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to Chattanooga and back



Hi C-birders,

First off, apologies for that Swallow-tailed Kite posting; meant to just
send that to Leah, not the whole list. Second time in the last couple of
weeks I've done that, I must be going daft...

Many thanks to all for suggestions on mountain birding. Even more to Don
Hendershot and Bob Olthoff for meeting me in Waynesville and giving me a
guided tour of the area! Bob took me around on Thursday, led me right to
an Alder Flycatcher at the Richland Balsam stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
We also faintly heard a "feebeeeew!" at one point to confirm the ID. One
of the lower-altitude BRP pulloffs featured a meadow loaded with
hummingbirds, we saw at least four 3-bird melees. Also heard the wonderful
song of the Winter Wren, a calling Veery, and saw and heard other upland
critters like juncos, ravens, and Cedar Waxwings. At one stop, an immature
Broad-winged Hawk flushed and called several times; no idea if it was a
local fledgling or early migrant. We ended our day at the Catahoochee
Ranch, where we immediately heard a big flock of Pine Siskins in the
treetops, found a Red Crossbill among them eventually, and later spotted
Chesnut-sided and Black-throated Green Warbler in the shrubs below.

Don met us the next morning. Right by the BRP on-ramp he introduced me to
Tall Larkspur (Delphinium exaltatum), a rare wildflower, as well as some
kind of Scullcap (Scutellaria sp.). Back to the birds, Heintooga Road
yielded a great mixed-species flock including Black-capped Chickadees,
both White- and Red-breasted Nuthatches, and several more CS and BTG
warblers plus adult male and female Black-throated Blue and a female
Canada. A Brown Creeper sang nearby, with Winter Wren and Hermit Thrush
singing further off. Sounds like we probably just missed Simon Thompson's
group!

A few more stops on Heintooga and the BRP yielded mostly more of the same
species, though we did get a brief look at a Veery this time, and saw
several more plants of interest like Sourwood in flower and Devil's
Walking Stick (Aralia spinosa) just starting to flower. Also a few species
of samalander including Black-bellied (Desmognathus quadramaculatus). Then
we descended from the mountains to an area I think was Ferguson Fields,
where I mostly was watching dragonflies, but looked up long enough to see,
first, a basic-plumage Bobolink, which later flew overhead calling; and
after that, my fourth state bird of the trip: Willow Flycatcher! As we
were hiking back to our cars, it faintly threw a "Fitz-bew!" after us.

After saying farewell to Bob and Don, I followed directions they had
provided to Tallulah Bog, near a little town called Topton. Unfortunately,
the area to which their directions led appeared to have been recently
bulldozed! The only consolation was an American Woodcock which I flushed
from a roadside ditch while walking down in search of the bog.

I spent Saturday in Chattanooga, and mostly saw dragonflies. Also the
state aquarium, which I'd have to say is the most spectacular one I've
ever seen! And yes, they did have birds in the exhibits there, including a
Sora and a Green Heron.

Stopped on my way home and hiked about halfway up Waterrock Knob. Mostly
more of the same species: Cedar Waxwing, Dark-eyed Junco, Common Raven.
Main excitement was two more salamanders, some kind of Dusky I think
(Desmognathus sp.).

Fun trip!

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/