Radnor Lake State Natural Area

Davidson County

Oct 16, 2013

Several hardy birders made it out to Radnor Lake today on a wet morning for the season’s final NTOS Lake walk. Birding was quite slow until we got to the spillway area. The overcast sky made identification difficult at times but we did get to see a few species of warblers and a vireo.

31 species

Mallard  1 Pied-billed Grebe  1 Great Blue Heron  1 Red-tailed Hawk  1 Belted Kingfisher  1 Red-bellied Woodpecker  5 Downy Woodpecker  4 Northern Flicker  2 Pileated Woodpecker  1 Eastern Phoebe  1 White-eyed Vireo  1    Blue Jay  6 American Crow  1 Carolina Chickadee  7 Tufted Titmouse  6 White-breasted Nuthatch  3

Carolina Wren  4 Golden-crowned Kinglet  1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1 Eastern Bluebird  4 American Robin  15 Gray Catbird  1 Cedar Waxwing  6 Tennessee Warbler  2 Nashville Warbler  1 Yellow-rumped Warbler  6 Black-throated Green Warbler  2 White-throated Sparrow  2 Summer Tanager  1 Northern Cardinal  12 Rose-breasted Grosbeak  2

Scott Block

Nashville

Radnor Lake State Natural Area

Nashville, Davidson County TN
Oct. 2, 2013

Overcast skies gave way to steady rain on today's NTOS-sponsored Radnor Lake walk. This kept the numbers low for both "observers" and "observees".

The group did see one late-season Eastern Kingbird along the dam road. Later a Great Egret flew past along the lake's edge. The egret stirred up a Great Blue Heron and at one point the two birds flew across the lake together.

Below is a list of birds observed:

27 species

Wood Duck 6 Double-crested Cormorant 2 Great Blue Heron 2 Great Egret 1 Green Heron 1 Black Vulture 1 Chimney Swift 40 Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 3 Downy Woodpecker 4 Eastern Phoebe 3 Eastern Kingbird 1     White-eyed Vireo 1

Blue Jay 4 Carolina Chickadee 8 Tufted Titmouse 5 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Carolina Wren 9 Swainson's Thrush 1 American Robin 10 Cedar Waxwing 5 American Redstart 1 Magnolia Warbler 4 Black-throated Green Warbler 1 Summer Tanager 2 Northern Cardinal 5 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2

Kevin Bowden

NTOS Fall Bird Count

Sep. 21, 2013

The Nashville Fall Count was held on September 21 and totaled 115 species, about average for this area.  It included parts of Davidson, Cheatham, Williamson, and Rutherford counties, but Percy Priest Lake itself was not counted this time. Birds or numbers of interest included 809 Blue-winged Teal(mostly at Radnor Lake and Bells Bend), 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in Rutherford Co., 3 Bald Eagles and 2 Osprey in Cheatham Co., 13 Spotted and 14 Solitary sandpipers, 1 Olive-sided and 1 Willow Flycatcher at Warner Parks, 3 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in Rutherford Co., and 7 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 1 Sedge Wren, and 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet all in Cheatham Co. Thank you so much to all who participated.

To view the entire list click on Bird Count Results on the right and select Fall Count under 2013.       

Radnor Lake State Natural Area

25 September, 2013

Eighteen birders participated in today's walk let by Danny Shelton. The rain had stopped by the time we got under way, but misty, cloudy conditions persisted for the entire morning making the observing challenging as we continually looked into a gray background. American Redstarts were the top numbering warbler species. The bright spot in the gray was a male Summer Tanager perched atop a bare tree near the Spillway.The red was very obvious.

We spotted an unusually high number of Black Vultures which had begun settling in a nearby tree. We had just walked past the tree when we heard a loud snap, then a crash and the startled flight of numerous vultures suddenly airborne. We assume the weight of perched vultures was more than the branch could bear and down it came, leaving the birds instantly in flight.

35 Species

Canada Goose 12 Wood Duck 20 Wild Turkey 5 Double-crested Cormorant 2 Great Blue Heron 2 Green Heron 3 Black Vulture 41 Mourning Dove 1 Chimney Swift 9 Red-bellied Woodpecker 4 Downy Woodpecker 10 Pileated Woodpecker 4 Eastern Wood-Pewee 3 Empidonax sp. 1 Eastern Phoebe 2 Blue Jay 9 American Crow 1 Carolina Chickadee 16

Tufted Titmouse 6 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 Carolina Wren 14 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Swainson's Thrush 5 American Robin 18 Gray Catbird 1 Tennessee Warbler 3 American Redstart 9 Magnolia Warbler 7 Palm Warbler 1 Black-throated Green Warbler 3 Eastern Towhee 1 Summer Tanager 2 Scarlet Tanager 1 Northern Cardinal 9 American Goldfinch 2

Kevin Bowden

Sept. 18, 2013

Radnor Lake, Nashville
Davidson Co.

Action started out slow this morning, but picked up somewhat as we worked the Lake Trail into the woods. Walk participants numbered 23 with new birders Cassidy and her mom Erin welcomed into the fold. Highlights of our last little flock encountered included Wilson's Warbler and female Golden-winged Warbler. See list below.

47 Species

Wood Duck 2 Double-crested Cormorant 1 Great Blue Heron 3 Great Egret 1 Black Vulture 7 Turkey Vulture 5 Broad-winged Hawk 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Barred Owl 1 Chimney Swift 13 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 5 Downy Woodpecker 6 Hairy Woodpecker 2 Northern Flicker 2 Eastern Wood-Pewee 3 Empidonax sp. 3 Eastern Phoebe 1 Great Crested Flycatcher 2 White-eyed Vireo 1 Red-eyed Vireo 2 Blue Jay 6 American Crow 7

Carolina Chickadee 8Tufted Titmouse 7 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Carolina Wren 6 Eastern Bluebird 1 Veery 1 Swainson's Thrush 6 American Robin 4 Gray Catbird 1 Cedar Waxwing 40 Golden-winged Warbler 1 Tennessee Warbler 2 Chestnut-sided Warbler 1 Magnolia Warbler 5 Black-throated Green Warbler 1 Bay-breasted Warbler 2 Black-and-white Warbler 2 American Redstart 3 Wilson's Warbler 1 Eastern Towhee 1 Summer Tanager 2 Northern Cardinal 6 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 American Goldfinch 5

 

Richard Connors

Sept. 11, 2013

Radnor Lake, Nashville
Davidson Co.

Our first of the season fall Radnor walk was a success as 18 birders gathered to enjoy the morning stroll. The warbler numbers were fairly light, but we managed to see 7 species including Magnolia, American Redstart, Black and White, Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided, Northern Parula and very satisfying looks at a cooperative Canada Warbler.

The walk up and past the spillway trail was fairly quiet. The highlights included Acadian Flycatchers, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo ( a lifer for some), Summer Tanagers, and White-eyed Vireos. The lake trail had 2 separate pockets of warblers where we found most of those previously mentioned as well as three Swainson's Thrushes. While most of the group returned after reaching Long Bridge, four of us continued along the Otter Creek trail back to the parking lot. Besides a few Wood Ducks and another small pocket of warblers, including the Northern Parulas, we managed to get our Belted Kingfisher and Great Blue Heron for the day. A good morning was had by all.

The complete list of 40 species seen today:

Wood duck - 28 Mallard - 8 DC Cormorant - 5 Great Blue Heron -1 Green Heron -3 Black Vulture -6 Turkey Vulture -1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 1 Chimney Swift - 5 Belted Kingfisher -1 Red-bellied Woodpecker -8 Downy Woodpecker -4 Northern Flicker - 2 Pileated Woodpecker -1 Eastern Wood-Pewee - 4 Acadian Flycatcher -2 Eastern Phoebe - 1 White-eyed Vireo -3 Red-eyed Vireo - 2 Blue Jay -7

American Crow -3 Carolina Chickadee -17 Tufted Titmouse -12 White-breasted Nuthatch - 14 Carolina Wren -23 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 2 Eastern Bluebird -4 Swainson's Thrush -3 Black and white Warbler - 4 American Redstart - 5 Northern Parula - 2 Magnolia Warbler -3 Bay-breasted Warbler -1 Chestnut-sided Warbler -1 Canada Warbler -1 Eastern Towhee -1 Summer Tanager -3 Northern Cardinal - 15 Common Grackle - 1 American Goldfinch - 2

 

Steve Routledge

Saturday August 10th

TN-NWR- Duck River unit

Twelve birders participated in today's field trip to the Duck River Unit of TN-NWR. A big hearty "Thank you !!" to Frank Fekel for coordinating the field trips these last two years. Our most noticeable "miss" was the Roseate Spoonbill. We took two separate loops around Blue Goose Boulevard but still came up empty handed. On a brighter note we saw 61 species solidly with two other possibilities including: a distant Forster's/Common Tern resting on a log in the Tennessee River and an unidentified owl, large enough to be a second Great Horned ( we saw one earlier perched pleasantly on an open snag in the noon day sun) or possibly a Barred. We also got to enjoy splendidly close looks at a Western Willet and what appeared to be the prairie subspecies of Short-billed Dowitcher foraging side-by-side along the most southern side of the Blue Goose Boulevard. Another welcome find was a group of 12-15 Little Blue herons with at least three in adult plumage and a large flock (30+) of Black Terns flying along the far side of the Tennessee River as viewed from the trail that runs by the New Johnsonville pump house.

Our list included:

 

Canada Goose - 75 Wood Duck -2 Mallard - 6 Wild Turkey -5 Pied-billed Grebe- 2 Double-crested cormorant - 71 American White Pelican -5 Great Blue Heron - 45 Great Egret -95 Little Blue Heron - 15 Green Heron -3 Black Vulture -1 Turkey Vulture - 15 Osprey -4 Bald Eagle -1 Cooper's Hawk -1 Red-shouldered Hawk -2 Red-tailed Hawk -1 Killdeer-5 Spotted Sandpiper -4 Solitary Sandpiper-1 Willet -1 Short-billed Dowitcher -1 Caspian Tern -3 Black Tern - 30+ Common/Forster's -1 Mourning Dove -6 Yellow-billed Cuckoo -1 Great-Horned Owl - 1 (2?) Barred Owl - (1) Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 3 Hairy Woodpecker -1

Northern Flicker - 1 Eastern Wood -Pewee - 3 Eastern Phoebe -1 Eastern Kingbird -1 White-eyed vireo -1 Blue Jay -2 American Crows -12 Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 52 Barn Swallow - 12 Carolina Chickadee -2 Tufted Titmouse -1 Carolina Wren - 6 Eastern Bluebird-17 American Robin -15 Norhtern Mockingbird -2 Prothonotary Warbler - 2 Common Yellowthroat -9 Northern Parula -1 Palm Warbler -1 Eastern Towhee - 3 Chipping Sparrow -7 Field Sparrow -2 Summer Tanager - 2 Northern Cardinal - 13 Blue Grosbeak -7 Indigo Bunting- 48 Dickcissel -17 Red-winged Blackbirds - 35 Common Grackle - 3 Orchard Oriole - 2 American Goldfinch -2

 

Steve Routledge