We were in a big hurry today, our last day of birding, and in reality only a morning as the flight from Nashville to New York left early afternoon. Today more than ever we would need immense discipline to stay on track. We planned an early morning session in Illinois, a bit of time just over the river in Kentucky, and then to get across to Tennessee and bird there for as long as had left after the two and a half hour drive to Nashville.
We started birding at 5.56am in Fort Massac State Park on the banks of the Ohio River. Our progress here was stymied by floods, the road we had planned to walk unpassable. But in this flooded landscape we found our one and only Hooded Merganser of the trip, and the only Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Woodpeckers were very good here, with four Pileated Woodpecker, two Downy Woodpecker, and one each of Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. As we took a smaller path inland we picked up something we did not think we had heard yet, and Merlin told us we were looking for (appropriately enough, given where we were) a Kentucky Warbler, which we soon found in small tree. Also here were yet more Prothonotary Warblers, Parulas, a Pine Warbler and a Yellow-throated Warbler. An hour and a quarter zipped by and it was time to leave.
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| Northern Parula |
Just over the river we stopped at Stuart Nelson Park to start our Kentucky list. We were not sure quite how far we should go given our extremely tight schedule, so leaving our car near some baseball pitches we walked along a wooded path and then over a small creek before following a vegetated ditch alongside the trees. A small pond just after the bridge had some Canada Geese in it, as well as two Solitary Sandpiper. The ditch itself was really good birding, with all sorts of things hiding in it including a Northern Waterthrush, a Common Yellowthroat, an Eastern Towhee and a Chipping Sparrow. Eastern Bluebirds dashed through the trees, Cardinals were everywhere, and we also found only our second Cedar Waxwing. On a hill behind the ditch a couple of Eastern Meadowlark sang. We managed 33 species here in about an hour and then got on the road.
We continued birding as we drove southeast towards Tennessee which we reached in about an hour having closed our Kentucky account on 39. But of course the fun part about this trip was that we also had a Tennessee list that had been temporarilty halted on 35 a couple of days previously, and when we crossed the State Line we were able to pick it up again. Our final destination was Shelby Bottoms on the north side of the Cumberland River and only a short hop from the airport. We arrived at almost exactly 11am and felt that we could safely bird for an hour before having to pack up and go. We walked a loop of about a mile, first of all through some low woodland, and then back along the river edge. Yellow-rumped Warbler were very common here, but whilst we managed to get Tennessee up to 56 in our short visit we didn't get anything new at this point. Back at the car we packed up pretty quickly, dismantling all the gear and stowing it away, and then made the short hop to Nashville Airport. Unfortunately there was no time to stop at the Grand Ole Opry which would have been rather a pligrimage for me. We had also driven right past the boyhood home of Johnny Cash in Arkansas which had been just north of Wapanocca. In fact we had done nothing cultural at all, just birded from dawn until dusk! Next time!
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| Prothonotary Warbler |
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