I just returned from five days in Nashville on family business. I was able
to get out birding only an a couple of occasions, I received advice via the
internet about
places to visit. My schedule did not allow for me to go out with the local
birders, so I was on my own. Some reflections after I returned:
1) Birding in a different area of the country is a real treat! Even common
birds such as Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren and Red-bellied Woodpecker are
a sight for these somewhat jaded Northwest eyes.
2) Birding in a different area of the country is tough! I had a struggle in
a weedy field one morning that was alive with sparrows. I spent a lot of
effort trying to sort them out, since essentially all of the "life birds"
that I had a chance of seeing on the Tennessee checklist were sparrows
(Henslows, Bachman's, American Tree, Nelson's Sharp-tailed, Leconte's). The
light was poor, the birds were skittish, and pishing proved to be a very
effective method of driving them away. I was finally able to positively ID a
mixture of adult and immature White-throated, Song and Swamp Sparrows. I am
sure however, that my skills would not have been up to picking out the
occasional Bachman's or immature Henslow's from that mix. It was a humbling
experience, and next time I will do more prep work before heading off to
find hard-to-ID lifers. I find I can only get so far by reviewing the
pictures in field guides over and over. Reviewing "unknowns" on the Thayers
Birding Software quizzes proves to be more helpful for improving my ID
skills.
3) Birding in a different area of the country makes you a better birder back
home. After good, hard looks at immature Swamp Sparrows, I will be much
better at picking out the occasional one that shows up in the Northwest. It
is sort of a consolation prize for missing on all my lifers. In way I am
glad I went out
solo, I worked much harder at trying to ID the birds I saw than if I was
guided
by someone more familiar with the local birds than I.

SPECIES SEEN
>From 10/23/1999 to 10/27/1999 ~ in Tennessee ~ 43 seen
DUCKS, SWANS, GEESE
Ruddy Duck
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Gadwall
Ring-necked Duck
HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS
Great Blue Heron
NEW WORLD VULTURES
Turkey Vulture
HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES
Sharp-shinned Hawk
RAILS AND COOTS
American Coot
SANDPIPERS
Common Snipe
PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS
Killdeer
PIGEONS AND DOVES
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
KINGFISHERS
Belted Kingfisher
WOODPECKERS
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Eastern Phoebe
CROWS AND JAYS
Blue Jay
American Crow
THRUSHES
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
MOCKINGBIRDS AND THRASHERS
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
STARLINGS
European Starling
WRENS
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
CHICKADEES, TITS
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow
NEW WORLD WARBLERS
Yellow-rumped Warbler
BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, TANAGERS, ALLIES
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Northern Cardinal
BLACKBIRDS, GRACKLES, ORIOLES
Common Grackle
////---- STATISTICS ----/////
Species seen - 43

Jack Stephens
jsteph02 at sprynet.com
Edmonds, WA