east Tennessee...Blount County...Great Smoky Mountains NP On Saturday, July 1, 4 birders took part in the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society's field trip to the Ace Gap Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We birded the trailhead parking area for a few minutes before walking 2.3 miles to a campsite, then returning. Elevation here is about 2000 feet, so I was surprised to see two RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHes in 2 different locations. The other surprise was singing WORM-EATING WARBLERs. These are often quiet by July. This trail would be worth a walk in spring. There is little elevation change so it is a non-strenuous hike. Most of the trail allows views into the canopy of trees on the slop below the trail, so birds can be easy to see. You walk from open hardwoods to a few areas of pines and scattered rhododendron thickets. The trail is rich with wildflowers which would add to the walk. Here is our bird list: Mourning Dove 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 2 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Pileated Woodpecker 2 Red-eyed Vireo 7 Blue Jay 2 American Crow 1 Carolina Chickadee 11 Tufted Titmouse 10 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 5 Carolina Wren 5 Black-throated Green Warbler 7 Pine Warbler 7 - most of these were immatures, rather drab, with little or no yellow Black-and-white Warbler 1 Worm-eating Warbler 4 Hooded Warbler 9 Scarlet Tanager 4 Eastern Towhee 4 N Cardinal 1 Indigo Bunting 15 American Goldfinch 2 David Trently Knoxville, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ 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. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________