Monday, April 30, 2012

Tennessee Rest Area

We stopped off at a beautiful Tennessee rest area yesterday to go birding. Simon had thought he had seen tanagers here before; hoped to add those to the list. It was pretty hot out with no wind. The first bird we came across was singing and perched high up in the trees. Took a little while to locate the bird. It didn't want us to see it but when we finally got to snap a few pictures of it, we figured it was either a Baltimore or Orchard Oriole. Then we saw an adult summer male making the bird a Orchard Oriole. What a beautiful bird!

We ventured down to the river and along the river we saw at least ten Turkey Vultures standing on the shore. But couldn't get a clear shot of them before they flew off across the river and perched in the trees. We didn't see anything and thought we'd have better luck at the top instead of down by the river. So, we climbed the little hill and heard some calls once we got back up  the hill. We searched and searched and finally saw it; another Orchard Oriole.

Next, we headed over to a field that was partly mowed and was lined with tall trees on both sides. In the field was spotted a Blue Bunting and in the trees we saw at least 2 different warblers. With the warblers we were unable to get a photo or ID of either. No warblers this time. We are now up to 249 species! We am so happy with our number!

Happy Birding!!!

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