Nine birders met for this morning's field trip to Shelby Bottoms in Nashville.
We started by working our way around Mission Hill, where things were somewhat
quiet, but we did manage a few American Redstarts, Swainson's Thrushes, two
Baltimore Orioles, and an Empidonax that we only got fleeting looks at, but
looked good for Yellow-bellied. As we were trying to refind the flycatcher, a
screech owl started calling right behind us. Things picked up a bit in the
bottoms, where we had a couple of nice mixed flocks with several warbler
species, including Blue-winged, Chestnut-sided, Tennessee, Black-and-white,
Magnolia, and lots more Redstarts. The best bird was a cooperative
immature/female Dickcissel in the overgrown field next to the pond. It flew
around us several times and allowed for good looks and lots of pics. We also
heard a distant Barred Owl for a two-owl day. A few folks had to leave at this
point, but the rest of us soldiered on to Phase Three. We worked our way along
the river where we eventually ran into two more good mixed flocks. Best birds
were Golden-winged Warbler and Philadelphia Vireo, and again, lots more
Redstarts. We wound up with 59 species; link to ebird checklist below.
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48673326
Mike SmithHendersonville, TN
