Sharp's Ridge 1

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Sharp's Ridge

Rachael Eliot and I swung by Sharp's Ridge Memorial Park this morning before her first class at UT.

Rachael Eliot

We were checking for migrants: warblers, tanagers, vireos, but all was relatively quiet. Historically, the city park in the middle of urban Knoxville is the best place to find the passing migratory birds in late April. After flying all night, the birds get a much needed respite on the ridge before another nocturnal journey. But, the nighttime winds have been wrong the past few days. Plus, the winter species are still hanging around. Ellie found a ruby-crowned kinglet, white-throated sparrow, pine warbler and with the help of a visiting birder named Paul from Colorado we found a yellow-rumped warbler in breeding plumage.

We also met a local birder named Shane Williams who had just had an odd encounter with a hormonal pine warbler that was being territorial, attacking his Jeep, or rather attracting his own reflection in the windshield and side mirror of his Jeep. (See series of photos below.)

Oh, the signs of spring. Male birds throwing themselves against their own reflections.

Thanks, Shane. 

Aggressive pine warbler. Photos by Shane Williams.

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