Birding in East Tennessee

I have about 3 bird journals going on this year.  One is a hand written field journal that I write in as I am birding.  The second is reports to Bristol-Birds and TN-Birds Listserv which i report to to let other birders be aware of what I have seen.   The third is this blog.  Well for the past couple of weeks I have gotten behind on this journal while updating the BBC Snippets and the BBC-101 blog I update for Wallace Coffey of the Bristol Bird Club.  So I am going to take this post to catch up on the first half of my birding in April.  Not much except where I have been, when it was, and what I saw. This is the first post of that catch up.

April 5, 2008

Spring birding madness continues in Northeast Tennessee. I referred to this in the subject to my post last week, although I said March Madness, but spring birding madness is more apropos. What I am referring to the time of the year when some of both winter and summer birds are in the area. In this case its spring and migrant birds are getting to "socialize" with many birds that still haven't departed for their more northerly (or higher elevation) breeding grounds. The following places are in Carter County, TN :

Sycamore Shoals State Park (12-1pm)

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (on a branch across from the nest on the Elizabethton or NE end of the park. It wasn't on the nest, but I have a feeling it is probably going
to use it).
Northern Pintail - *3 (on the river upstream of the park)
Wood Duck - 2 (flybys)
E.Phoebe
Carolina Chickadees
Tufted Titmice (Titmouses)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Mallards
Canada Goose
Red-winged Blackbirds
Cowbirds
Northern Cardinal
Tree Swallow ++
Bufflehead - 7

Broad St (in between Broad st/19E Intersection and Lincoln Rd - the road to Rasor Farm)

Bufflehead 2

Rason Farm

Blue-winged Teal 5
Lesser Scaup 4
Ring-necked Duck 5
Osprey
Barn Swallow 4
Tree Swallow +++
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (breeding plumage)
Turkey Vulture 2
Bufflehead 6
Hooded Merganser 5

Along the River to Wilbur Dam (Wilbur Dam Rd)

Hooded Merganser 5
Blue-winged Teal 3
Bufflehead 3

Area in between Wilbur Dam and Watauga Dam

Little Wilbur Lake

Bufflehead ~42

Old Horseshoe Freewill Baptist Church

Yellow-throated Warber 1
Northern Flicker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2

Brookie and Jean Potter's House

Chipping Sparrow ++
Dark-eyed Junco +
American Goldfinches
Tufted Titmice (Titmouses)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (singing)
Mourning Doves
Downy Woodpecker
Pine Siskin *2
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Pine Warbler 1
Eastern Bluebirds
Purple Finch 4
Turkey Vulture

Where the Appalachian Trail crosses road to Watauga Dam

Black-throated Green Warbler 4
Blue-headed Vireo 3
Eastern Phoebe 1

Watauga Dam (and Watauga Lake)

Blue-winged Teal 4 Eastern Phoebe American Crows