Spring has finally settled in the southeastern mountains. Bird migrations have been coming on. The Unaka Auto Trail yielded some results. The rhododendren is in bloom, I understand, on Roan Mountain. The festival is about a month away and the traffic gets awful. Human migration is just around the corner. We call them "tourists."

We've had the spring count with lots of success: fifty-four observers in eleven parties tallied 154 species. The average has been 149 in the last thirty years. I believe this is the seventy-six consecutive spring count.

We have the Carter and Unicoi county summer counts next on the list. I have no results yet from nightjar surveys of last week.

The best time to visit is during the week, of course. The five upper counties have reliable birding spots (check e-birds), the lakes are full, breeding and nesting might be about done which will put both parents out of the house. 
###