Mississippi Kite Bonanza, Delaware and Nearby Maryland, June 3-4, 2021

A late May and early June 2021 trip to the Mid-Atlantic and New England states gave me an opportunity to add a few species to my statelists in the region.  Although the primary focus was to visit relatives, there’s always time to squeeze in at least a little birding.  Since I used to live in the area my statelists there are pretty good, but there are usually at least a few targets to hope for – often there is a rarity or two that might be around when I’m in town, and occasionally a few remaining regular species that I haven’t yet run into. 

Our first stops were in PA where I added Trumpeter Swan to my list, and RI where I added Atlantic Puffin (see my earlier blog posts for summaries of these sightings).  Then it was on to visit relatives in northern Delaware.  As on my earlier stops, I pulled up an eBird Needs Alert and was surprised to see numerous reports of Mississippi Kites in DE.  As it turns out, this is the year for Brood X of the 17-Year Cicadas to hatch out, and there were numerous Kites that went north of their regular range, coming to the area to take advantage of this abundant food source.  There were pictures on-line of Kites capturing, and then eating, cicadas on the wing just like they do with dragonflies in their regular range. 

Here’s a picture of several cicadas hatching out on one part of one tree in just one morning.

And another picture of the ground below with all the shed skins of those that hatched out on previous days.

There was one DE spot in particular where up to a dozen MIKIs were spotted feeding – in Newark conveniently within 30 minutes of my brother’s house.  The spot was on Casho Mill Road over fields behind an elementary school.  This location was less than a mile from the MD stateline, and since I needed them for my MD list as well, I wondered if they were also being seen in MD.  Sure enough, there was a site just over2 miles away as the Kite flies in Elkton, MD where another feeding flock was being seen.  And not to be greedy, but this area was also less than a mile from the PA stateline – could there be a feeding flock just across the line in PA as well?  Unfortunately, eBird showed that there were only occasional Kite sightings at random locations in southeastern PA, none apparently chaseable.  I’d have to be content with 2 states out of 3.  My plan was first to pursue the DE birds and then try for the MD birds the next day.

A few hours after rolling into town on June 3 I mentioned the Mississippi Kites to my brother.  He was interested in seeing them as well, and was familiar with the elementary school where they were being seen.  So late in the afternoon we headed off to give them a try.  (We timed our trip to be late enough in the day so that everyone would be gone from the school – didn’t want anyone to question why people were walking around the school grounds with binoculars.)  Just after we arrived, we saw a birder out in the field pointing to the sky.  We looked up and there was an immature Mississippi Kite flying by.  A quick but good view, but we were hoping for more.  Not seeing any more birds overhead, we walked a bit farther and spotted some activity in the trees just beyond the fields.  We had one, then two, then more Kites perched in the trees.  We had at least 4 in view in each of 2 trees.  Here’s a distant picture of one of the subadult birds taken by holding my phone up to my binoculars.

We even saw a Crow catching cicadas on the wing doing its best Kite imitation.

Then on the morning of June 5th I was off to try to find Mississippi Kites in MD.  But along the way I made a few stops at White Clay Creek State Park nearby hoping for Yellow-throated Vireos.  That’s one of the few regular birds I still needed for my DE list, and there were a number of YTVI reports from various parts of the park this spring.  So even though I was optimistic, I unfortunately came up short at this very birdy spot.  Maybe I would have had better luck hearing them without the roar of the cicadas. 

Next it was off to Hillwood Road in Elkton, MD where there were double-digit reports of Kites feeding over the fields in the area.  When I arrived, it was still pretty cool and overcast - not the best conditions to see Kites hawking overhead.  So I wasn’t too surprised that I didn’t see any Kites in the air.  After a few minutes I thought about my experience the day before in DE when I was able to find several birds perched in nearby trees.  So I started scanning the trees in the yards near the fields and eventually spotted some movement – sure enough it was a Kite flying among the trees.  With a bit more scanning I found several birds flying through or just above the canopy presumably catching cicadas just as they took off from the trees.  Most surprisingly, at one point I saw a pair copulating, and a third bird carrying a stick as if it were nest building.  It’s not likely that they will stay in the area and nest, but then again sometimes birds that overshoot their normal ranges will colonize those new areas.  I ended up with at least 5 birds visible at one time in the trees.  And got these passable photos through my binoculars of one bird nicely perched, and a pair in another tree. 

But my Mississippi Kite story wasn’t over.  The next day, soon after starting our long drive home to NC, we were passing through northeastern MD on I-95 and there was another Mississippi Kite catching cicadas over the highway.  Quite a nice exclamation point to the trip.

Mississippi Kite was #277 for my DE list and #332 for my MD list.  Those are the 6th and 7th states where I’ve seen this species as a rarity (the brown-shaded states in my statebird map below).  The blue states are those where I’ve seen it in its regular range; the cross-hatched states are the last 2 in its normal range where I’ve yet to see it.

A Most Unexpected Alcid, Block Island Ferry, Rhode Island, June 1, 2021

A late May and early June 2021 trip to the Mid-Atlantic and New England states gave me an opportunity to add a few species to my statelists in the region.  Although the primary focus was to visit relatives, there’s always time to squeeze in at least a little birding.  Since I used to live in the area my statelists there are pretty good, but there are usually at least a few targets to hope for – often there is a rarity or two that might be around when I’m in town, and occasionally a few remaining regular species that I haven’t yet run into. 

After our first stop in PA it was on to visit relatives in Rhode Island.  I had recently spent the last 25 years birding extensively throughout New England so I had a very good list in RI.  As a result I wasn’t too surprised that no targets popped up on my eBird RI Needs Alert.  But that didn’t stop me from making a couple quick trips to the coast with the family just to see the regular coastal birds that I’ve missed so much since moving to the NC mountains a couple years ago. 

But without a doubt the greatest opportunity for RI birding on the trip was on our ferry rides to and from Block Island on June 1.  I have taken the Block Island ferry many times over the years, always perched near the bow hoping to see some pelagic species passing by.  I’ve called it “a poor man’s pelagic trip” because your chances are limited to hoping that the path of the ferry comes close to a passing pelagic bird for what is likely to be an oh so brief observation.  Despite these long odds, I’ve been successful over the years in seeing 3 Shearwater species, both Storm-Petrels, and 3 Alcid species from the ferry.  On this trip the chances of getting a new statebird were remote at best, so I just realistically hoped to see one pelagic bird of any type – another opportunity to re-acquaint myself with species I hadn’t seen in a couple years. 

The boat trip to Block Island started well enough with a small flock of Laughing Gulls just outside Galilee Harbor.  Plus a couple Common Loons and several Gannets flew by as we motored south.  But otherwise, bird sightings were limited to just a few Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls and several Common Terns.  And then on one of my scans far to the east I picked up a small dark bird with rapid wing beats flying southwest generally toward the boat.  It was an Alcid of some type – seemingly one of the smaller species.  I kept my binoculars trained on the bird as it approached.  As it got closer I could confirm it was one of the smaller Alcids, and could now see the two-toned dark above and white below look.  And finally, as it crossed right in front of the bow of the boat I could see a white face, black chest band, and the clincher – large triangular orange bill.  Amazingly I had an Atlantic Puffin!  An exceptionally rare RI bird in winter and the first summer RI record in eBird.  My thoughts instantly went to my late birding friend Denny Abbott who spent his entire life focused on birding throughout New England.  He saw all the Alcid species in RI except for Puffin, and we made several winter trips together on the ferry where Denny’s sole target was the Atlantic Puffin.  Alas he was never able to add it to his RI statelist. 

It was my only pelagic species on the trip but it sure was a great one!

Atlantic Puffin was #335 for my RI state list – my 3rd state along with ME and MA for this species. 

A Not-Too-Cooperative Trumpeter Swan, Newville, Pennsylvania, May 25, 2021

A late May and early June 2021 trip to the Mid-Atlantic and New England states gave me an opportunity to add a few species to my statelists in the region.  Although the primary focus was to visit relatives, there’s always time to squeeze in at least a little birding.  Since I used to live in the area my statelists there are pretty good, but there are usually at least a few targets to hope for – often there is a rarity or 2 that might be around when I’m in town, and occasionally a few remaining regular species that I haven’t yet run into. 

The first stop was in south-central PA, so I set up an eBird Needs Alert for that state prior to our visit.  Lots of “needs” popped up, though of course PA is a large state.  So with limited time I had to narrow the list down to the nearby counties.  A few of the less common but regular migrants were on the list, but they would surely move on by the time I arrived.  Instead, my attention went to nearly daily reports of Trumpeter Swans in Newville in Cumberland County.  It was a nesting pair in a small marsh along a public road in Newville, back for at least their second consecutive year.  It would be a bit of a drive so it would be my only birding stop for the visit.  But since they sounded like a pretty reliable pair of birds, it seemed like the right target to pursue. 

I was out of the house early on May 25 but was slowed by an accident along my route.  The delay meant I’d only have a few minutes to look for the birds but I wasn’t too concerned.  When I finally arrived at the marsh I pulled up slowly to this nice wetlands, fully expecting to almost instantly see 1 or 2 large white birds with a quick scan. 

But there were no white birds to be seen.  I drove the length of the marsh not once, but twice, and still didn’t see the Swans.  I pulled over on the shoulder and got out for a closer inspection.  Despite several binocular scans I still couldn’t find the Swans.

I was thinking of giving up when I noticed a car driving up toward me slowly.  My first thought was he was going to confront me for trespassing (even though I was on the shoulder of a public road).  But then the optimist in me thought wouldn’t it be nice if he was actually coming to help me find the Swans.  He got out of the car and greeted me with “Are you looking for the Swans?”  He was the owner of the farm across the road and had watched the Swans fly out of the marsh just a few minutes earlier.  But he said not to worry, they were just out feeding – they usually head to the large pond just to the west - and typically come back in about 20 minutes. 

That was all very heartening, but I had run out of time.  I waited a couple more minutes at the marsh, and then decided to try to see them at the pond.  I had driven by the pond on my way to the marsh and noticed that there were only limited views of the water through the vegetation.  But it was still worth the try.  I started driving slowly by the pond and just as I got to the first opening there was a Swan flying by (with a black bill eliminating a Mute Swan) heading toward the marsh.  I quickly turned around and got back to the marsh just in time to see the Swan heading off to the north over the farm fields.  Not the most satisfying of views but good enough.  And good thing that the farmer came by to talk to me – without his information I probably would have left before it returned.

When I lived in the Mid-Atlantic through the early 1990s the only Swan species in the area were Tundras (formerly Whistling) and Mutes.  Trumpeters had been extirpated from most of its former range, including the entire eastern portion of its range, by the late 1800’s.  But several reintroduction programs across the US and in Canada have successfully brought Trumpeter Swans back to the area.  And even in some cases to areas where they weren’t likely present originally.  More details can be found at this website – www.trumpeterswansociety.org

Trumpeter Swan was #243 for my PA list.  In my statebird map below, the blue states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range, and the tan states are those where I’ve seen it outside its normal range.  At least that’s based on range maps in recent field guides - Trumpeters are now more likely through many states outside of the ranges shown in the guides.  Lastly the cross-hatched states are those in its range where I’ve yet to see this species.

Wilson’s Warbler, Cottonwood Trail, Spartanburg, SC, May 8, 2021

Wilson’s Warbler was a target of mine for both my NC and SC state lists when I moved to western NC.  I was lucky enough to find this rare but regular migrant in western NC in May 2020, plus had a most unexpected Wilson’s at my feeding station for several visits in December 2020 – the first December records for this species in Henderson County, NC.

But my Wilson’s Warbler luck wasn’t nearly as good in SC.  I was unsuccessful chasing after one seen at the Parkway Retention Pond in Greenville in May 2020.  And wasn’t able to find any on my own despite numerous trips to the Upstate during warbler migration seasons.  And then came a report from my friend Michael Robertson that he had found a singing Wilson’s at the Cottonwood Trail site in Spartanburg on May 7, 2021.  I couldn’t chase after it that day, and had other birding plans with Gary Harbour for the following day.  But going after a statebird was more important, plus it would be a lifebird for Gary.  So it was easy enough to talk Gary into going with me to Cottonwood Trail the next morning to give it a try.  Though I’m always worried that a spring migrant will only be around for one day as it hurries on to its eventual breeding area.  (Michael had also found the Wilson’s I chased after the previous year at the Parkway Retention Pond – I hoped my luck would be better this time.)

Gary and I arrived bright and early on the 8th and went right to the area where Michael had seen it the previous day – a brushy area near an old defunct metal tower near the footbridge over the river.  We watched and listened for a while at this spot with no luck.  So we expanded our search area to cover a few nearby brushy areas but still came up empty.  I was starting to have that sinking feeling again – yet another unsuccessful search for a Spring migrant that hadn’t stuck around. 

But then again, the wetlands at the site was surrounded by low wet brushy habitat that would be ideal for a Wilson’s.  So we decided to head out the elevated boardwalk into the marsh to cover other possible sites.  That’s when we started to hear a Canada Warbler a short distance away – that’s a pretty uncommon bird as well but not our target.  I often find migrant Canadas in the same type of wet brushy habitat as Wilson’s so maybe we were on to something.  And then practically right next to the Canada we heard the distinct trilling song of the Wilson’s Warbler – the first trill was higher and the second was lower, faster and shorter in length.  The bird continued to sing off and on for an hour along the brushy edges of the marsh, though without giving us any views (despite being no more than 20 feet away at times).  And then we finally got a visual of the bird surprisingly singing higher in the mature deciduous trees overhead - all yellow below, black cap, no white in the tail, no barring, greenish-yellow above, and no wingbars.  Great to actually be able to see such a handsome bird!

Wilson’s Warbler was #286 for my SC state list.  In my statebird map below the blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; the cross-hatched states are those where I’ve yet to see it.  Although Wilson’s Warbler is a wide-ranging species, it is decidedly less common in the east, which is certainly borne out in my statebird map with all the cross-hatched states in the east.

“I am a Cerulean”, Greenville Watershed, SC, April 25, 2021

Cerulean Warbler has a song that is rather unique.  That is if you compare its buzzy, rising-pitch song to the primary songs of other eastern warblers.  But then again, if you consider alternate songs, both Parula and Black-throated Blue have similar buzzy songs that rise in pitch.  And once I even heard a Redstart giving a nearly perfect Cerulean song.  These are all sufficiently similar that in my role as a member of the NH Rare Birds Committee, I’m not likely to accept a record of a heard-only Cerulean.  Though of course Cerulean is quite a rarity as far north as NH, so any record generally deserves considerable scrutiny.  And with limited experience with Ceruleans in New England in general, I wasn’t feeling very secure in my ID’s of singing Ceruleans as well.

But all that was cleared up, at least for me, when I moved to western NC.  Soon after I arrived I heard about a new mnemonic for the Cerulean song – “I am a Cerulean”.  To my ear that’s a perfect description of their song.  And ever since knowing that mnemonic, I’ve been able to separate Ceruleans from those less typical songs of Parulas and Black-throated Blues.  Or even rogue Redstarts.

And all that came in handy while participating in the 2021 Greenville County Spring Migration Count.  The Count was initially scheduled for Saturday April 24, but that turned out to be a rainy day.  So I took advantage of the option to delay my counting to the 25th, which turned out to be dry but quite windy in the morning.  The key part of my territory is the Greenville Watershed which has tremendous deciduous woodland habitat – some of the highest elevation woodlands in SC.  There are just 2 roads that wind through this habitat.  My greatest bird numbers are along Saluda Road, principally because the road has next to no traffic and lots of opportunities to pull over or even just stop while on the road.  The other road I bird in the area is Old US Highway 25, which has a little more traffic and fewer places to pull over, so my tally along this road is typically a bit lower. 

Once again this area had great numbers of the higher elevation breeders, despite the chilly and windy conditions to start.  Notable tallies included 33 Red-eyed Vireos, 16 Ovenbirds, 36 Hoodeds, 15 Parulas, and 10 Wood Thrushes.  And as always one of the stars of this area is the Swainson’s Warbler – I had 6 singing males plus another silent pair.  But the best was yet to come. 

As I neared the NC/SC stateline on the upper end of Old US Highway 25 I started to look for a place to turn around and head back down the road.  There are several pretty sharp turns in this stretch of the road and limited shoulders.  But just as I neared a spot to pull over I heard what I thought was a classic “I am a Cerulean” call in the distance.  But were my ears playing games on me?  Luckily it took me just a few seconds to pull over and listen for the call again.  And there was the call, clear as day, coming from the canopy of an area of large deciduous trees – “I am a Cerulean” over and over again for at least 5 minutes.  Sure am glad to have learned that mnemonic so I could recognize the song so quickly even when I was driving along. 

This same bird was re-found by other birders the next day and again on the 29th.  Perhaps it’s going to be a local breeder.  There are no eBird records in Greenville County from June or July, though some range maps show Cerulean as a local nester in the area.

Cerulean Warbler was #285 for my SC state list.  SC was my 25th state for this somewhat elusive species (the blue-shaded states in my statebird map below).  The cross-hatched states are those where I still need Cerulean in its regular range. 

Exciting Second Trip to Tennessee in a Week – Not to Mention a Short Side Trip into Virginia, February 20, 2021

On February 17th I made my first birding trip to eastern TN since moving to western NC, breaking the ice so to speak.  That was a most successful trip to an area northwest of home, netting three new birds for my TN list.  While doing research for that trip I found several other targets I needed near the northeast corner of TN in an area north of home, but that would have been too much ground to cover for one day.  So while driving back from my most successful initial TN trip I was already starting to plan my next TN trip, this one to northeast TN.

There were 3 key targets being seen north of me near I-26.  The first 2 were seen at South Holston Lake, specifically from the boat launch along Route 421.  First there was a White-winged Scoter reported along with a Long-tailed Duck (since I got a Long-tailed on my previous TN trip that one was no longer a target).  Then there was a Red-throated Loon seen along with several Common Loons.  The Scoter was reported multiple times, though the Loon was only reported once.  So I was hopeful for the Scoter but realistic that my chances were low on the Red-throated.  Though I’m always up for a long-distance Loon search – it’s almost like my beloved seawatches.  The third target was perhaps even a longer-shot – a pair of Common Mergansers reported just once on the Watauga River in Johnson City, and that was nearly a week earlier.  But that spot would only require a short side-trip on my route home, so certainly worth a try.

And then there’s another twist – the South Holston Lake boat ramp is less than 10 minutes from the TN/VA state line.  My VA statelist was a respectable 249, but I still had many gaps.  I set up an eBird Needs Alert for VA and found only one recently reported target near the state line – Wild Turkey, and they’re almost never reliable.  With a bit more research I found very few hotspots nearby, and few recent checklists submitted in the area.  With no reliable targets to chase after my thoughts turned to doing a bit of speculative birding in the area.  One of my possible VA statebirds was the Pine Siskin.  This has been a great winter for Siskins, with many moving through earlier in the season.  So ordinarily I would think that this would be the year for me to add that species to my VA list.  But lately the reports from southwestern VA had been pretty limited, with none being reliable.  (Actually, the closest recent Siskin report was from the Holston Lake boat ramp in TN – but I didn’t need Siskin for my TN list.)  Maybe I could get lucky and just run into a flock.  One of the closest hotspots was Washington County Park on South Holston Lake.  It had a nice wooded area which looked like it could be birdy.  So I decided to make a short side-trip to the park and hope to get lucky birding the woodlands and brushy edges.

The night before my trip I checked eBird one last time for updates.  Unfortunately, there was a report from the boat ramp with no Scoter or Oldsquaw, and still no Red-throated Loon.  And no new Common Merganser sightings.  Had they all moved on?  I was realistically thinking that I might not get any new statebirds on this trip.  But even if that were the case, it would give me a chance to visit a new area. 

The morning of the 20th was a cold one – 24 degrees when I left the house.  And when I crested the mountains near the TN/NC line the temp had dropped to 18 degrees.  The clouds near the top looked a bit ominous, and were spitting a few snow flurries, but I wasn’t too concerned about road conditions.  Shortly after I crossed into TN I spotted an immature Bald Eagle flying overhead – not new for my list but perhaps an omen of good things to come.

I arrived at the Holston Lake boat launch area around 8:45 and started to get my bearings.  First there were long views like this one out on the lake in several directions where searches for Loons might be fruitful.

But the photos of the Scoter and Long-tailed Duck looked to be in more protected waters and from a closer distance.  The area between the boat ramp and the marina toward the west was quite protected, so I started my search there.  Unfortunately, the only waterfowl there were 2 Canada Geese.  I started to wonder if it might be worthwhile to try to access the marina and look for the ducks among the boat slips.  There was also a somewhat protected area to the southeast, but that area came up empty for waterfowl.  The only birds were a small flock of Ring-billed Gulls with a couple Bonaparte’s mixed in. 

Then I turned my focus to a search for Loons farther out on the lake.  It was rather breezy, which put a bit of a chop on the reservoir.  My first scan came up empty.  Then on the next scan I found a Loon which was obviously a Common.  And then on a later scan I found 2 others together but again they were just Commons – though they were a considerable distance out making the IDs challenging. 

I was coming up empty on both of my targets, but I didn’t feel good that I had found the right spot for the Scoter.  I started to wonder if there was another cove with protected waters nearby that I hadn’t found yet.  I walked a short distance north toward the main road, and looking off to the northeast found a small protected cove.  Could this be the right spot? 

 As I set up my scope a Red-breasted Nuthatch called from the pines overhead.  One of the checklists with the Scoter also had a Red Nut – maybe I was finally in the right spot.  On the first scan I saw only a Bufflehead.  Then with binocs I spotted a dark duck on the water a short distance away.  I put it in my scope and I had the female White-winged Scoter.  And with another scan I spotted the Long-tailed Duck.  A bit later all 3 divers where swimming together providing this phonescoped moment.

It’s amazing how looking in the right spot can increase your chances of finding your target birds.  While I was there a local birder arrived also looking for the Scoter and Long-tailed and I was able to point her toward this protected cove.  Looks like I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know where to look.  I made sure when completing my eBird checklist for this spot to add some specific directions to this cove.

My statebird map for White-winged Scoter is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range – principally on the Pacific coast, northern Atlantic coast, and along the Great Lakes.  The cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but I haven’t yet seen it.  And now TN was the 7th state where I’ve seen this species as an inland or southern rarity. 

So with one target under my belt I returned to my original spot to spend more time looking for Loons.  My first couple scans came up empty – no Loons at all, just a flyby Bufflehead.  But the water was pretty rough, and there was a bit of heat shimmer so distant viewing wasn’t exactly easy.  Then I picked up one Common Loon in the distance, and a short distance away spotted a second Loon, both diving frequently.  My initial take on this second bird was that it was noticeably smaller than the Common.  Did I have the Red-throated?  The overall appearance seemed to be that it was a browner bird, a bit lighter than the nearby Common.  Then I focused on the head - the bill was smaller than the Common and the head was more rounded.  I did not notice that its head and bill were more upturned typical of a Red-throated, but given the considerable distance (likely over a half mile) and its limited time above water, I felt like that wasn’t a deal breaker.  After 30 minutes of studying this bird I concluded I had found the Red-throated Loon.  Unfortunately, it was way too far away for photos. 

In my statebird map below I’ve seen Red-throated Loon in all its regular coastal states, but still need it in several states in the Great Lakes region.  And TN was my second state (after VT) where I’ve seen it as a rarity. 

Now it was off to VA and my speculative search for Pine Siskins.  Just a couple minutes after crossing the stateline I arrived at the gate to Washington County Park, only to find out that it was closed.  Mind you, it was not just a pole across the road to keep cars out but you could still walk in.  No, it was a gate in a chain-link fence blocking all access to the park.  That was disappointing.  At least there was also a boat ramp down to South Holston Lake that I could explore.  I set up my scope and only found a couple Ring-billed Gulls flying about.  There was a little passerine activity along the shoreline but not much else.  I was just about to call it quits on the VA part of my trip when I noticed a medium-sized red passerine fly past me along the shoreline.  I put my binoculars on it and was shocked to realize it was a male Red Crossbill!  I followed it to a grove of pine trees a short distance away and realized there was a whole flock of Crossbills up there.  I guessed perhaps 8 or 10 birds flitting about, complete with their “kip kip” call notes.  Just then the whole flock dropped down to the water’s edge to drink – I counted 14 Crossbills, more than half red adult males.  I snapped this phonescoped photo unfortunately a second after most of the flock took of – at least 2 birds remained for the shot.

Red Crossbill was #250 for my VA list – my 24th state with at least 250 species.  And VA was my third state where I’ve added this species to my state list since moving to the area (along with NC and SC).  I’m still hoping to see Crossbills in TN most likely in the highest mountains along the Blue Ridge, where they are typically much more common than in VA.

A bit later I had a calling Brown-headed Nuthatch in those same pines.  And a Palm Warbler foraging on the lawn below.  A very nice stop.  On my way back to TN I drove some of the back roads still hoping to find a Siskin flock but to no avail.  Though I’m certainly not disappointed - I’ll take Red Crossbill over Pine Siskin any time!  Maybe I can get back to the area in early spring and get Siskins as they are heading back north.  

My next planned stops on my way south were a couple areas along South Holston Lake hoping to find other waterfowl or gulls.  A couple stops along the river below the dam yielded an amazing 152 Bufflehead, along with 20 Wigeon.  It was a fast-flowing river that looked good for Common Mergansers, but not today.  And a stop at the dam overlook offered this nice scenic view, though I didn’t have a single bird on the water.

Next I was off to the Johnson City area to try for the Common Mergansers.  The birds had been seen on the Watauga River, which meanders through the area for quite a number of miles.  The eBird report mentioned “Seen multiple times flying up/downstream.  Landed in water in front of us”.  There was only limited access to the river, providing a view of only one small portion of river habitat likely suitable for Mergansers.  And along with the fact that the sighting was now 6 days old, this would be a long-shot to say the least. 

I arrived at the pinned eBird location to find a small park and fishing pier with a nice view of the river.  Certainly seemed suitable for Mergansers.  But the problem was I saw no waterfowl at all.  I scanned upstream and down, and waited at least 10 minutes, but still no waterfowl.  Then on one scan I noticed a Great Blue Heron standing on a grassy bank a short distance downstream.  On closer look I thought I could see the dark head of a duck, likely a Mallard, sitting in the grass nearby.  I put them in the scope – it wasn’t a Mallard, it was a male Common Merganser! 

I was able to drive down closer to the roosting Merganser now barely visible over a small rise, and realized a female was by his side.

Later when I looked back at my photo of the Heron in the distance I realized you could see the reddish head of the female Merganser right behind the legs of the Great Blue.  Not sure I would have spotted my targets if the Great Blue hadn’t been perched there.  And if the birds had been resting along the shoreline just a short distance farther downstream they would have been around the bend and out of view.  Certainly an element of luck involved with birding.

I’ve seen Common Merganser throughout most of its range, though I still need it in 3 northern states, as well as 5 southeastern states where this species might be better called the “Not So Common Merganser”.

That brings my TN list up to 243 – a nice addition of 6 birds over 2 trips in the same week.  An excellent way to start my birding in eastern TN.  I’ve come up with a list of another 34 possible targets along the eastern edge of TN to hope for in the future.  Plus, another 32 additional targets in southwestern VA.  Can’t wait for more trips to explore these new regions.

First Birding Trip to Eastern Tennessee - Breaking the Ice, Sevier and Jefferson Counties, TN, February 17, 2021

This has been a great winter for Evening Grosbeaks in the south.  Earlier in the winter most sightings were flybys of a small number of birds.  For instance I heard 2 birds fly over my yard on November 8, 2020, and a single bird on November 20.  As the winter progressed small flocks were reported at a few feeding stations here and there.  Several photos of these showy birds were posted on the local listserves providing some nice eye candy.

All the recent reports I noticed were from locations in NC – luckily I no longer needed this one for my NC list.  But then on February 9th Galen Goodrum posted an excellent photo of an Evening Grosbeak he saw in Sevierville, TN.  That was just under 2 hours away.  Since it may be a long time before Evening Grosbeaks irrupt into the area again, this may be my last chance to try to add them to my TN list.  When I moved to the area I had planned on traveling to eastern TN to work on that statelist, with the state line just an hour away.  But I had never quite gotten around to doing the research needed to bird in TN.  Maybe the nearby Grosbeaks would give me the impetus I needed to expand my horizons into TN.

I used to travel to Memphis, TN very frequently for work in the late 90’s and 2000’s.  I birded in the area many times with Jeff Wilson who was the best field birder I’ve ever met – I learned a lot from Jeff.  And along with a couple trips to the eastern part of the state over the years, I had amassed a nice state list of 237.  But of course I still needed Evening Grosbeak, along with a few regular species , not to mention numerous rarities.  As a first step to see what statebird targets might be around not too far from home, I set up an eBird Needs Alert for TN.  Quite a number of “needs” popped up, but many were way too far away.  So I needed to sort the long list to focus on counties that are closest to the NC/TN line.  Luckily there was still a considerable list of targets reasonably close to home.  Then I divided the list into those from counties northwest of me near I-40, and those toward the north near I-26. 

There were recent Evening Grosbeak sightings in both areas, but the more recent ones were from the northern counties.  So I initially leaned toward heading north.  But then several new Grosbeak sightings were posted from the Sevierville site to the northwest, including over 100 birds at one feeder.  So with my top target now looking like it was most likely in Sevierville, I focused my final research on the northwestern counties.  There were 2 additional recent targets in nearby Jefferson county – a Long-tailed Duck was seen for a couple days amazingly in a shallow farm pond along Falcon Road in White Pine.  And along that same road there were numerous reports of Sandhill Cranes – up to 55 from one report.  There was also one cryptic report of a pair of Mute Swans quite close to the Grosbeaks.  I say “cryptic” because the location was not shown accurately in the post, and the details mentioned a site that didn’t quite make sense.  Plus given that the post was now a few days old, I decided to pass on that one.  Lastly, I reached out to Galen and learned a bit more about his Evening Grosbeak sighting.

I had completed my research.  My plan was to first head to Sevierville for my highest priority Evening Grosbeaks, staying as long as needed to hopefully find them.  Then I would head to the Falcon Road area to hope for the Long-tailed Duck and Sandhill Cranes.  Now I needed to choose a day with good weather.  The biggest concern was the potential for snow showers or even heavier snow as I crossed over the mountains into TN.  I picked the 17th as a clear day.  Plus, as a bonus, seasonal temps were predicted.  I checked the eBird reports one last time for the latest updates just before I headed out the door – unfortunately the Long-tailed Duck was not found there on the 16th, and the last Crane report was from the 15th.  My optimism was waning a bit, though I’d be happy if I was just able to find the Grosbeaks.

I left the house predawn on the 17th and neared Sevierville at 8:30.  Photos on eBird reports seemed to suggest the Grosbeaks were coming to feeders on Rex Lane at a house with a large railing across the back deck.  And most sightings were from a location that looked to be a roadside pulloff between houses.  After taking a wrong turn that took me on a scary narrow mountain road, I made it to Rex Lane and came to that roadside pulloff.  Just as I pulled in I noticed some movement in trees right in front of me.  With a quick binocular view even through the distortion of my windshield I could tell I had Evening Grosbeaks.  I hopped out of the car and estimated at least 25 birds in the trees right in front of me.  Here’s a photo of a cooperative bird I took holding my phone up to my binocs.

And I could hear more Grosbeaks calling a short distance uphill.  I looked to the house up above me and there were maybe 50 more birds perched on the porch railing.  I got this tape of the flock as they milled about along the railing  The air was full of their raucous calls too - unfortunately I couldn't get the sound to come across.

 That was amazingly easy!  I stayed for 15 or 20 minutes to take it all in.  It reminded my of my time growing up in Maryland when large flocks like this would descend on my feeders every few years.  But that was a different time some 30 or 40 years ago when the eastern population of the Evening Grosbeak was much more common.  In fact, in April 2016 the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) listed the Evening Grosbeak as a species of Special Concern due to strong population declines occurring mainly in central and eastern Canada.

My statebird map for Evening Grosbeak is inserted below – the blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; the cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but I haven’t yet seen it.  Or at least in the East, those are states where Evening Grosbeak used to be regular.  And now NC and TN are the two tan-shaded states where I’ve seen this species as a rarity.

Next it was off to Falcon Road in Jefferson County.  Although I was happy to have found my top priority target, I was still hopeful that the Long-tailed Duck and Sandhill Cranes might still be around.  Falcon Road cuts through an extensive area of farmland, with several farm ponds nearby.  One eBird report mentioned the Long-tailed Duck was in the “largest pond” – GoogleMaps showed a larger pond adjacent to the road on the west side so I assumed this was the one.  And all recent checklists had good numbers of multiple waterfowl species.  I drove up to what I thought was the key pond and did a quick scan – no waterfowl at all.  I looked more closely and all I could I could fine were a couple Buffleheads.  Perhaps the Long-tailed had indeed moved on.  Or maybe I had the wrong pond – there were other larger ponds a bit farther off the road that could be possible candidates.  I drove a bit farther to the north and came to another pond that was a bit smaller – this one had quite a number of ducks so I was hopeful.  Although I had 7 Shovelers and 23 Green-winged Teal, I could find no diving ducks at all.  It wasn’t looking good. 

There were two ponds on the east side of the road that I had driven by earlier without checking because they were so small.  But with no luck at the larger ponds, I needed to check these last 2 smallest ones.  I turned around and checked the first one – not surprisingly no birds.  Then I got to the next one and saw something floating in the middle.  I put it in my binocs – it was the Long-tailed Duck!  It was close enough that I got this photo holding my phone up to my binocs.

I would have never expected a diving duck on such a small pond.  I guess it too decided this wasn’t the best location because it soon took off and flew back over to its preferred larger pond. 

TN was now the third state where I’ve seen Long-tailed Duck as a rarity, along with CO and NE.  I’ve also seen this species in most of its regular states on the Pacific coast, northeast Atlantic coast, and along the Great Lakes.

Not to be greedy, but now my attention turned to my third target – Sandhill Crane.  There was suitable habitat all around me – rolling hills covered in hayfields and harvested row crops.  I slowly did a 360 scan but didn’t find any tall gray birds walking through the fields.  But with all the hills, there could easily be Cranes nearby that were hiding just out of view.  I drove a bit farther south to get a different angle but again came up empty.  Then I spotted a flock of large birds flying low over one of the fields.  I first thought they were Canada Geese but realized they weren’t quite right.  With a closer look I realized they were Sandhill Cranes – a flock of 9 birds.  They passed over the road and disappeared behind a nearby hill to the west.  A couple minutes later another flock of 15 Cranes flew by, nicely giving their bugling calls - you can see them in the distance near the top of the hill.

 TN was my 38th state for this wide-ranging species, including 12 states on the East Coast where it is a rarity.

That’s 3 for 3 for my targets - what an amazing first trip to eastern TN!  That brings my TN state list to 240. 

Now that I live in western NC, I realize that pursuing statebirds in TN is actually very similar to my old statebirding trips to several New England states when I lived in MA.  Back then it was about an hour drive for me to cross into ME, VT, RI, and CT, and I found many new statebirds in each of those states within 2 hours of home.  So now that I’ve broken the ice for TN birding, I’m looking forward to many more trips to the Volunteer State.  In fact, when researching this trip to the northwest along I-40, I found several other TN targets to the north along I-26.  Hopefully I can make a trip to that part of the state in the near future.

I love statebirding!