[tn-bird] Stirrin' up terns
- From: James Brooks <comeback@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Tennessee Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2002 08:01:17 -0400
Arrived at Musick's campground around 6 and the reservoir was aboil with
power boats and jet skis as all of TennVa was desperately clinging to
the last holiday weekend.
Met Rack Cross, whose younger eyes soon located some terns on the far
side, and after fiddling around with the scope for 5 minutes or so, we
were rewarded by the terns flying directly to us and demonstrating for
common binoculars that they were winter plumaged Black Terns. I'd never
seen them in this plumage before, but their fat bodies and short tails
quickly ID them as Chlidonias terns.
There seemed to be a symbiotic relationship between the terns and the
boats, as they followed them and often fed in their wakes. It kind of
makes one wonder about the impact of power boats on aquatic life, but
since they'd soon be chopped into fillet'o fish by the turbines of
Holston, Boone or you name it dam to feed the herons who always know
when generating is about to begin, I guess it doesn't matter a whole lot.
Rack next picked up a flock of terns over in Virginia, and we followed
them overhead into Tennessee, with the whiter wings and lack of heavy
black edging making them into Forster's. If we were in Australia we
would have been obligated to celebrate the moment by opening one of
those gallon cans of Forster's Ale.
That was it for Musick's. Hopefully grebes will return after the
holiday. No ducks other than Mallards at the wier dam, so I took off
alone for a hike around Osceola Island, as much an exercise antidote for
too much car birding as anything. Best sighting was a family of four
Belted Kingfishers chasing each other up and down the river on the far
side, and a Great Blue Heron perched in the setting sun high in a dead
tree on the other side.
I snagged a family walking down the path to point out the bird and give
them each a chance to find it in the binoculars, much harder than they
ever thought. I asked the younger girl what color its eye was, and she
replied, "These binoculars are moving too much." Leicas are too heavy
for a lot of mature women, so I could only smile and show her how to
brace her elbows on her chest.
We strolled down the path together and I pointed out Pileated
Woodpeckers calling and a Red-bellied Woodpecker working another stand
of dead trees.
Half the fun of birding is sharing the experience with others, and when
you're alone, well, the general public is just going to have to be
forced to learn something new.
The funny thing is that in China or Morroco or Mexico, passersby ask to
look in your scope and line up to do so. At a roadside marsh in Mexico
between Puerto Vallerta and Guadalajara, Audrey Hoff and I one time
found ourselves conducting a field trip on birds to an entire class from
a girl's school, and we all paused for photos. By comparison, Americans
have almost no curiosity.
James Brooks
Jonesborough, TN
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