[TN-Bird] Swallow-tailed Kite still in Sequatchie Valley, Bledsoe County July 22
- From: "LeGrand family" <elegrand@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:20:15 -0500
The Swallow-tailed Kite seen two days by Katherine Boyles and Louis Bean in
Bledsoe County was still there when I left it an hour and a half ago
(Friday, July 22, 2011). The bird was flying around when I got to the little
cemetery (with "Granny Ruth's Garden" sign) beside East Valley Road 0.3
miles north of College Station Mountain Rd. (about 8 miles south of
Pikeville). As far as I could tell, there is nothing special about the
habitat (fields, groves, and patches of upland woods), but the bird stayed
within a half mile of the site (both sides of the road) for the time I
watched it (10:45 to 11:00 AM CST). It was still there and easily seen
(occasionally soaring low overhead) when I returned about 40 minutes later.
A one-bird spectacle of nature!
Like last year's bird which stayed for several days in a very limited area
about 10 miles south near the Cookie Jar Restaurant in Sequatchie County (I
pressed my luck on today and couldn't find a second bird there), this bird
had amazing site fidelity. Although Tim Jeffers reported not finding it
yesterday morning between 7:15 and 9:00 AM, I wonder if it was too early in
the day for the bird to be soaring.
Other notable nearby birds were the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on its nest at
the corner of Akins Rd and East Valley Road (with another bird), 3
Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (likely a female and two juveniles based on tail
size) across a field at Brushy Cemetery (1-2 miles north of Ninemile on Old
Hwy 28), and 4 singing Dickcissels along Wesley Chapel Road near where it
intersects Hwy 30 near Pikeville.
Ed LeGrand
Crossville, TN
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