TN-birders, This morning Dollyann & I went out to Morgan County to try to find some county birds for our list there. As we turned into the road going to Frozen Head State Natural Area, we came across the Morgan County Career & Technical Center on the right, which was just above a nice long lake at the bottom of the hill. We hadn’t realized that the lake was as big as it was and wanted to look at it to maybe get a Green Heron for our county list, along with some other species. There we met a teacher named Josh White. He said he found a nest that he could see the eggs in. We asked him where the nest was and when he showed it to us, it turned out to be a Green Heron nest with an adult sitting on it! This is only the 2nd or 3rd Green Heron nest I have ever seen. The nest tree is near the west end of the lake, near the road going to Frozen Head, and it’s in a small Willow Tree, about 10 feet off the water. Later on we were checking out some other roads just past Wartburg, trying to find some areas that might be good for migrating warblers. We found a road that was called Greasy Creek Road (hey, this is east Tennessee after all!), and it is near the community of Gobey. It was a nice road but we didn’t see many birds. On the way out, at 11:45 am, we saw something in the road and I instantly recognized the silhouette. It was an American Woodcock! We froze and it froze as well. I managed to take about a million photos of it before it finally returned to looking for food along the road. In 35 years of birding, this is the best view I have ever had of this species. This birding stuff is way cool! Great birding, Ron Hoff & Dollyann Myers Clinton, TN
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