Although I set up a TN Needs Alert soon after arriving to western NC, I admit I haven’t checked the alerts religiously to see if there might be targets nearby to chase. Though this past winter when I did check the Alerts regularly, they were most helpful in identifying several reliable rarities to try for. And with 2 trips in February 2021 I netted 6 new TN statebirds plus one more just across the stateline into VA. Pretty good results when I actually chose to focus on TN possibilities.
Then as the 2021 summer doldrums of birding started to set
in, and local birding opportunities waned, I once again spent more time looking
through the daily Needs Alerts for TN. Most
often the nearby targets were records of Red Crossbill. They were seen in numerous spots, and
typically only seen occasionally. So since
they may not be reliable, I never chased after them. Instead, I decided to go after Crossbills in
conjunction with a trip to chase after a rarity. And that opportunity arose in mid-July when
an Anhinga was reported at Boone Lake in Washington County, starting on July 13. It was an hour and 45 minutes away so
definitely within my “chase radius”. The
bird was reported 3 out of 4 days, so presumably a reliable one to chase.
Now that I had a rarity to chase, I went back to research
Crossbill sightings. I quickly found
several recent records along Unaka Mountain Road not far off my return route. This road generally paralleled the TN-NC
state line, but was mostly in TN so birds I might hear or see would be in TN
rather than in NC. Definitely a possible
site to try after completing my search for the Anhinga.
And then as almost an afterthought I wondered if there might
be nearby sites for Swainson’s Warblers – another “need” for TN. I know it’s late in the year to find singing
warblers, but I’ve had pretty good experience with Swainson’s singing well into
the summer. And sure enough with a bit
of research I found a few reports of Swainson’s in the general area, though not
too close to Unaka Mountain. I wasn’t
expecting to find Swainson’s on this trip, but I would still keep my eyes open
for the right habitat while heading to and from Unaka Mountain, and then maybe find
some birds still singing.
So now I not only had a rarity to chase, but I also had 2
possible but longer-shot regular targets to look for as well. My trip was set!
It was an early start for me on July 17, and I rolled into
the area around Boone Lake at about 8:30.
Several of the Anhinga sightings came from Herb Hodge Road which skirted
the edge of the northeast portion of the Boone Lake wetlands. The site was actually a wide spot in the
Watauga River far upstream of the dam that forms the lake. But only a portion of this area and adjoining
vegetation was visible from this road.
In fact, a couple eBird sightings came from kayakers and others from
restricted access sites. But since I had
no other options, I would have to be lucky that the Anhinga was roosting or
foraging near Herb Hodge Road when I was there.
Soon after I arrived I found a couple pulloffs with views of small
portions of the vegetation – but there was no Anhinga in view. Then I drove a bit farther and came upon an
opening providing a view of hundreds of feet of lush vegetation and likely
roosting spots along the river. But
despite numerous scans, I could not find the target Anhinga. A flooded field nearby yielded 4 species of
waders, but not my target.
About an hour into my Anhinga vigil another birder pulled
up. He was from the area and had seen
the bird on previous days. He confirmed
I was at the correct spot, and also mentioned it was sometimes visible perched
near a bridge downstream on Austin Springs Road. After a short stay looking with me, he
offered to check out areas both upstream along the river, and downstream at the
bridge. A few minutes later he called to
say that he had not found the bird. I
felt a bit better that even a local birder couldn’t find the bird, but only a
bit. I waited a total of 2 ½ hours,
scanning potential perches and overhead hoping it might soar by, but all in
vain. I even went to the Austin Springs
Road for a scan. I saw lots of
Cormorants that morning – but no Anhinga.
[As a postscript – the Anhinga was spotted in the same area the next day
– luck just wasn’t on my side that day.]
Next I was off to try for the Red Crossbills on Unaka
Mountain Road. After a short ride I
started to gain elevation and headed up into the mountains. The vegetation changed to more lush deciduous
forests with a few conifers. Then as I
entered the Cherokee National Forest I started seeing a few rhododendrons and
then some small rhododendron thickets.
There were no recent Swainson’s Warbler reports from this area, but
maybe I had found an area for this secretive bird. I pulled over and played some tape but got no
replies. I got back on the road and now
started to see even better more extensive patches of rhododendrons. I pulled into the parking lot for the Rock
Creek Recreation Area which was surrounded by dense rhododendron thickets. I played a bit of tape and almost instantly a
Swainson’s Warbler replied in the distance.
Success! I made 2 more stops
within a mile down the road and had a Swainson’s singing spontaneously at each
stop.
Swainson’s Warbler was #244 for my TN state list. As shown in my statebird map below, I’ve now
seen this species in 9 southeastern states shaded in blue, plus as a rarity in
MA shaded in brown. I still need it in 7
states where it is regular (the cross-hatched states).
That was a nice unexpected consolation after missing my key target, but I still had the Crossbills to try for.
I got back on the road and soon reached Beauty Spot Gap Road
which would in turn take me to Unaka Mountain Road. This was a rough gravel road that was also
the route for the Appalachian Trail. I
started uphill and picked up some of the local regulars like Blue-headed
Vireos, Veerys, Chestnut-sideds, Hoodeds, and Black-throated Blues. Then I started to see some conifers mixed in
with the deciduous trees – I was getting into Red Crossbill habitat. But soon afterwards I came upon a
particularly rough area on the road where a washout had occurred. I got out of the car and sized it up –
unfortunately I didn’t think my little Prius would be able to navigate over or
around it. I had reached the end of the
road. At least the road was barely wide
enough to turn around so I didn’t have to back down the mountain. That was frustrating. Maybe on a future trip I could take a
different route to get to Unaka Mountain Road.
And of course, there are other spots to try for Red Crossbill in TN as
well.
So I not only missed the Anhinga as my key target, but also
couldn’t get to the area where I might find Red Crossbills. Good thing I was able to run into the right
habitat for Swainson’s Warbler along the way.
That gave me only 1 of my 3 targets, but that was still 1 more than I
had the day before.
