[TN-Bird] Re: Why the name Snow Bunting Peninsula - Old Hickory Lake, Nashville, Davidson County
- From: "Michael Lee Bierly" <mlbierly@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Tennessee Birding" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:49:00 -0500
Lots going on at Snow Bunting Peninsula on Old Hickory Lake, Nashville,
Davidson County, these days, and lots of fun. I remember driving up to the
peninsula and finding nothing before a storm, then rain so hard you could
not see the front of the car. When the rain subsisted, there right in front
of the hood of your car, four species of shorebirds of ten individuals and
gulls and terns flying around. Perhaps a little history (nostalgia) is in
order. There are still a few of us inhaling and exhaling that were around
when the first Snow Bunting appeared on that small jut of a peninsula
(expect it is man-made when the lake was impounded) on November 29, 1969.
Found by Jack N. Carusos, then of Birmingham, Alabama, who was visiting
relatives in Madison and had to get out of the house and see birds, and
chose the close spot of Old Hickory Lake dam to bird. He realized the
importance of the sighting and call me. I was going to college in Birmingham
at that time, and had birded with Jack through the Birmingham Audubon
Society. I met him in Madison and we went to the OHL dam and the Snow
Bunting spot. Sure enough it was there. History was made! From now on to
eternity, loud and clear, without quivering or shaking, this spot shall
forever be called Snow Bunting Peninsula...no matter what politician wants
to change the name otherwise. There were two birds, a male and a female (I
don't remember if both were seen at first), who spent the winter at this
spot, entertaining "countless" viewers, the last date seen being February
18, 1970, the female; the male departing a few days earlier.
So the made to be was made...Jack found the bird...I was going to college in
Birmingham...he knew me...called me...and the rest is history. Through the
years this point has been attractive to many interesting species as detailed
on this sight recently. But don't forget mid-summer, as birds appear at this
area then, example being a breeding plumaged Laughing Gull on July 4, 1972
(no one can tell me why one sees breeding plumaged Laughing Gulls in
mid-summer inland and they only nest on the coast). This area, just off from
the dam has a small sand beach, which Snow Bunting Peninsula is part of.
Some thirty years later, on January 10, 1999, another Snow Bunting was seen
on Snow Bunting peninsular and viewed by many. This could be considered a
re-christening of the site as Snow Bunting Peninsula, a memorial day.
Bittersweet, I was not told of the event, only learning of the occurrence
some years later.
Michael Lee Bierly, Nashville, Davidson County, TN
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