Edgar Evins State Park
DeKalb County, Tennessee
22 April 2017
Early this morning, nine members from John W Sellars - Lebanon TOS Chapter
and one member from Nashville TOS Chapter struck out in torrential rain,
thunder and lightning heading east on I-40 for Edgar Evins State Park. Our
objective: spot the the beautiful blue Cerulean Warbler and other spring
migrants. About half the crew drove up before daylight, but spent two hours
seated in their automobiles with the windows rolled up listening to the
pounding rain and thunder--which is really not that bad, but it's not
birding! Those with more sense and better timing arrived around 8:00 with
exactly the same number of species ticked on their checklist. Zero. But
about 8:30, a Red-eyed Vireo greeted us from the treetops as we gathered at
the park office. Park Ranger Mark Taylor also greeted us, on his day off no
less, and things got exciting. Ranger Taylor led us down the road a short
distance where he quickly put us on our target bird. There we were joined
by Mark's wife Holly, and the two of them strolled with us along the road
where we were treated to the musical stylings of 11 species of warbler:
Cerulean, Worm-eating, Tennessee, Hooded, Yellow-throated, American
Redstart, Yellow, Kentucky, Blue-winged, Northern Parula, and a Blackpoll.
We heard Wood Thrush, and either heard or saw Summer & Scarlet Tanagers,
Yellow-throated & Red-eyed Vireos, and Orchard Orioles. A single
Broad-winged Hawk and 22 Common Loons were also seen.
For the day to have started off as dark and dreadful as this one did, it
sure turned out to be a fun, productive trip for all those brave enough (?)
to make it. And all 10 of us wholeheartedly thank Mark and Holly Taylor for
being such generous hosts, for putting us on all those birds, and for
showing us their beautiful park. We can't wait to come back!
Below is a list of the 40 species seen and/or heard this morning:
Wild Turkey 1
Common Loon 22
Double-breasted Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 3
Yellow-throated Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Wood Thrush 3
American Robin 3
Worm-eating Warbler 2
Blue-winged Warbler 1
Tennessee Warbler 1
Kentucky Warbler 1
Hooded Warbler 4
American Redstart 1
Cerulean Warbler 3
Northern Parula 4
Yellow Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Yellow-throated Warbler 1
Summer Tanager 2
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 5
Orchard Oriole 2
American Goldfinch 2
Thanks again to all who joined us today, and especially Mark and Holly.
Greg
Tomerlin
Wilson County, TN
