SCREECH-OWLs to respond to imitations of
their call, but we weren't able to see either of them.
Other bird of note - 2 GRAY CATBIRDs seen by Allan and Jane Trently. We don't
have many of these wintering in the area.
Also...Chorus Frogs at the wetland were rather deafening this year. Must be
present in higher numbers than usual. They are always loud there, but this
seemed louder.
Here's a list of birds. Numbers are estimates made by me the following
morning.
I used ClipBird from redshanksoftware.com to generate the list. Recommended!
Canada Goose - 20+
Great Blue Heron - 1
Merlin - 2
American Woodcock - 10
Mourning Dove - 6
Eastern Screech-Owl - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 2
Blue Jay - 5
American Crow - 5
Carolina Chickadee - 8
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Eastern Bluebird - 2
Gray Catbird - 2
Cedar Waxwing - 20
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 15
Eastern Towhee - 15
Field Sparrow - 10
Song Sparrow - 15
Swamp Sparrow - 2
White-throated Sparrow - 20
White-crowned Sparrow - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - 2
Northern Cardinal - 25
Red-winged Blackbird - 50+
Common Grackle - 500+
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1
Number of Species: 30
David Trently
Knoxville, TN
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