Tn-birders
Despite Winter Storm Jonas, 21 hearty birders congregated at Wheeler
Wildlife Refuge this past weekend for the 2016 TOS Winter Meeting. As luck
would have it the greater Knoxville area missed most of the snow so of the
21 , 18 were KTOS members. Understandably folks in middle and west TN were
thwarted by the snow storm but by our accounts had the weather been more
cooperative on Friday we anticipated another 18-20 members who had planned
to attend. Which would have brought the potential total to an excess of 40
members which is an excellent total for a winter meeting.
Many thanks to Wheeler Wildlife Refuge Project Leader Dwight Cooley for
leading our group on a wonderful birding adventure on Saturday and for the
hospitality of the Refuge staff and volunteers. Thanks also to Damien
Simbeck and Captain Steve of Wheeler Lake Scenic Cruises for attempting to
put together the pelagic trip which unfortunately was cancelled due to the
weather conditions.
Undoubtably the highlight of the weekend was the presence of up to 9
Whooping Cranes in view, at once, from the observation building among the
nearly 12,000 Sandhill Cranes. Other highlights included thousands of
waterfowl, a family of 3 Northern Harriers, a Bald Eagle, which got the
masses of ducks ³up² quite a few times, a Barn Swallow, Orange-crowned, Pine
and Palm Warbers, Hermit Thrushes and Fox Sparrows were also seen around the
Visitor¹s Center. A Peregrine Falcon was found at the Beaver Dam
observation tower with hundreds of American Pipits and a flock of 1000+ Snow
Geese was found at Limestone Bay with at least 3 identified Ross¹s Geese in
the mix. A complete weekend list of the 91 species can be found below.
On Sunday we broke into smaller groups and re-visited some of the places we
had been on Saturday as well as some of the other Northern Alabama Birding
Trail spots looking for potential new weekend species. The weekend ended
with a last visit to the Observation Building on the Refuge where we
witnessed a ³new² pair of Whooping Cranes fly-in. The intern working for
ICF happen to be there and told us that the pair had arrived from Indiana.
By her accounts there are now presently 12 Whoopers in and around Wheeler
with as many as 19 so far this season. It¹s truly a wonderful place.
Thanks to everyone who was able to come out for the weekend. It was great
to see ³old² friends and meet some new ones. We look forward to birding
together in the near future. Until then, as always,
Good birding!!
<")
( \
/ |` Cyndi and Steve Routledge
Montgomery County
Weekend Species List:
Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Ross¹s Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Whooping Crane
Killdeer
American Woodcock
Bonaparte¹s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Pine Sisken
American Goldfinch
Accipiter Species
