THE TENNESSEE WARBLER Newsletter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society December, 2018 Editor, Theresa Graham PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to offer many thanks to the Highland Rim Chapter for hosting another very productive TOS Fall Meeting. The members always provide a warm and welcome venue, and we certainly enjoy the time we get to spend with them. On top of it all, fall migration was inspiring and didn’t disappoint as was clearly evident in our trips to Woods Reservoir and Tims Ford Lake. Definitely good birding! Lexi Filer of the Whooping Crane Outreach gave a very informative program regarding the state of the eastern population of our Whooping Cranes. As you may know. Operation Migration no longer exists, so if any chapter or group is interested in hosting a Whooping Crane Workshop, the good folks from Wheeler will be glad to arrange it. Also of note, Mac McWhirter is officially stepping aside as TOS Treasurer and Pam Lasley will be stepping in as of January 1,2019. Pam has done a superb job as treasurer for NTOS and will continue to do so as our new TOS Treasurer. Thanks to Mac for his many years of service and for his willingness to help in the transition process. (I’m not sure, but with Pam’s willingness to become the new treasurer, I believe she just became Mac’s new best friend!) Another bit of exciting news: since the BOD meeting, TOS has launched a Facebook page dedicated to TOS. We plan to use the page as another source for making announcements, alerting members and followers to various “calls-to-action”, and timely and pertinent articles regarding current conservation efforts. We do not envision the TOS page to be a portal for political antagonism, but will strive to disseminate information and links so our readers can stay informed on important topics. Susan Hubley, Cyndi Routledge and Gregg Elliott are serving as co-administrators. If you are a current Facebook user, just search “Tennessee Ornithological Society” and invite your friends to “like” the page and they can receive the feed also. The more we are able to educate people (including birders and non-birders) and keep them aware of conservation efforts regarding birds and birding, the better we will all be. Finally, I’d like to invite you all to join us in Nashville April 26-28 for the Annual Spring Meeting. While the host hotel will be the Baymont Inn, the Board of Directors meeting and evening banquet will be held at the Nashville Zoo. Our speaker for the evening will be the always-engaging Dr. David Pitts. Until then, enjoy the change of seasons, the upcoming holidays, the Christmas counts, and, of course, ringing in the New Year. Best Wishes and Good Birding to One and All, Steve The Tennessee Warbler December, 2018 Page 2 2019 TOS Spring State Meeting Nashville, April 26-28, 2019 The Nashville chapter cordially invites all TOS members, family, and interested bird friends to the 2019 Spring meeting to be held April 26-28, 2019. Friday night registration and reception will be held at the conference hotel from 5-7:30pm while the Saturday afternoon meetings and the Saturday banquet will be at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, 3777 Nolensville Pike, Nashville, TN 37211. The zoo can be accessed from either 1-65 or 1-24 at the Harding Place Exit. The meeting will be headquartered at the Baymont Inn & Suites located at 111 Penn Warren Drive in Brentwood, TN, off 1-65 at Exit 74-B. The hotel is holding 30 rooms for TOS members through March 15, 2019. NOTE EARLY CUT-OFF DATE. Mention your TOS membership for the special rate of $124.99 plus tax, per night for a room. Phone 615-376-4666. Breakfast is included. Members are encouraged to make reservations well in advance since spring is a busy time in Nashville. We are pleased to announce that the speaker for the Saturday banquet will be Dr. David Pitts. Dr. Pitts is a 53 year member of TOS, retired Professor of Ornithology from UT Martin, published author and researcher. His program will be “Documenting the Nesting Season Activities of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds: Constantly Challenging and Frequently Frustrating but Richly Rewarding”. We look forward to hosting Dr. Pitts and his lovely wife, Marion, for the weekend. We are investigating some new and interesting birding areas so stay tuned for announcements when field trips have been finalized. All field trips will leave from the Baymont on Saturday and Sunday mornings. For additional information contact Cyndi Routledge: routledaes@bellsouth.net TOS SPRING MEETING 2019 REGISTRATION FORM Name(s)_^TOS Chapter Address_Phone_ e-mail $_for_Meeting Registrations @ $20 each $_for_Dinner Reservations @ $25 each (please note if Vegetarian is required) $_Total amount enclosed payable to Nashville TOS Pam Lasley, NTOS Treasurer 5886 Willshire Dr Nashville, TN 37215 plaslev@comcast.net for registration questions Mail registration form and check to: The Tennessee Warbler December, 2018 Page 3 The 2''^ Annual Wings of Winter Birding Festival by Cyndi Routledge The 2"'* Annual Wings of Winter Birding Festival (WOW) will take place on January 18-20, 2019. Hosted and sponsored by The Friends of TN National Wildlife Refuge, with over a dozen additional sponsoring organizations, including TOS, this wintertime festival continues to grow in size and popularity. The 2018 festival hub was Paris Landing State Park but due to the demolition and subsequent rebuilding of the Paris Landing State Park Inn, the 2019 Festival has been moved just up the road to Paris, TN. Registration and the Friday and Saturday night events will take place in a wonderful venue at the Paris Fairgrounds. All field trips, as well as lodging, will be centered at the Quality Inn in Paris where we currently have 50 rooms blocked for this event. Accessibility and convenience was a key factor in choosing our current venues, and we believe our committee has found that special balance. The weekend will begin with two special pre-festival field trips on Friday. Once again, we will be offering the behind-the-scenes tour of Cross Creeks NWR during the closed-sanctuary time. On this trip one can get up close to thousands of wintering waterfowl and perhaps find that ‘one rarity’ among them all. Rick Eastridge, Refuge Manager, and our special guest guide and Friday night speaker, Joel Greenberg, author of A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction, will co-lead this adventure. The second Friday pre-festival trip will be a boating adventure aboard the CQ Princess, cruising Kentucky Lake looking for eagles, waterfowl, gulls and other water-loving winter birds. Damien Simbeck and TNWR Ranger Joan Stevens will co¬ lead this adventure. Whether you choose to stay inside in the heated cabin or venture to an outside deck, you’re sure to have great close-up views of life on the lake in winter. During the heart of the festival weekend, full-day and half-day field trips will be offered both Saturday and Sunday and will include some new and exciting adventures as well as trips to local birders’ favorite haunts. Have you ever been on a Sparrow Stomp?? Dr. Stefan Woltmann will be leading this adventure in hopes of finding the 14 species of wintering sparrows that are in the area. What about a Big Day?? You can join Mike Todd and Mark Greene and spend 12 hours zipping around trying to find the over 100 species that are present in the area during the winter months. Or how about joining our Saturday night Keynote speaker and acclaimed field guide author, Richard Crossley, on one of the two field trips he’ll be leading during the weekend? With 15 different trips scheduled throughout the weekend you’re be sure to find one, two or even three adventures that suit your fancy! Registration for this great event is open and filling up fast. Please visit http://www.friendstnwr.ora/winas-of-winter- birdina-festival.html to preview field trips, learn about our guest speakers, lodging options and all other information about this wonderful wintertime event. Registration will close on December IS**’. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me at routledaes@bellsouth.net or 931-206-3517. We hope to see you this coming January 18-20, 2019 for this wonderful Wings of Winter Birding Festival!! The Tennessee Warbler December, 2018 Page 4 CONSERVATION POLICY COMMITTEE REPORT Committee Co-chairs: Melinda Welton (NTOS) and Dick Preston (MTOS) Members: Cyndi Routledge (NTOS); Kellie Clelland (MTOS); Ashley Heeney (NTOS); Laura Cook (NTOS) and Dev Joslin (At-large). Committee Actions: Drafted a letter to the developers of the Parkside Development in Memphis, requesting incorporating bird- friendly design in the windows of the boutique hotel to reduce bird kills. This development is immediately adjacent to Shelby Farms, a major bird oasis in Shelby County. Signed by President Steve Routledge. Recommended TOS join with other organizations in sign-on letters to oppose harmful riders to the Farm Bill and to the National Defense Act, addressing threats to the Endangered Species Act. Both approved and signed by President Steve Routledge. The letters were sent Senators Alexander and Corker and to various Tennessee Representatives in the U.S. House. Individual committee members sent personal letters. Drafted a letter for President Steve Routledge to the Secretary of the Interior. The letter urges support for the U.S. Geographical Survey (USGS) Bird Banding Lab (BBL). The BBL faces a severe shortage of staff and funding. The letter was also sent to deputies within the DOI that oversee these projects. Individual committee members sent personal letters. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act has passed both the Senate and House of Representatives. The bill is currently in conference. While both versions are nearly identical, we urge support for the House version, which provides for continuing funding, while the Senate version does not. This act would provide Tennessee with more than $20 million per year, primarily for non-game species. Members should contact both Tennessee Senators and their House representative immediately. The Wildlife Society (wildlife.ora/ policv/recovering-americas-wildlife-acO has background and details of the Act. The Tennessee Wildlife Foundation (tnwf.oral has a hotlink for submitting personal comments. For the Committee: Dick Preston LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was established in 1964 by Congress. The act authorized up to $900 million per year for Federal, state and local projects. Funds come from levies on mineral, gas and oil leases. While authorized. Congress rarely appropriated the full $900 million in any year. The act first expired in 2015, but was extended for three years following a public outcry. Attempts to reauthorize the LWCF this year failed, so the act expired again at the end of September. Funds already collected are still available, but no additional money can be added to the account. Perhaps another outpouring of public support will see this important and effective Act renewed yet again. Make your opinion known. The Tennessee Warbler December, 2018 Page 5 Guidelines for Tennessee Ornithological Society 2019 Conservation and Research Grants The Tennessee Ornithological Society invites applications for Conservation and Research Grants to support projects that will directly or indirectly help to protect the birds of Tennessee, increase scientific knowledge or educate others about the importance of Tennessee’s birds. A total of $6,000 is available to be awarded for the grants, which may be divided among multiple recipients. Anyone with a bird-related project, including students, professionals and individual workers, may compete for a grant. The project may already be in progress at the time of application. Applicants should submit a project proposal using the form that is available on the TOS Website (http://www.tnbirds.ora/downloads/ GRANT FORM.doc T Needed information includes: name, address, telephone. E-mail address, topic, problem to be addressed, objectives, expected results and significance, project location, beginning and ending dates, estimated field time, estimated total cost of project, itemized budget, funds available from other sources, how grant is to be used, experience of applicant in the project area, willingness of applicant to share results at a statewide TOS meeting and whether the work is under the guidance of a mentor or is independent. A letter of recommendation from a mentor or a knowledgeable associate is strongly encouraged. Up to $50 of a grant may be applied toward the costs of attending an appropriate scientific meeting to present results of the project. Criteria forjudging applications include: — Significance of problem addressed — Clarity of proposal — Adequacy of project design — Adequacy of experience/training — Adequacy of professional guidance — Financial need — Chance for achieving objectives — Potential benefit to the species/resource — Potential for advancing career/studies — Potential for sharing results at a future statewide TOS meeting The application and letter of recommendation should be emailed (preferably) or mailed to Michael Collins, Department of Biology, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN 38112; collinsm@rhodes.edu : (901) 843-3557. The deadline for receipt of applications is February 1. Applicants will be notified of the Committee’s decisions in early March. A check for 60 percent (60%) of the amount awarded will be mailed to the grantee(s) upon approval of award(s). The balance of each award will be paid after the project leader submits a satisfactory progress report with itemized costs and receipts to the Committee Chair, Michael Collins. All grant awards will be announced in The Tennessee Warbler. Respectfully, Michael Collins TOS Conservation and Research Funding Committee Chair The Tennessee Warbler December, 2018 Page 6 ^ FALL BIRD COUNT DATA DUE NOW HHHIIIIIIIIIIIl L. _^ HHHIIIIIIIIIIIl Fall bird count data are due as soon as possible to allow me to get my report in to the editor of The Migrant in a timely fashion. Besides the actual count data, please be sure to include the following effort data: 1 - Hours and miles by car, foot, and any nightbirding 2 - Number of observers and parties 3 - Any feeder watching hours & names 4 - Start and end times for the count 5 - Weather data for the count 6 - Names of all the participants Compilers: please try to use a bird checklist that is based on somewhat recent taxonomy. This greatly speeds up my job compiling these reports. Our green TOS field cards are usually up to date. If you do not have a local compiler, you can send the data directly to me at the address/email below. TOS appreciates your efforts to record and track our bird populations and abundance. Thanks for helping us to archive this data for future generations and researchers. Ron Hoff • TOS State Count Compiler 166 Chahyga Way • Loudon, TN 37774 • 865-567-9679 webe2brdrs@amail.com INSECT CONTROL A team of scientists has calculated that worldwide, birds consume billions of potentially harmful in¬ sects that conservatively weigh about half a billion tons! The team, from the University of Basel, in Switzerland, based their figures on 103 studies that high¬ lighted the volume of prey that insect-eating birds consume in seven of the world’s major ecological communities, known as biomes. Forest-dwelling birds consume around 75% of the insects eaten in total by birds, followed by those of savannahs and grasslands. For more details: https://www.sciencedailv.eom/releases/2Q18/07/1807091QQ850.htm . Interestingly, spiders consume between 400 and 800 million tons of insects each year. Think about that before whacking one with a rolled up newspaper! Source: The Birding Community E-Bulletin and Science Daily. The Tennessee Warbler December, 2018 Page 7 BEAN “ACTIVIST” FOR BIRDS Why aren’t more people “activists” for bird conservation? Some don’t think it makes a difference, others are too shy about voicing their opinions, some just don’t know about a particular threat and still others simply don’t know how to go about it. However, even a small number of visits, phone calls, emails or well-written letters from constituents can sway a legislator, so don’t be shy about expressing your views. Two easy ways to accomplish this: subscribe to The Birding Community E-Bulletin and The American Bird Conservancy’s (ABC) electronic newsletter to receive action alerts. Both of these sources provide clear and concise information about threats to birds and ways to address them. Each provides hotlinks to submit your opinions to your Senators and House Representative. With a few clicks, you can help make a difference. The Birding Community E-bulletin is distributed monthly to active and concerned birders, those dedicated to the joys of birding and the protection of birds and their habitats. To subscribe (free): http://tinvurl.com/E-bulletinSIGNUP/ . Past issues of the E-bulletin are archived on the National Wildlife Refuge Association website: http://refuaeassociation.ora/news/birdina-bulletin/ . They never lend or sell the E-bulletin recipient list. The mission of The American Bird Conservancy “is to conserve native birds and their habitats throughout the America.” They believe unequivocally that conserving birds and their habitats benefits all other species - including people. To subscribe (free): on the ABC website (americanbirdconservancv.oral click on “get involved” and enter your contact information; or send an email to: sholmer@abcbirds.ora . The American Bird Conservancy “Will never share your email address. Ever.” Dick Preston Editor’s note: TOS is a member organization of The American Bird Conservancy. The Tennessee Warbler December, 2018 Page 8 CHAPTER NEWS BIRDING KINGSPORT had an active summer with great monthly programs and several local birdwalks. Our programs included a review of “Leave No Trace Behind” by Bill Grigsby, an informative program on the importance of bees as pollinators by Kingsport beekeeper Dan Chase, and “Feathers, Fashion and the Passage of the International Migratory Bird Act” by Helen Sirett, inspired by an exhibit she had attended earlier in the year at the New York Historical Society. Birdwalks included outings to Warriors Path State Park, Phipps Bend, Fort Patrick Henry Dam [Kingsport Birding Trail (KBT)], Steele Creek Park, and Seven Islands State Birding Park. Conditions finally cooperated for a trip further afield to Rankin Bottoms. We also had a wonderful evening viewing a group of Red-headed Woodpeckers at the home of member John Whinery. In July we hosted our annual community birdwalks as part of Kingsport’s Fun Fest summer festival. We held four walks at various locations on the Kingsport Birding Trail as a way to introduce people to the joys of birdwatching and share information about Birding Kingsport. We had a total of 96 people across all the walks and recorded 61 species. Our dedicated volunteers also continued work with both nest monitoring and end-of-nesting-season cleaning of over 30 bluebird boxes located on the Kingsport Green Belt (KBT) and Meadowview Golf Course. We had an unusual sighting during our participation in the Fall Five County Bird Count with the Herndon (Elizabethton) and Bristol TOS Chapters. A Purple Gallinule was seen at the Meadowview Golf Course area - the first time the species has been recorded at this site. Four members of our club attended the Fall TOS Meeting in Manchester, Tennessee. Thanks to the organizers for a great weekend! Birding Kingsport meets the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm, typically at the Eastman Employee Center in Kingsport. Meeting details can be found on our website at birdinakinasDort.org . Helen Sirett, President. The CHATTANOOGA CHAPTER was very busy this year. We gathered for an opening reception of the TOS State Spring Meeting at The Crash Pad, an urban hostel on Chattanooga’s South Side. Several members stayed at this hostel over the weekend, and it was the focal point for signing up for field trips. Sightings on Saturday and Sunday field trips were extensive and reported on the tn-bird mailing list. On Saturday evening Danny Gaddy led a night field trip to the Chickamauga Battlefield where we heard calls of both a Whip-poor-will and a Chuck-wills-widow. The board of directors met Saturday afternoon and selected Danny Gaddy as state president for the next term. We had a delightful banquet with door prizes. Dr. Chris Haney gave an illustrated talk in which we learned of both the science and the logistics of researching sea birds in the Gulf of Mexico. We selected chapter officers at the June meeting. The chapter officers are as follows: President, Dr. David Aborn; VP Programs, David Stone; VP Field Trips, Pixie Lanham; Treasurer, Gary Lanham; Secretary, Vicky Leather; Statistician, Kevin Calhoon. Jennifer Rydell, Historian, is leaving the board after seven years of service. Thank you, Jennifer. We are leaving the office of Historian vacant for now, while we assess our preservation options. Congratulations to Danny Gaddy who has been selected as Statewide President, effective 2019. Chris Sloan gave the program at the August 9*^ meeting of the Chattanooga TOS. He gave an illustrated talk on Uganda: Birds and Great Apes. Chris shared photos and stories from a recent tour of Uganda, including a variety of spectacular endemic birds, “big five” mammals. Mountain Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and scenery. As always, Chris gave an excellent program. Our president. Dr. David Aborn, presented the second part of his Argentina program at our September meeting. We got close-up looks at some birds David banded while birding there and learned about other research he helped with in Argentina. The Tennessee Warbler December, 2018 Page 9 CHAPTER. NEWS Chattanooga - Continued from Page 8 O. J. Morgan presented a program on his birding trip last year to South Africa at our October meeting. O.J. is Headmaster of The Bright School. He joined our chapter about three years ago, has become an active birder, and encourages bird awareness and observing at his school. If any other chapter or individual is interesting in meeting or birding with us, please check out our webpage at lebanonbirdina.org or our Facebook page Lebanon Birding. Or you contact me at stcziDDerer@.amail.com Good birding everyone. Stephen C. Zipperer, Treasurer For the November meeting we saw more birds of South Africa. Braam Oberholster from Southern University, and born in South Africa, presented a program on the birds of Kruger National Park in South Africa. The Chattanooga CBC will be on Saturday December 15. The Hiwassee CBC will be on Tuesday January 1. Contact Kevin A. Calhoon at 423-785-4070 with questions and interest in participation. The KNOXVILLE CHAPTER (KTOS) has recently made awards to three research projects being carried out by graduate students in Tennessee. The J B Owen Fund has awarded $500 to Sylvia Powell for her work on “Do Louisiana Waterthrush {Parkesia motacilla) place their nests in locations with lower predation risk?” Sylvia is pursuing a master’s degree at Austin Peay and Stefan Woltmann is her advisor. Ray Zimmerman. Editor The JOHN W. SELLARS CHAPTER of TOS has had a productive Fall. We began in August with our annual business meeting and election of officers. Melissa Turrentine, President; Linda Robertson, Vice President; Greg Tomerlin, Secretary; Stephen Zipperer, Treasurer. At this meeting the chapter also decided to host the 2020 Fall TOS meeting. 2020 will also be the club’s 70‘^ year as a TOS chapter. Please mark your calendars for the third weekend In October. We are making big plans and hope you will attend. In September we birded early before our meeting. Chris Sloan, Nashville TOS, presented a great talk on his birding trip to Uganda. The program was full of great information and photos of birds, gorillas and other animals. Thanks again, Chris. In October, we birded before our meeting and found, to our delight. Red¬ breasted Nuthatches and Orange-crowned Warblers, along with most of the regular wintering field and forest birds in our area. Melissa Turrentine gave a wonderful presentation on her family’s trip to Glacier National Park, Canada, and other places this summer. Thanks, Melissa. In November we will meet at the Turrentine house in Bedford County for lunch and then bird around Bedford County and Normandy Lake. I hope this winter brings good birds and better weather than last year. The newly created Marsha Davis Memorial Fund has awarded $500 to Amber Stanley for her work on “Evaluate the effects of urbanization on the avian seed disperser community of Eastern Poison Ivy” and how that has an impact on birds that feed on their seeds. Amber is at East Tennessee State University and works with FredAlsop. KTOS has also awarded Doug Raybuck $1,000 for his work on Cerulean Warbler distribution in the Cumberland Mountains and their migratory paths using Geo Locators. Doug is working on his doctorate at UT and works under David Buehler. Jimmy Tucker, President — FEBRUARY 28™ DEADLINE A The deadline date for the April issue of The Tennessee Warbler is February 28th. Please submit all articles, announcements, reports and items of interest by this deadline date. Submit Material To: Theresa Graham, Editor PC Box 366, Oakland TN 38060 (901)465-4263 (home) e-mail: 2araham@bellsouth.net The Tennessee Warbler December, 2018 Page 10 CHAPTER. NEWS HERNDON CHAPTER stays busy with seasonal bird counts. The Lee and Lois Herndon Chapter of TOS, or the Elizabethton Bird Club, held the 49th consecutive Elizabethton Fall Count on Sept. 29. A total of 50 observers in 13 parties covered parts of five adjacent counties in Northeast Tennessee. A total of 127 species were tallied (plus an Empidonax species), slightly higher than the average of the last 30 years which was 125. The all-time high was 137 species in 1993. Two very rare species were found: Purple Gallinule at Meadowview Golf Course in Kingsport and a Black¬ legged Kittiwake on South Holston Lake. The Kittiwake had originally been found Sept. 27 and was still present the day of the count. Rick Knight, a long-time statistician for the Elizabethton Bird Club, compiled the two counts. Rick Knight also became the first recipient of the Stephen M. Russell Award, which honors the former namesake for the Bristol Bird Club. Russell was a charter member and founder of the Bristol Bird Club while a high school student at Abingdon, Virginia, in 1950. Russell went on to become a prominent American ornithologist who retired from teaching and research in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona in 1996. Knight received the award, which honors recipients for significant contributions to birding, at the Bristol Bird Club’s fall banquet on Oct. 12. The BBC recently changed its name to honor the contributions of the late J. Wallace Coffey to the organization. It will now be known as the J. Wallace Coffey Chapter of The Tennessee Ornithological Society. Coffey was also a long-time member of the Elizabethton Bird Club, as well as the Bristol Bird Club, to which he belonged for 58 years. The successful Fall Bird Count followed the chapter’s spring and summer counts. Members of the chapter and birding organizations in Kingsport and Bristol fanned out across Northeast Tennessee on May 5 for the 75th consecutive Elizabethton Spring Bird Count. A total of 60 observers (a new participation record) looked for birds in Tennessee’s Carter County and parts of the adjacent counties of Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington. This year’s spring count tallied 152 species, slightly better than the overall average of 149 species established over the last 30 years. The most ever species tabulated for this count was 166 species back in 2016. The 24th Carter County Summer Bird Count was held June 9, with twenty observers in six parties. A record high of 123 species bested the previous high of 121 species set in 2013. The fifth Unicoi County Summer Bird Count was held on June 16. Nineteen counters in five different parties found a total of 110 species. The Elizabethton Bird Club will once again sell calendars during the upcoming holiday season to raise funds for the group’s activities and projects. The full-color calendars feature photographs of birds taken by club members. The front cover photo of a Rose¬ breasted Grosbeak was taken by chapter member David and Connie Irick. The calendars sell for $15, plus $2 for postage and shipping. For inquiries, email ahoodedwarbler@aol.com. Bryan Stevens Photo by Bryan Stevens Rick Knight, a long-time member of the Herndon chapter, received the first-ever Stephen M. Russell Award from the Bristol Bird Club, recently renamed the J. Wallace Coffey Chapter of The Tennessee Ornithological Society. Knight is also a long-time member of the Bristol organization. The Tennessee Warbler December, 2018 Page 11 CHAPTER. NEWS NASHVILLE CHAPTER - Surprise appearances at Snow Bunting Peninsula of what may be the State’s first Boat-tailed Crackle in August, and then a most cooperative Least Bittern in September contributed to a busy fall season for NTOS members. Our Wednesday morning Radnor walks were once again a resounding success with nearly 100 people partaking. Many thanks to Pam Lasley, Danny Shelton, Steve Routledge and Graham Gerdeman for each leading a walk, keeping the tallies and posting the list to eBird. Our spring Wednesday morning migration walks will begin on April 17, 2019. Watch for announcements on the listserv and NTOS Facebook page. Our Window Bird Strike Awareness campaign continues under the leadership of Melinda Welton, Ashley Heeney and Denise Weyer. They’re happy to report that a sampling of window treatments have been applied to various windows at Shelby Bottoms Nature Center in Nashville as a showcase for what can be done to help prevent birds from flying into windows. And best yet these treatments are helping to prevent birds from flying into these windows! Plans are underway for a reception and fundraiser so additional windows there at the Nature Center can be adorned with these life-saving treatments. Please watch for announcements. In the meantime, do stop by the Nature Center and take a look at the work that has been done so far. Tarcila Fox, Field Trip Chair, continues to plan wonderful field trips for our membership and Danny Shelton, our Program Chair makes sure to schedule interesting and educational program each month. We thank them both for their work and to all who lead one of those field trips or present a program. For those who may not know, NTOS traditionally holds two Christmas Bird Counts. The first is our ‘land’ count and it will take place on Saturday, December 15*'' with member Marion Pratt coordinating that count and Scott Block compiling. Our second, ‘lake’ count, will take place on January 1,2019. Richard Conners and Tarcila Fox are coordinating and compiling that count. If you’re interested in participating in one or both please contact these individuals for information and to sign-up. The more the merrier! NTOS is happy to announce that we will be hosting the 2019 Annual Spring TOS meeting here in Nashville on April 26*''-28*E The host hotel and Friday night reception will be the Baymont Inn in Brentwood and our venue for the Saturday Board of Directors meeting and Saturday night banquet will be the Nashville Zoo. Longtime TOS member, retired professor, author and ornithologist Dr. David Pitts will be our speaker for this event. Please look for all information and a registration form in this newsletter and on tnbirds.oro . Mark your calendars and plan to join us. We hope to see you in the spring! Cyndi Routledge, President Picture was taken by Steve Ward, manager of Radnor Lake. The last Wednesday morning Radnor walk which took place on October 10th Send corrections & Change oe Address Requests To: npmcwhirter@amail.com “THE TENNESSEE WARBLER” Published by the Tennessee Ornithologieal Soeiety 274 Beeeh Grove Rd MeMinnvihe, TN 37110 PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID MEMPHIS, TN PERMIT NO. 238 Want to save a tree, unclutter your mailbox and save mailing expense for the Society? If you would prefer to read each edition of The Warib/er online at the TOS website http://tnbirds.ora/warbler.htm please drop Mac McWhirter an email at nDmcwhirter@amail.com The Tennessee Warbler - December, 2018