This morning at around 7:45am, I was birding around the Sassy Springs Retreat
near Morrison in Warren County. While walking the driveway of the private
campground/rental property that I had stayed the night in, I heard a COMMON
GROUND-DOVE calling. I'm very familiar with this species, as I have encountered
it quite a bit when I lived in Miami for several years. I compared it with
audio in my phone to be sure. Within a minute, a COGD (possibly a second
individual) landed on the wire. I'm unsure of whether there was a second one or
not. I'm thinking there were two because a male was calling, but the individual
on the wire's bill seemed pinkish at the base, and not red. Also, when it flew,
I didn't notice red beneath the wings (but may have been a bad angle). I waited
for another 10 minutes with no new sightings. I came back at about 9am for 1/2
hour but did not relocate it. Regardless, I changed my eBird list from 2 to 1
individual after some more thought.
I spoke to the owners of the rental property, Corey and Desirae, and they are
very happy to have interested birders come to look for the dove(s). The
location is at 300 Marcrom Road, Morrison, TN. They have asked that you pull
into the gravel driveway and drive all the way to the red barn and park there.
Walking back towards Marcram Road, the bird was seen on the power lines about
halfway between the barn and the house, and the one heard was in the woods to
the east. The attached picture shows about where I was standing (but the map is
outdated and doesn't show the new gravel road that I was on).
If anyone attempts to relocate it, I would love to hear a report back. Good
birding!
Andy Lantz
Davidson Co.
Attachment:
COGD_location.jpg
Description: COGD_location.jpg
