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