Saying Bye to Alabama

Today we visited again the birding site of the Colbert's Ferry. Yesterday we saw it only in the half-light of dusk while it was snowing. Today we wanted to picnic there in full sunlight and look for birds. We went to a grocery store and bought picnic supplies and started toward the entry ramp to the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway. At Colbert's Ferry we were rewarded this time with five species of woodpeckers, two Yellow Shafted Northern Flickers (Colaptes Auratus Auratus), several Red Headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpes Erythrocephalus), two Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus Varius), a Red Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes Carolinus), and a Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides Villosus). What Fun !

As we walked around, we spotted several of our favorite birds, many Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus Bicolor), Pine Warbler (Setophaga Pinus) and the ruby topped Common Redpoll (Carduelis Flammea). We had just as much fun at Colbert's Ferry today as we did last night.

We traveled about seven miles further along the Natchez Trace Parkway and turned toward a birding site where others had seen Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus). Although we did not see any eagles, we did see hawks and vultures. We found a picnic table and ate our lunch. It felt cold, even in the sun. In the cove there were fifteen American White Pelicans (Pelecanus Erythrorhynchos) and twelve Common Terns (Sterna Hirundo).

After lunch, we began the drive home. We followed the Tennessee River and drove across one more dam, the Pickwick Dam. That makes four Tennessee Valley Authority dams on the Tennessee River that we visited.

Our holiday birding vacation was great fun. Exploring the birding habitats and the birding opportunities provided by the dams on the Tennessee River in northern Alabama has been interesting. Not only did we see a lot of handsome birds, we were delighted to learn that the good people of northern Alabama were willing to help strangers in an emergency. Robert and I want to go back to northern Alabama in the future, in the springtime, to observe a whole different sub-set of birds.

Below is our Trip List.

• Red Tailed Hawk
• Turkey Vulture
• American Crow
• Mourning Dove
• Rock Dove
• White Throated Sparrow
• Tufted Titmouse
• Red Headed Woodpecker
• Pied Billed Grebe
• Slate Colored Dark Eyed Junco
• Great Blue Heron
• Canada Goose
• Ring Necked Duck
• Snow Goose
• Gadwall Duck
• Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
• Pine Warbler
• Eastern Bluebird
• Northern Mockingbird
• Northern Cardinal
• American White Pelican
• Double Crested Cormorant
• Ring Billed Gull
• Bald Eagle
• American Kestrel
• Killdeer
• Belted Kingfisher
• Red Bellied Woodpecker
• American Coot
• Bluejay
• Carolina Wren
• American Robin
• Carolina Chickadee
• European Starling
• Common Loon
• Herring Gull
• Hermit Thrush
• Eastern Phoebe
• Black Vulture
• Bufflehead Duck
• Common Tern
• Great Egret
• Cedar Waxwing
• Song Sparrow
• Yellow Rumped Warbler
• Northern Flicker (yellow shafted)
• American Goldfinch
• Field Sparrow
• Cooper's Hawk
• Purple Finch
• Common Goldeneye
• Canvasback Duck
• Sandhill Crane
• Northern Shoveler
• Red Winged Blackbird
• Common Grackle
• White Breasted Nuthatch
• Downy Woodpecker

Berry and Robert

Photo courtesy of wikipedia

It is snowing in Alabama

Berry and I made a quick trip to the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge and viewed hundreds of Sandhill Cranes (Grus Canadensis) which were wintering there. They were grazing peacefully in fallow fields of soybeans. The sound of hundreds of Sandhill Cranes grazing in the next field over is like a loud rattle, their clucking and rumbling is like the bleating of sheep, Berry thought. From time to time, while hundreds of the huge birds wobbled noisily in the field, small groups of four or five cranes would suddenly take flight, move positions in the field or just rise about fifty feet in the air and circle the field.

We have gone on several vacations to Texas, Florida, Nebraska, and southern Mississippi where we saw Sandhill Cranes at each place. This place in Alabama is also one of their favorite wintering spots.

The Tennessee River used to be a huge logistical problem. In the 1800s, there were no dams to control the water flow. There were no expressway bridges to move freight across the river. In the early 1800s, George Colbert established "Colbert's Ferry" near Cherokee, Alabama. It was at the crossing of the Tennessee River along the Natchez Trace, an ancient American Indian trade route in the United States. At the time Mr. Colbert had rooms to rent and a ferry business across the river. He made a bundle. Once, George Colbert even charged General Andrew Jackson $75,000 at the local rates to move his Tennessee militia troops, horses and equipment across the Tennessee River during the War of 1812. $75,000... in 1800s dollars. Good work, if you can get it.

We got to the site of the old Colbert's Ferry around four thirty in the afternoon. It was very cold and started snowing as we peered up into the trees. Birds love Pine Trees in the winter due to the seeds in the pine cones and the sap oozing down the bark. They love American Sweetgum Trees (gumball trees) for similar reasons. In these trees at Colbert's Ferry there were three kinds of woodpecker, the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus Varius), the Downy Woodpecker (Picoides Pubescens) and the Red Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes Carolinus). The trees were almost loud with several of these birds calling to each other. The snow flakes came down in the half-light and there were woodpeckers everywhere. It was wonderful.

We spotted a busy little White Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta Carolinensis) climbing downward on a tree trunk. Their claws are formed in such a way that they are able to climb headfirst down a tree trunk in search of insect larvae or oozing sap. They are a fun bird to find anytime you find them.

Robert and Berry

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia

Guntersville Bird Hunt

Early Sunday morning, we drove back to the little place called Goose Pond Colony. This was the same place where we had gotten stuck in the mud. Goose Pond Colony is a planned community with a huge boat dock and a golf course and cabins. We found a honeypot for passerines between the golf course and the parking lot of the Community Center. We stopped the car and watched the buzz of activity in front of us.

On stalks of Pigeon Pea, we saw beautiful American Gold Finches (Carduelis Tristis) decked out in their autumnal feathers. We saw a female Purple Finch (Haemorhous Purpureus), pecking at things in the wet grass. All around us flitted Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis Cardinalis) back and forth across the road. One bird we identified was the Yellow Rumped Warbler (Setophaga Coronata).

Around the corner, we caught a Northern Flicker (Colaptes Auratus Auratus) flying toward a tree. The wings of the Northern Flicker can have either yellow or red shafts. This differentiates the two families of Northern Flicker in North America. We quickly identified one we saw as "Yellow Shafted" by spotting the black moustache on its cheek.

We saw a handsome Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter Cooperii) perched on a pole. We counted the brown and gray stripes on its tail.

This whole vacation has been an investigation of the huge dams along the part of the Tennessee River in the state of Alabama. The furthest east of the dams was the massive Guntersville Dam. Water was coming through the dam over ten spillways, crashing violently into the water below the dam. There was a lock on the far side of the river, so boats and barges can travel up and down the river.

In the lake formed by the Guntersville Dam, we sat on a park bench and scanned through the hundreds of American Coots (Fulica Americana) to find about ten Gadwall (Anas Strepera), a handful of Canvasback (Aythya Valisineria), one or two Bufflehead and a small tangle of Common Goldeneye (Bucephala Clangula). Even though the entire lake is covered in coot, you must pick through the entire flock to spot the other birds mixed in with them. As we were leaving, we saw a Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle Alcyon) flying away from us.

It has become something of a ritual for us to close out the day with a cup of coffee at Starbucks. We found a hotel and got dinner. Berry is planning tomorrow's birding adventure.

Robert and Berry

Hotspots and Honeypots

There are thousands of boat ramps and river accesses along the Tennessee River in Alabama. We were poking around the little town of Decatur, Alabama, when we found an entire parking lot next to the water. In a steady drizzle of rain, we saw lots of birds, including Common Loons and Pied Billed Grebes.

As we drove to the Swan Creek Wildlife Management Area, the rain became steadier. There was a honeypot of bird activity on Sandy Road nearby. Hundreds of American Robins were buzzing in and out of a thicket of privet. There were sparrows nibbling on berries just off the surface of the swamp. High in the trees we spotted several Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum). It was later decided that this was our "Bird of the Day".

The Cedar Waxwing is about 6 inches long. Male and female waxwings look similar, with very little physical difference between the sexes, which makes them monomorphic. The oldest living Cedar Waxwing observed by scientists in the wild was eight years two months old. Cedar Waxwings are sociable, seen in flocks year round where they can find good sources of berries.

At a coffee shop we found internet access and hot beverages. It started raining harder. There we decided to head east toward the town of Scottsboro. This would be the furtherest east we would travel on this vacation. We will spend the next week slowly making our way back to Memphis.

On our way to dinner at a nice seafood restaurant in the woods, our front tires got stuck in the mud. It was pouring rain. Seven cars stopped. People wanted to help. Each time we thanked them, telling them that we had called a tow truck. The tow truck was on the way but had not reached us yet, when four husky guys jumped out of a pick-up truck, in the pouring rain, and picked up the front of our car, liberating us from the mud. I offered to pay them for what they had done. They wished me a Merry Christmas and refused to let me pay. Our dinner was great too.

Robert and Berry

Dams on the Tennessee River

We got up way too early in the morning (for a vacation), found a couple of Lattes and started birding the Wilson Dam on the Tennessee River. Located between Florence and Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the dam area is very attractive to a great variety of birds. The TVA electrical turbines stir up the water and churn up fish to the surface. The concrete structure of the dam and the electrical towers near it provide roosting places for thousands of birds. The lake created by the dam is enjoyed by both man and bird.

We installed ourselves at the southern end of the dam, setting up our spotting scope on the Observation Platform to view the action below. There were American White pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) floating in the water.

There were hundreds of Double Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax Auritus) drying themselves in the sun. There were hundreds of Ring Billed Gulls (Larus Delawarensis) flying through the air above the dam.

Berry and I were counting and identifying birds down in the water, when Berry looked up just in time. "Hey, look," she said. A huge Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus) was flying past us, about fifty feet away, heading up the southern side of the river. It has a white head and a white rump. It is a very large bird in size.

As we departed from the dam overlook, we stopped at an old oak tree with seven squirrels scurrying up and down the trunk and branches. Beneath the tree, where the squirrels had cracked open nuts, several birds was foraging on the ground. We identified a beautiful yellow Pine Warbler (Setophaga Pinus). It has pale stripes on its bright yellow breast and its rump is gray. Everywhere in the trees there were red, white and blue Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis). One of the cutest birds we saw was the soft blue-gray colored Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus Bicolor), identified quickly because of its crested head. The bushes were teeming with Slate Colored Dark Eyed Juncos (Junco Hyemalis).

We drove along Highway 72, eastward through several marshy areas to the second dam site of the day, TVA's Wheeler Dam. In the marshes we saw two American Kestrel (Falco Sparberius), a male with gray wings and a female with rufous wings. Berry heard the rattle call of a Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle Alcyon) as it crossed the swamp in front of us. Diving quietly near the shore were Pied Billed Grebes (Podilymbus Podiceps) and flocks of American Coots (Fulica Americana), also called "Mud Hens".

The dam area looked much like the earlier dam with roiling turbines generating electricity. At this second dam, we caught sight of several Common Loon (Gavia Immer) visiting from Canada. The large battleship sized Herring Gull (Larus Smithsonianus) was also added to today's list.

After leaving the Wheeler Dam State Park, we began to drive in and out of small coves near the Tennessee River. In the tall grass near a fence, we saw a handsome Hermit Thrush (Catharus Guttatus). In a tree on a limb we saw a smallish Red Tailed Hawk (Buteo Jamaicensis) and near the road, when we stopped the car, one dark eyed Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis Phoebe). The only Black Vulture (Coragyps Atratus) we saw was in the midst of a tangled electrical tower.

Knowing that birds are usually inactive in the middle of the day, we took the rest of the day as "travel time". We drove slowly down a long country road toward Decatur, Alabama. We got a hotel room and crashed. Berry said, "Today was a great dam day !"

• American Crow
• Slate Colored Junco
• Red Tailed Hawk
• White Throated Sparrow
• Great Blue Heron
• Tufted Titmouse
• Red Headed Woodpecker
• Pied Billed Grebe
• Red Bellied Woodpecker
• Killdeer
• Rock Dove
• Ring Billed Gull
• Pine Warbler
• Canada Goose
• Eastern Bluebird
• Northern Mockingbird
• Northern Cardinal
• American White Pelican
• Double Crested Cormorant
• Bald Eagle
• American Kestrel
• Killdeer
• Belted Kingfisher
• American Coot
• Bluejay
• Carolina Wren
• Carolina Chickadee
• American Robin
• Eastern Starling
• Common Loon
• Herring Gull
• Hermit Thrush
• Eastern Phoebe
• Black Vulture
• Bufflehead

Along the road to Decatur, we saw a distinctively patterned Bufflehead (Bucephala Albeola) duck, floating by itself on a fishing lake. He was not in a flock of other Buffleheads. He was floating alone in the muddy water. Probably he got lost somehow during migration. It is dangerous for a bird to lose contact with its flock. Usually birds react in unison to danger. They fly up together and flee together. In a flock, they use each other to find food. We hope the best for that lonely Bufflehead, alone on that lake.

Robert and Berry

Birding Northern Alabama

Berry and I drove east from Memphis on Highway 72 and drove across northern Mississippi. It was our intention to bird the Tennessee River valley where it lies in northern Alabama. It was overcast today and cloudy, which makes it good for birding.

We saw Cliff Swallow nests of mud on the underside of a bridge over the Tombigbee Waterway in the Divide National Wildlife Reserve.

At the Tishimingo State Park, we walked a short path into the woods to look at a small pond. We noticed there that an enterprising beaver had chopped down about twenty small trees, trying to stop up the flow of water from this small pond.

• Turkey Vulture
• Mourning Dove
• Red Tailed Hawk
• White Throated Sparrow
• Great Blue Heron
• Tufted Titmouse
• Red Headed Woodpecker
• Pied Billed Grebe
• Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
• Slate Colored Junco
• Rock Dove
• Ring Necked Duck
• Swan Goose
• Canada Goose
• Snow Goose
• Gadwall Duck
• American Crow

I will not describe our dinner experience any further than to say only that a good waiter should avoid displaying his disputatiousness directly toward the customers at the table. It is cliche to say that the customer is always right. And, soup, which is not gazpacho, should never be served cold.

Robert and Berry