Nashville, Davidson Co. TN

1/1/2013

The Hickory - Priest CBC was held on the traditional date of January 1st. This year it was a cold, foggy, overcast, drizzly and generally yucky day! But 18 birders in 5 parties tallied 93 official species, a good-to-average high number for this count, despite the weather. Highlights included one Amer. White Pelican seen at Old Hickory Lake and one adult male Rufous Hummingbird coming to a feeder in Hendersonville; we tallied 16 duck species, but no unusually high numbers for any, and a few with very low numbers. The 3 common owl species were detected. One swallow was seen but no positive identification could be determined. Observers Joe Stone and Sabin Thompson thought it most likely a N. Rough-winged Swallow. No unusual sparrows were observed, and despite this being a good year for the northern irruptives, only a few Purple Finches and Pine Siskins were found. And we are back to our usual dearth of nuthatches on this count; we tried for a Red-breasted but it was not to be.

Click on Bird Count Results on the right to see complete results.

 

Richard Connors

Hickory - Priest CBC Compiler

19 Dec 2012

Nashville, TN

The Nashville CBC was held on Dec. 15 and totaled 85 species, a little higher than usual.  There was also one count week species, Barred Owl at Radnor Lake, and 2 possible heard only Sedge Wrens on count day at Warner Parks. The day was mild and mostly cloudy, but with some rain and strong winds. Highlights included 1 Peregrine Falcon in West Meade, 2 Whooping Cranes in Bells Bend, 1 Wilson's Snipe at Poplar Creek, 2 American Woodcock at Bells Bend, 1 Bonaparte's Gull at Radnor Lake, 11 Eastern Screech-Owls (7 at Warner Parks), 4 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 1 Horned Lark and 1 American Pipit at Bells Bend, 8 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 12 Rusty Blackbirds at Bells Bend, 6 Purple Finches, and 23 Pine Siskins. The cranes were on private property. The colored leg bands identify them as birds #1-03 and #8-05 by the International Crane Foundation. These are the same individuals that were observed in the same general area during the 2007 and 2008 Nashville CBCs.

Thank you so much to all who participated. Click on Bird Count Results on the right to see complete results.

Jan Shaw, co-compiler

Pace Point, Britton Ford, Paris Landing State Park

Henry County, Tennessee
2012 December 8

Fourteen birders, including some from Kentucky, joined forces  on the Saturday NTOS field trip with leader Mike Todd to search  the Kentucky Lake area for birds. The air temperature was  warm, and the lake level was as low as I have ever seen it. In most places it looked like the tide was out. While the rain  held off, the extremely cloudy skies resulted in very low light levels, and fog descended at our last stop. There was little wind and the lake surface looked like glass. There were only small  numbers of diving ducks and no geese besides CANADA were found. However, we did find several species of particular interest, the  best of which was a RED-NECKED GREBE, seen from Pace Point. Duck highlights include plenty of COMMON GOLDENEYEs, GREATER SCAUP, HOODED and RED-BREASTED MERGANSERs. In addition to a number of  COMMON LOONs, a probable RED-THROATED LOON was seen, but was too far away for a firm identification. At least a dozen BALD EAGLEs and several groups of AMERICAN WHITE PELICANs were spotted. We had a total of 44 species. We thank Mike Todd for leading the group.

Frank Fekel

NTOS Field Trip Coordinator

Old Hickory Dam area

J. Percy Priest Dam
Sat. Nov. 17 2012

Nine birders enjoyed a morning outing to the Old Hickory Dam area followed by a short visit to J. Percy Priest Dam. The forest trail at the dam produced large numbers of HERMIT THRUSHes BROWN CREEPERs and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETs. Two PINE SISKINs called as they flew over, while a single RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH was heard by only a small part of the group. Two RED-SHOULDERED HAWKs were calling in the distance. Seen circling overhead through the pines was a flock of 12 BONAPARTE'S GULLs. At Snow Bunting Peninsula highlights included COMMON LOONs, HORNED GREBEs, two NORTHERN SHOVELERs, and two HERRING GULLs. A quick visit to J. Percy Priest Dam added no additonal species. We found a total of 55 species for the morning.

Frank Fekel

NTOS field trip coordinator

Radnor Lake State Natural Area

Oct. 17, 2012

This morning 11 folks shared the last of our fall Wednesday walks. Most of the warblers have moved on, waterfowl and winter birds beginning to arrive. Spectacular foliage, mild temperature and a slight breeze made for a pleasant morning.

Canada Goose  84

Wood Duck  41
Gadwall  8
American Black Duck  1
Ring-necked Duck  3
Wild Turkey  15
Pied-billed Grebe  6
Great Blue Heron  1
Black Vulture  3
Turkey Vulture  1
American Coot  15
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  6
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Downy Woodpecker  5
Northern Flicker  1
Pileated Woodpecker  5
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue Jay  15
American Crow  21
Carolina Chickadee  11
Tufted Titmouse  10
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Carolina Wren  5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2
Eastern Bluebird  3
American Robin  12
Gray Catbird  1
Brown Thrasher  1
Cedar Waxwing  40
Yellow-rumped Warbler  35
Black-throated Green Warbler  5
White-throated Sparrow  4
Northern Cardinal  7
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  2

Susan Hollyday

Radnor Lake State Natural Area

October 10, 2012

Fourteen birders gathered in the birdy parking lot to begin our fifth Wednesday Walk. Cloudy and chilly, we had a remarkable morning observing 56 species, many very close-up. Next Wednesday will be our final fall walk. Join us if you can.

Canada Goose  177

Wood Duck  26
Gadwall  5
Mallard  32
Blue-winged Teal  8
Wild Turkey  5
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Blue Heron  2
Turkey Vulture  2
American Coot  24    
Chimney Swift  3
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  8
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Downy Woodpecker  7
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Pileated Woodpecker  3
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Acadian Flycatcher  1    
Eastern Phoebe  2
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  25
American Crow  9
Carolina Chickadee  18
Tufted Titmouse  10
White-breasted Nuthatch  8
Brown Creeper  12    
Carolina Wren  12
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2
Eastern Bluebird  2
Swainson's Thrush  1
American Robin  57
Gray Catbird  2
Northern Mockingbird  1
Cedar Waxwing  8
Golden-winged Warbler  1   
Tennessee Warbler  10
Orange-crowned Warbler  2
Nashville Warbler  5   
Common Yellowthroat  2
Northern Parula  1
Magnolia Warbler  19
Bay-breasted Warbler  6
Blackburnian Warbler  1
Palm Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  25
Black-throated Green Warbler  12
White-throated Sparrow  4   
Northern Cardinal  17
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  7
Indigo Bunting  1
Common Grackle  100
House Finch  2
American Goldfinch  2

Susan Hollyday

 

Radnor Lake State Natural Area
October 3, 2012

Under clear skies and brilliant sunshine with mist rising from the lake, 20 birders set off this morning on the NTOS-sponsored walk at Radnor Lake State Natural Area. As might be expected, MAGNOLIA WARBLERS were in high numbers, but they were actually outdone by the BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLERS. Several BAY-BREASTED WARBLERS were seen; one along the Lake Trail was particularly cooperative. A little unusual was a lone female YELLOW WARBLER spotted in bare branches near the Spillway. A first for this fall for the group was a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. Dozens of CHIMNEY SWIFTS flew out over the lake, swooping down, skimming along the surface for a a second or two, and rising up only to do it again. A large gathering of ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS was seen near Grassy Point and a few males still had considerable color.

Below is a list of species observed.

 

41 species

Canada Goose 8
Wood Duck 27
Blue-winged Teal 7
Pied-billed Grebe 8
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Chimney Swift 105
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 12
Carolina Chickadee 14
Tufted Titmouse 11
White-breasted Nuthatch 7
Carolina Wren 11
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush 2
Swainson's Thrush 1
American Robin 12
Gray Catbird 1
Cedar Waxwing 35
Tennessee Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 2
Magnolia Warbler 11
Bay-breasted Warbler 3
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Yellow Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 14
Field Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 7
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 9
Indigo Bunting 1
Common Grackle 2

Kevin Bowden