Radnor Lake State Natural Area
Nashville-Davidson Co. TN
October 14, 2015

7 birders attended the last Wednesday walk of 2015 at Radnor Lake State Park, Davidson County. It was a beautiful day to get out and enjoy migration. Here are the results:

Canada Goose  15 Mallard  12 Pied-billed Grebe 14 Great Blue Heron 3 Black Vulture 1 Barred Owl 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 5 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4 Northern Flicker 2 Downy Woodpecker 8 Pileated Woodpecker 2 Eastern Phoebe 1 Blue Jay 5 Carolina Chickadee  8

Tufted Titmouse  5 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 Carolina Wren 4 Golden-crown Kinglet 1 Eastern Bluebird 3 (heard) Cedar Waxwing 15 or more Tennessee Warbler 5 American Redstart 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 22 Black-throated Green Warbler 2 Song Sparrow 1 Swamp Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 1 American Goldfinch 1

Danny Shelton

Radnor Lake State Natural Area
Nashville-Davidson Co. TN
October 7, 2015

This morning during the NTOS Radnor Walk, sixteen enthusiastic birders enjoyed fabulous weather and a healthy variety of birds. We also enjoyed the company of Ken Tucker and camera crew from Tennessee Wildside who completed their video work (which they started at the spring meeting) on an upcoming episode highlighting TOS. We are expecting the episode to be aired around Thanksgiving depending on where you live, so stay tuned.

Highlights included 47 species and 1 taxa:

Canada Goose - 3 Wood Duck - 14 Mallard - 1 Wild Turkey -6 DC Cormorant -2 Great Blue Heron -2 Black Vulture -12 Broad-winged Hawk -1 Red -tailed Hawk -1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo -1 Chimney Swift -20 Ruby-throated Hummingbird -1 Belted Kingfisher -1 Red-bellied Woodpecker -13 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -2 Downy Woodpecker -5 Hairy Woodpecker -1 Northern Flicker -1 Pleated Woodpecker -1 Eastern Pewee -4 Empid -1 Eastern Phoebe -3 White-eyed Vireo -1 Philadelphia Vireo -3

Red-eyed Vireo -1 Blue Jay-8 American Crow -2 Carolina Chickadee -24 Tufted Titmouse -17 White-breasted Nuthatch -5 Carolina Wren - 9 Golden-crowned  Kinglet -1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet -1 Gray -cheeked Thrush -1 American Robin -1 Gray  Catbird -1 Cedar Waxwing -15 Black and White Warbler -3 Tennessee Warbler -4 American Redstart-1 Magnolia Warbler -9 Bay-breasted Warbler -5 Blackburnian Warbler -1 Chestnut -sided Warbler -3 Yellow-rumpled Warbler -7 Black -throated Green Warbler -5 Summer Tanager -1 Northern Cardinal -11

Thanks to all who came out today. It was a wonderful time!

Steve Routledge

NTOS Fall Count
Nashville Area
Sep 26, 2015

The Nashville Fall Bird Count was held on Sept. 26 and totaled 115 species, much better than the 108 we had last year, but still a little below average for the last 10 years. Some birds of interest included one Northern Harrier at Radnor Lake, one American Golden-Plover at Shelby Bottoms, 2 Common and 1 Forster's tern at Percy Priest, 35 Eurasian Collared-Doves with 30 in one tree on the Percy Priest route, one Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Harpeth West, 2 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers at Shelby Bottoms and Harpeth West, one lingering Eastern Kingbird at Harpeth West, 3 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers at Percy Priest, 3 singing Marsh Wrens at Bells Bend, and 2 Veeries at Harpeth East. There were 21 warbler species seen with 72 Magnolias being the most common. This count takes in parts of several counties which requires lots of dedicated birders. Thank you so much to each of the leaders and to all who participated once again.

Click on Bird Count Result on the right to view the results.

Jan Shaw

Radnor Lake State Natural Area
Nashville-Davidson Co. TN
September 23, 2015

Brilliant sunshine, calm winds and moderate temperatures greeted 25 birders who participated in today's NTOS-sponsored Walk at Radnor Lake.

By far the highlight of the morning was a very cooperative WILSON'S WARBLER that spent a lot of time near the Spillway as did the group. Everyone got good looks at this bird as it foraged in the open at eye level for more than 5 minutes.

Later and further down the lake trail almost to the overlook that is under construction, an enigmatic warbler flitted about overhead; one that had the group puzzled. Opinions varied. This bird morphed into several different species as the various possibilities were discussed. One possibility was a female Cape May Warbler, but in retrospect, due to its heavy notched tail, I suspect it may have been a very dull-looking Pine Warbler. Confusing Fall Warbler, for sure.

Below is a list of the more definitively-identified birds:

Wood Duck 6 Mallard 11 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 Chimney Swift 23 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3 Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 6 Downy Woodpecker 6 Northern Flicker 1 Pileated Woodpecker 3 Eastern Wood-Pewee 2 Eastern Phoebe 1 Blue Jay 8 American Crow 6 Carolina Chickadee 5

Tufted Titmouse 6 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 Carolina Wren 4 Swainson's Thrush 8 American Robin 4 Cedar Waxwing 48 Blue-winged Warbler 1 Black-and-white Warbler 3 Tennessee Warbler 2 American Redstart 8 Magnolia Warbler 15 Black-throated Green Warbler 4 Wilson's Warbler 1 Northern Cardinal 10

Kevin Bowden

Bells Bend Park
Davidson County, TN
September 12, 2015

What a beautiful and pleasantly chilly morning! Ten smiling birders met at the Bell’s Bend Nature Center. We had two brand new birders with us, a nine year-old and her mom who seemed to thoroughly enjoy the whole experience. The group decided to take the trails behind the nature center first and to try the sod farms later. The cool temps and light wind were refreshing. We saw 41 species (listed below), if we count a dead Ovenbird that was found on the road this morning by one of the birders. Highlights were a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a Bald Eagle, and a Great Egret. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Pied-billed Grebe Great Egret Great Blue Heron Bald Eagle Cooper’s Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Killdeer Tern (species) Mourning Dove Yellow Billed Cuckoo Ruby-throated Hummingbird Hairy Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Eastern Wood Pewee American Crow

Blue Jay Carolina Chickadee Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher Cedar Waxwing Philadelphia Vireo White-eyed Vireo Ovenbird (dead) American Redstart Black and White Warbler Magnolia Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Palm Warbler Common Yellowthroat Eastern Towhee Field Sparrow Bobolink American Goldfinch

Tarcila Fox
NTOS Field Trip Coordinator

TN NWR--Duck River Unit
Humphreys Co., TN
August 15, 2015

Earlier today, eleven birders gathered for a summer field trip at the Duck River Unit of the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge. Distant thunderstorms and on-and-off rain showers were with us throughout the trip, but fortunately it kept us cool and comfortable! Upon entering the refuge, one of our participants deftly picked out a perched juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk, which was being scolded by a pair of Blue Grosbeaks. We also had very nice views of American White Pelicans from the Blue Goose Loop and at the Pump Station. Shorebirds were few due to limited habitat, but all were observed well. These included Spotted, Solitary, and Pectoral Sandpipers; Killdeer; Semipalmated Plover; and Lesser Yellowlegs. A hearty "thank you" to all who attended the outing...it was great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones! A list of species from our day is below.

44 species

Canada Goose - 267 Wood Duck - 7 Double-crested Cormorant - 38 American White Pelican - 116 Great Blue Heron - 75 Great Egret - 217 Black Vulture - 1 Turkey Vulture - 18 Osprey - 11 Cooper's Hawk - 1 Red-shouldered Hawk - 5 Red-tailed Hawk - 1 Semipalmated Plover - 1 Killdeer - 16 Solitary Sandpiper - 1 Spotted Sandpiper - 11 Lesser Yellowlegs - 1 Pectoral Sandpiper - 6 Ring-billed Gull - 2 Caspian Tern - 37 Mourning Dove - 5 Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 3

Belted Kingfisher - 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 Pileated Woodpecker - 1 Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1 White-eyed Vireo - 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 65 Bank Swallow - 60 Barn Swallow - 4 Cliff Swallow - 10 Tufted Titmouse - 2 Carolina Wren - 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 3 Northern Mockingbird - 1 Eastern Towhee - 1 Northern Cardinal - 5 Blue Grosbeak - 6 Indigo Bunting - 22 Dickcissel - 2 Red-winged Blackbird - 63 Eastern Meadowlark - 1 Common Grackle - 2 American Goldfinch - 7

Chloe Walker

Bowie Nature Park
Fairview, TN
July 18, 2015

Six birders gathered for the NTOS's monthly field trip, which was held at Bowie Nature Park in Fairview. It was a sticky morning, but the birds didn't seem to mind! Bowie is a great place to see Red-headed Woodpeckers, and today was no exception. Throughout our walk we saw and heard many of these stunning birds, and we even observed a few feeding young. Pine Warblers were also actively foraging in the treetops along the Loblolly Loop trail. Finally, we all got a bit of practice identifying juvenile birds, including an Eastern Bluebird, an Eastern Towhee, and a Chipping Sparrow. A big thank you to everyone who showed up! Our trip list is as follows:

33 species

Canada Goose - 40 Mallard - 6 Mourning Dove - 7 Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 Red-headed Woodpecker - 9 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Hairy Woodpecker - 3 Northern Flicker - 1 Eastern Wood-Pewee - 2 Blue Jay - 2 American Crow - 6 Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 2 Barn Swallow - 6 Purple Martin - 22 Carolina Chickadee - 5

Tufted Titmouse - 8 White-breasted Nuthatch - 1 Carolina Wren - 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 5 Eastern Bluebird - 4 American Robin - 2 Gray Catbird - 1 Pine Warbler - 6 Yellow-throated Warbler - 1 Eastern Towhee - 4 Chipping Sparrow - 6 Field Sparrow - 1 Summer Tanager - 2 Northern Cardinal - 5 Indigo Bunting - 3 American Goldfinch - 4

Chloe Walker