[TN-Bird] Re: Hiwassee Refuge area, mostly Meigs Co, east Tenn
- From: Carole Gobert <cpgobert@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: David Trently <dtrently@xxxxxxx>, Tennessee Bird List <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 14:33:20 -0500
I took that cruise a couple years ago and had a similar experience, including
the eagle on the nest. I can highly recommend it. One question, David: Do
they still hand out homemade brownies?
Carole Gobert, Knoxville
> From: dtrently@xxxxxxx
> To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [TN-Bird] Hiwassee Refuge area, mostly Meigs Co, east Tenn
> Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 19:26:23 +0000
>
> On Sunday, January 16, Mike Nelson and I decided to support the efforts with
> the Sandhill Cranes in Tennessee by attending the Sandhill Crane Viewing Days
> at the Blythe Ferry Unit of the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Meigs County.
> After a couple short stops on the way, we arrived about 9:30 to the sound of
> hundreds of cranes. Most of the water visible from the viewing area was
> frozen, so there were very few ducks around. The fields did have lots of
> cranes, a few Canada Geese, 2 Ross's Geese and some Great Blue Herons. Four
> Bald Eagles (2 adults) put in an appearance, as did 2 immature Red-shouldered
> Hawks. A lone Great Egret was well hidden in a distant tree.
> We met Melinda Welton there and she had a couple extra tickets for a boat
> ride that would take us around Hiwassee Island. We couldn't turn down this
> great opportunity! Before heading for the boat dock, we scanned Hiwassee
> Island from the bluffs at the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park where we added
> several Canvasbacks (we would see them again from the boat, and counted 39),
> Ruddy Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks, Bufflehead, hundreds of
> Mallards, and 3 Bald Eagles.
>
> Where Blythe Ferry Road curves at Shadden Road there were several
> White-crowned Sparrows singing, as well as 4 American Pipits feeding in the
> grass.
>
> After noon we headed for the boat dock at Sale Creek (Hamilton County). We
> boarded the Blue Moon for our river tour. I highly recommend taking this
> trip! see www.BlueMoonCruises.org<http://www.BlueMoonCruises.org> for
> information. They will be running trips until February 26. There is a lot of
> room on the boat, and you can choose to view the scenery and birds from
> inside or outside. The crew of two naturalists can relate a lot of
> interesting information about the area, plus help identify the birds seen.
> One of the highlights of our trip, besides being able to cruise all the way
> around Hiwassee Island, was the Bald Eagle count. We came up with 27 birds,
> 21 of which were immatures. We went up the Hiwassee River as far as the
> Highway 58 bridge, where we were able to see a Bald Eagle on the nest there.
> Of course there were thousands of Sandhill Cranes to be seen (7-10 thousand?)
> There were not a large number of waterfowl species, although there were
> thousands of Mallards around the island!
> We saw a lot of pairs of Bufflehead.
> At one point, a very dark Peregrine Falcon flew over us.
> One flock of 12 Dunlin was a nice addition.
> A Mute Swan has been in the area for a few weeks, and we got great looks at
> that bird.
>
> Here is a list of birds seen from the boat trip only. Most of the songbirds
> were from around the boat dock.
>
> Canada Goose
> Mute Swan
> Gadwall
> American Black Duck
> Mallard
> Green-winged Teal
> Canvasback - 39
> Ring-necked Duck
> Bufflehead
> Hooded Merganser
> Pied-billed Grebe
> Horned Grebe
> Double-crested Cormorant
> Great Blue Heron
> Great Egret
> Black Vulture
> Turkey Vulture
> Bald Eagle - 27 - 6 ad
> Red-shouldered Hawk
> Red-tailed Hawk
> Peregrine Falcon
> American Coot
> Sandhill Crane
> Killdeer
> Dunlin
> Ring-billed Gull
> Belted Kingfisher
> Red-bellied Woodpecker
> Downy Woodpecker
> Northern Flicker
> Blue Jay
> American Crow
> Carolina Chickadee
> Carolina Wren
> Golden-crowned Kinglet
> American Robin
> Eastern Towhee
> Northern Cardinal
>
> David Trently
> Knoxville, TN
>
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> __________________________________________________________
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=================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
--------------------------------
Assistant Moderator Chris O'Bryan
Clarksville, TN
__________________________________________________________
Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
ARCHIVES
TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/
MAP RESOURCES
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com
_____________________________________________________________
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