Thursday, March 19, 2015

Spring Break?

Tuesday was another fine day to get out and watch birds and view our great east Tennessee farmlands and enjoy the company of some friends. It is almost like spring has finally sprung. But, no.

I added three to my year’s list: blue-wing teal, black-crowned night heron, and redheaded woodpecker. We also had turkey, widgeon, gadwall, a wood duck, and “almost added” a collared dove which we could hear but wouldn’t come out and play.

We visited Fort Henry Dam which a TVA dam between Kingsport and Colonial Heights, Tennessee, for our pair of night heron. This also a favorite roost for great blue herons. If TVA is not generating then the water level is fairly low and other ducks show up. They were generating that morning so below the dam was heron country only.

The redheaded woodpecker was in a wood lot that is itself threatened by nearby development. If you drive out in Washington County of enough you’ll find once empty dales beginning to grow McMansions. For some species, like the redheaded woodpecker, they either parish or just get pushed farther out and harder to find.

We stopped at several ponds in the more western part of Washington County. There is plenty of water in the streams and ponds right now. More snow is not likely but also not unheard of. We have had some heavy snows as late as late April. And not all the farm ponds were healthy enough for the all waterfowl. Mallard and Canada geese seem to be the most tolerant of dirty water. We are more likely to find them over a larger area than we would expect to find teal and gadwall and the others.

The lone woody was doing duck things in a low spot by a stream poking around a patch of cattail. He probably won’t be there long.
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