Smoky Mountain Birding -2007
by Kay Beerthuis
Some of us just can't wait to get into spring birding! Many of our members head to Florida, Alabama, Texas or Arizona to find those warblers and other birds making the migration north. If you want a shorter trip, the Smoky Mountains are ideal for getting a jump start on spring birding. We traveled to Townsend, Tennessee, the "quiet side" of the Smokies in mid-April. Here, we found easy access to the park without the big crowds always present in Gatlinburg. From Townsend, you can easily slip into the Cades Cove loop. We saw tom turkeys doing their best to impress the females, meadowlarks, deer, coyotes, and a bear. Quiet walks from the road revealed a number of warblers, such as Northern Parula. Near the end of the Cades Cove loop, we found a gated road. Aha, the sewage ponds! No good birder could pass that up. A short hike took us to the lagoon where we found some beautiful Wood Ducks. There were also a Blue-headed Vireo, Black and White Warbler, Carolina Wrens, and others.
While driving the road inside the park towards Gatlinburg we constantly heard Black-throated Green Warblers and concluded that this must be the most common bird in the park. Good birding was found at all the picnic areas along the road. Seeing our first Scarlet Tanager of the year here was a thrill.
Wildflowers were just starting when we were there. The park has an annual Wildflower Pilgrimage which also features some birding trips to different elevations. Stephany Podolan, who has attended these trips, can tell you more about that. Next year's date for the Wildflower Pilgrimage at the Great Smoky Mountains NP is April 23 -27 (2008).