Big Sandy Unit of TNWR
January 31, 2015

The NTOS field trip to the Pace Point/Britton Ford area was a wonderful success!

Our group started at the Bennetts Creek Overlook within the Big Sandy Unit of the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge, and no sooner had we stepped out of our vehicles when the cry of "Golden Eagle!" sounded. We all had fantastic views of both an adult and an immature together - a life bird for many.

Duck numbers were sky-rocketing throughout the day, the vast majority being Mallards. Three hybrid dabblers were sighted: one, a "Brewer's Duck" (Gadwall x Mallard) at the Bennetts Creek Overlook; the second, a handsome Mallard x American Black Duck at Tennessee NWR--Britton Ford Unit; and finally, an additional "Brewer's Duck" at Britton Ford. Also of note was a merganser "trifecta" at Bennets Creek Overlook and all five regular geese at Britton Ford.

Notable misses: American Coot (!)

Wow...what a day! A huge thanks to Mike Todd for leading the trip, and thank you to all who attended.

65 species

Great White-fronted Goose Snow Goose Ross's Goose Cackling Goose Canada Goose Gadwall Mallard Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Canvasback Redhead Ring-necked Duck Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe American White Pelican Great Blue Heron Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk

Golden Eagle American Kestrel Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Blue Jay American Crow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird American Robin Yellow-rumped Warbler Eastern Towhee Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird American Goldfinch

Chloe Walker
Field Trip Coordinator

Nashville Christmas Bird Count
Dec. 20, 2014

The 100th Nashville CBC took place December 20 and totaled 82 species, right about average. A whopping 50 birders took part, with 17 at Owls Hill alone. Thank you to all for such a remarkable turnout! And thank you to Susan Hollyday for providing a delicious compilation dinner. The numbers by route may be viewed on the Bird Count Results page (link on the right). Some interesting finds for our count:

2 Double-crested Cormorants at Poplar Creek route - have only occurred 8 times in 100 counts.

1 Bald Eagle at Poplar Creek - only occurred 11 times.

8 American Woodcock at Bells Bend Park - highest count ever and occurred only 16 times.

2 Eurasian Collared-Doves at West Meade - only occurred 4 times.

23,957 American Robins - 20,000 seen flying at dawn at Bells Bend Park.

6 Rusty Blackbirds - one at Bells Bend and 5 at Radnor Lake.

2 Purple Finches - at Poplar Creek route.

5 Pine Siskins - one at Bells Bend and 4 at Poplar Creek.


Jan Shaw, Compiler

Old Hickory Dam Area
Nashville, TN
Dec. 13, 2014


It was a chilly morning at Old Hickory Lake; nonetheless, thirteen birders gathered for a wonderful outing. Activity was slow along the Nature Trail, but a few highlights included brilliant views of a Pileated Woodpecker which landed on a telephone pole behind the woodlands and Hermit Thrushes and Fox Sparrows near the trail's entrance.

"Snow Bunting Peninsula" was a bit more productive. One Bonaparte's Gull and one Herring Gull were the only gulls in the vicinity other than the abundant Ring-bills. Common Loons were scattered around the lake, as well as both Horned and Pied-billed Grebes. A raft of Ruddy Ducks was a nice addition to the trip list, and not far away floated a lone female Bufflehead.

Overall, it was a nice morning! Thank you to all who participated! (List below.)


44 species

Canada Goose - 2 Gadwall - 1 Mallard - 20 Northern Shoveler - 8 Bufflehead - 1 Ruddy Duck - 35 Common Loon - 6 Pied-billed Grebe - 20 Horned Grebe - 40 Great Blue Heron - 5 Cooper's Hawk - 1 Bald Eagle - 1 Bonaparte's Gull - 1 Ring-billed Gull - 100 Herring Gull - 1 Belted Kingfisher - 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 Downy Woodpecker - 5 Hairy Woodpecker - 2 Northern Flicker - 3 Pileated Woodpecker - 5 Blue Jay - 3

American Crow - 7 Carolina Chickadee - 15 Tufted Titmouse - 7 White-breasted Nuthatch - 1 Carolina Wren - 4 Winter Wren - 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet - 10 Ruby-crowned Kinglet -3 Eastern Bluebird - 10 Hermit Thrush - 6 American Robin - 70 Brown Thrasher - 2 Northern Mockingbird - 1 European Starling -160 Yellow-rumped Warbler - 3 Field Sparrow - 1 Fox Sparrow - 2 Song Sparrow - 5 Swamp Sparrow - 3 White-throated Sparrow - 6 Northern Cardinal - 9 American Goldfinch - 13

Herring Gull
Photo by Chloe Walker

Horned Grebes
Photo by Chloe Walker

Chloe Walker - NTOS Field Trip Coordinator
www.chloesbirdingblog.blogspot.com

Wheeler Wildlife Refuge
Decatur, Alabama
November 8, 2014


Seven NTOS members ventured to the refuge in Decatur, Alabama for our November field trip. We were met at the Visitor’s Center by Refuge Project Manager and longtime friend Dwight Cooley. It was a beautiful sunny morning and no sooner did we step out of our cars when the delightful song of Sandhill Cranes filled the air and treated us to great looks as they flew directly overhead. Our first stop was the observation tower at the Visitor’s Center. Highlights there included PINE WARBLER, SANDHILL CRANES, WOOD DUCKS, GADWALLS and AMERICAN WIGEON. Then it was onto Beaver Dam. Highlights here were HORNED LARKS, NORTHERN HARRIER, and a VESPERS SPARROW. Limestone Bay was our next stop where we were treated to GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 700+ WHITE PELICANS, LEAST and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS and a REDHEADED WOODPECKER. From there we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Greenbrier Barbacue…the hush puppies were plentiful and oh so yummy. After lunch we went to the opposite side of Limestone Bay where we found about 250 SNOW GEESE and about 4 ROSS’S GEESE among the group. Onward to White Springs Dike next where highlights included NORTHERN SHOVELER, GREAT EGRETS, a GREAT HORNED OWL, AMERICAN PIPITS and another 400 WHITE PELICANS. We ended our day back at the Visitor’s Center where we were treated to fantastic views of 3 adult WHOOPING CRANES right outside the observation tower. A wonderful ending to a great day. All tolled we had 69 species. The complete list can be viewed below.

Many thanks to go out to Dwight for a delightful bird filled day.

Complete trip list:

Snow Goose Ross’ Goose Canada Goose Wood Duck Gadwall American Wigeon Mallard Northern Shoveler Green-winged Teal Ring-necked Duck Pied-billed Grebe Horned Grebe American White Pelican Double-crested Cormorants Great Blue Heron Great Egrets Turkey Vulture Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel American Coot Sandhill Cranes Whooping Cranes Killdeer Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Ring-billed Gull Mourning Dove Rock Pigeon Great Horned Owl Belted Kingfisher Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe Blue Jay American Crow Horned Larks Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush American Robin Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher American Pipet Cedar Waxwings Yellow-rumped Warbler Pine Warbler Eastern Towhee Field Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow

Cyndi Routledge

Bells Bend Park, Davison County
Oct. 18, 2014

Fourteen birders attended today's walk at Bells Bend. Although it was quite chilly and a bit foggy to start, the weather was perfect by the time we finished. One of the first birds we saw this morning was a Marsh Wren at the second intersection in the paths. A little further down, we flushed a fairly large group of House Finches, and among them was one leucistic/albino bird. Likely the biggest surprise of the day were 20+ Pine Siskins in multiple groups throughout the Bend. Finally, four Bald Eagles put on a fantastic display, calling and soaring overhead. Thank you to all who participated! A checklist is below.

51 species

Canada Goose - x (heard) Mallard - 44 Black Vulture - 10 Turkey Vulture - 3 Bald Eagle - 4 Cooper's Hawk - 1 Broad-winged Hawk - 1 Red-tailed Hawk - 2 American Kestrel - 1 Killdeer - 7 Mourning Dove - 2 Belted Kingfisher - 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 8 Downy Woodpecker - 3 Hairy Woodpecker - 2 Northern Flicker - 15 Blue Jay - 30 American Crow - 2 Carolina Chickadee - 9 Tufted Titmouse - 1 Carolina Wren - 5 Marsh Wren - 1 Ruby -crowned Kinglet - 2 Eastern Bluebird - 8 American Robin - 75 Gray Catbird - 3

Northern Mockingbird - 11 Brown Thrasher - 9 European Starling - 20 Tennessee Warbler - 5 Common Yellowthroat - 7 Magnolia Warbler - 1 Palm Warbler - 4 Yellow-rumped Warbler - 8 Black-throated Green Warbler - 1 Eastern Towhee - 18 Field Sparrow - 13 Fox Sparrow - 3 Song Sparrow - 10 Swamp Sparrow - 18 White-throated Sparrow - 9 White-crowned Sparrow - 3 Dark-eyed Junco - 1 Northern Cardinal - 12 Indigo Bunting - 1 Red-winged Blackbird - 15 Eastern Meadowlark - 4 Brown-headed Cowbird - 4 House Finch - 35 Pine Siskin - 20+ American Goldfinch - 10

Chloe Walker
NTOS Field Trip Corrdinator

Radnor Lake State Natural Area
Oct. 8, 2014

The storms that moved through the Nashville area overnight had cleared by morning resulting in some good birding for the NTOS Wednesday morning walk.

We totaled 42 species, including 13 warbler species. The unexpected warbler species present were: WILSON'S WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and OVENBIRD. The group also got good looks at a male SUMMER TANAGER.

There was a group of ducks on the late, but the distance and the lighting made a positive identification difficult.

Species observed:

Canada Goose  20 Wood Duck  6 Wild Turkey  8 Pied-billed Grebe  7 Great Blue Heron  3 Cooper's Hawk  1 Red-tailed Hawk  1 Chimney Swift  100 Red-bellied Woodpecker  6 Downy Woodpecker  4 Pileated Woodpecker  1 Eastern Wood-Pewee  2 Eastern Phoebe  2 White-eyed Vireo  1 Blue Jay  6 American Crow  1 Carolina Chickadee  8 Tufted Titmouse  12 White-breasted Nuthatch  3 Carolina Wren  10 Eastern Bluebird  1

Swainson's Thrush  2 American Robin  7 Gray Catbird  1 Cedar Waxwing  14 Ovenbird  1 Black-and-white Warbler  2 Tennessee Warbler  6 Orange-crowned Warbler  1 American Redstart  4 Northern Parula  3 Magnolia Warbler  19 Bay-breasted Warbler  3 Chestnut-sided Warbler  3 Palm Warbler  2 Yellow-rumped Warbler  16 Black-throated Green Warbler  10 Wilson's Warbler 1 Summer Tanager  1 Northern Cardinal  10 Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1 American Goldfinch  4

Kevin Bowden

Radnor Lake State Natural Area
Oct. 1, 2014

21 birders enjoyed the fourth Radnor Walk of Fall 2014 on a beautiful day. Highlights of the 35 species seen and heard were male Black-throated Blue Warbler and Solitary Sandpiper. Magnolia Warbler continued to be the most numerous Warbler species.

Leader: Danny Shelton

Wood Duck 8 Wild Turkey 13 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Great Blue Heron 2 Black Vulture 5 Solitary Sandpiper 1 Chimney Swift 50+ Red-bellied Woodpecker 6 Downy Woodpecker 6 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Eastern Phoebe 2 White-eyed Vireo 1 Philadelphia Vireo 1 Blue Jay 5 American Crow 4 Carolina Chickadee 8

Tufted Titmouse 7 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 Carolina Wren 5 Eastern Bluebird 1 American Robin 3 Cedar Waxwing 40+ Black and White Warber 2 Tennessee Warber 2 Common Yellowthroat 1 Northern Parula 1 Magnolia Warbler 14+ Bay-breasted Warbler 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler 1 Palm Warbler 1 Black-throated Green Warbler 1 Northern Cardinal 10+ Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1

Kevin Bowden