[TN-Bird] Big Sandy unit of TN National Wildlife Refuge
- From: Shawna Ellis <yodergoat@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Tn Bird List <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 22:11:24 -0500
Big Sandy Unit, TN National Wildlife Refuge
May 25, 2012
Benton County
We spent the morning in the Big Sandy Unit of the TN National Wildlife Refuge.
The whole place, as usual, was crawling with singing Indigo Buntings
and also had a large number of Summer Tanagers.
Of note:
On the drive in we saw a Blue-winged Warbler, Prairie Warbler and Pine
Warbler feeding at the wood's edge along the first cornfield on the
left after passing the Bennett's Creek Overlook.
We saw a female Wild Turkey with at least one young poult at the mouth
of the road to Pace Point.
At Pace Point, we walked along the shoreline around and into the
willow thicket on the left side of the parking area. We were able to
walk easily amongst the trees because the understory here is so open.
We saw many Orchard Orioles as well as a male Baltimore Oriole here.
We also saw many singing Prothonotary Warblers and had a brief but
very close look at a male Blackburnian Warbler and extended good views
of a singing American Redstart. I also had a close, very still look at
a Red-eyed Vireo. This area was very active with various common birds
such as Tufted Titmice and Carolina Chickadees feeding their fledged
young. Mayflies were swarming along the waters edge, but I don't know
if they were the food source being used.
As we came back down the road from Pace Point and turned right to go
toward Rocky Point, we saw three Green Herons and a pair of
Blue-winged Teal at the first pond (the one on the right). At the
second pond (on the left), we saw a raccoon in the shallows. As we
passed this pond later we saw the same coon again as well as a
Double-crested Cormorant swimming in the sunshine with outstretched
wings, the first time we have seen a cormorant in that pond.
Seeing nothing of note at Rocky Point, we continued on toward Lashlee
Springs. Along the road near the springs we saw a couple of singing
White-eyed Vireos at low level and more Summer Tanagers. We also heard
a Yellow-breasted Chat, something we had heard at a couple of other
locations as well but never saw.
While we were walking along the road, our six year old who had been
sitting in the car behind us called to us urgently and said she had
just seen a Barred Owl crossing the road. I trust her sighting and her
description sounded very accurate. Also along this stretch of road we
saw a very large Grey Rat Snake crossing the road.
Close to the springs, we saw an adult Bald Eagle flying from the woods
across the road toward the lake, where it perched with good views. We
have seen eagles consistently and at close range at this exact
location in the past, so I suppose there is a nest in the area. On one
occasion last year as we explored the area around Lashlee Spring, an
eagle kept flying past us very low with strong loud cracking
wingbeats, then would circle around and do it again. What was odd
about this was that we were in the woods when it did this, and the
bird flew below the tops of the trees there close to us in such an
intentional and deliberate manner that we decided it must very annoyed
at our presence.
After our time near the springs, we turned around and started heading
back toward the exit, and saw our bird of the day. We had been looking
at tall dead snags all morning, seeking an Olive-sided Flycatcher and
getting some false alarms of other birds silhouetted against the
sky.,But we finally got our bird on the stretch of road between the
springs and Rocky Point. We got a scope on the bird and watched it for
some time as it hunted from its perch. It did not call, but had all
the proper field marks and was in good light with very close, clear
scope looks. At one point, a Red-tailed Hawk flew in from over the
lake and veered purposefully toward the bird, which flew away in alarm
but came back to resume its vigil on the bare treetop after the hawk
moved on. This was one of our target birds for the day and a lifebird
for us.
By this time we were fairly hot and tired of squinting into the bright
sunlight, so we headed home at about noon.
Shawna Ellis and family
Paris, Henry County
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