My extensive explorations in the Mead's Quarry area over the past couple of
days did not yield any Fox Sparrows, but there is an abundance of
white-throated sparrows, yellow-rumped warblers, both ruby- and golden-
crowned kinglets, and all the expected Knoxville winter birds (hermit
thrushes, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches,
titmice, mockingbirds, carolina wrens, thrashers, and robins).
On Wed, Jan 17, 2024 at 8:37 AM Shelby Sanders <slsanders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Added two birds to my eastern Knox County yard list during this snowy
event, a Fox Sparrow and Ring-billed Gull (a large flock cruised overhead
as the snow began—it counts!).
White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and an Eastern Towhee were
among my unusual visitors, I kept throwing seed out over the snow as it
came down Friday. We ended up with 11”. More house finches than anything,
kept hoping to see a Purple Finch among them, but none so far.
David, as an aside, my partner works in the golf industry and speaks
highly of your presentations on native plants and birds that he has seen.
He is over at Dead Horse Lake in Knoxville; he has been seeing Northern
Shovelers, Gadwall, and Ring-necked Ducks there. He birds at work quite a
bit!
Stay warm all,
*Shelby Lyn Sanders *
*Director of Natural Resources*
*Foothills Land Conservancy*
3402 Andy Harris Road
Rockford, TN 37853
*E-mail*: slsanders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Cell*: 405.301.0915
On Jan 16, 2024, at 5:40 PM, rockyturf@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
I wish people still posted sightings on tn-bird. I checked to make
sure I was still subscribed as I have not seen any post lately. I am sure
there have been some good observations with the weather.
Years ago someone posted they always saw a Fox Sparrow when it snowed.
Well today I saw the first one I have seen in a couple of years by my front
porch. Ooltewah got more sleet than snow (looks like 1/2 inch). I assume
the Fox Sparrow came from somewhere that had more snow or else the sleet
covering made it look to find food in places where the ground was still
bare. It may be the latter as yesterday I saw 4 Eastern Towhees at one time
in those same bushes and I had not seen any at my house in months. There
was not any sleet under the bushes along the front porch.
David Stone
Ooltewah, Tn.
Hamilton County
