Wilson Post Blogs

By RAY POPE

The next time you spot a Bluebird, make sure of what you are getting to see. Of course our Eastern Bluebird has a blue back with a reddish breast, but what if the bird is blue all over ? Most likely you will be looking at an Indigo Bunting which is very similar in size and their territory may overlap. Just maybe, what if the "blue" bird has a thick beak like a Cardinal, and two brown wing bars to boot, you might be looking at a Blue Grosbeak. I am hoping that nobody would confuse these birds with a Bluejay as the Bluejay is a one of the first birds learned when starting to take up birdwatching.

By  RAY POPE

I once mentioned, where have all the Hummers gone? I didn't know about it then, but they somehow found my feeders this past week. So far there are about 30 here in my neighborhood fighting for their own space, trying to take their turn to drink. Right now there are seven feeders out at my neighbors that form a semicircle with my house in the middle. With all this weird weather back in the spring, I believe that some of our bird's internal clocks got sidetracked.

Dotty Kim and her daughter Tammy that lives over in Trousdale County have plenty Hummingbirds at their feeders, especially since I had an extra feeder that I was not using that I gave her. With all the bird traffic at her place, it’s a wonder someone doesn't get run over or stabbed.They also have a large number of Indigo Buntings on their property.

I went over to my mother’s home Saturday hoping to find the bird that flew down to her Hummingbird feeder for a long drink of nectar. The way she described it, it could be some type of Oriole. Orioles are often found feeding from Hummer feeders or special feeders made for the species. If you just happen to have them, you can cut orange slices and nail them to a tree to attract them.

By RAY POPE

What a week we had at the Wilson County Fair, with all my friends coming through to chat and have their pictures placed in The Wilson Post on the "Seen at the Fair” page. Usually the weather will play a part in the comings and goings at the fair, but this year we had a little rain to start the fair run, and the rest was cooler weather than usual which played a large part in the crowds.

Shirley Manaley stopped by and as soon as I saw her, I knew she was a bird lover. Shirley was decked out in a beautiful blue shirt loaded with pictures of some of my favorite birds. We had a nice talk and I found out that she lived in Nashville.

Taking a trip through Fiddler's Grove brought me to the old popcorn stand that used to sit on the Lebanon square next to the old courthouse. Set up next to the popcorn was an old friend, Marty Rush, who has a passion to work with injured animals. Marty was known for starting the Wildlife Rescue and Rehab Center in Mt. Juliet. She is another that has worked with me at the old annual Wildflower Pilgrimage that took place in the spring at the Cedars of Lebanon State Park. They will bring different animals to show others what they look like in person.

By RAY POPE

Play audio file above to hear the call of the Northern Flicker

Wilson County Fair time is here and if things keep going like this past Saturday night, it could be another record breaker. I did get a booth this year and found out about it Friday night through an e-mail from Zack Owensby. Talk about cutting it close, it was more like a shave, as to getting things set up in time for yesterday's crowd to come through. If you have the time, come by and talk to me at The Wilson Post booth located in tent #1and I will put your picture in our award-winning newspaper.

My first birdfriend at the fair was W.T. Nolen who was working the Immanuel Baptist Church booth. W.T was telling me about his Bob-white Quail covey that came out of his garden in his back yard. Bob-whites are getting pushed farther and farther out with all the people moving out into the country. Old farms are being bought where they are being made into subdivisions that take the wild factor out of the area. Mr. Nolen is also an avid beekeeper with several hives at his home place and also mentoring several students at the Wilson Central High School in the field of beekeeping.

By RAY POPE

With baseball season on the wane, it’s time to get interested in a little football here in Wilson County. Before you know it, the nights will get a little cooler and the stadium lights will shine brightly, inducing flying insects to bathe in the bright glow of the artificial sunshine. That is the time for one of the members of the Goatsucker family to take flight, almost like the saying, "strike while the iron is hot." Dinner is in the air, just waiting to be eaten.

By  RAY POPE

What a storm we had this past week with damaging winds tearing up trees and breaking flower pots at my next door neighbor’s house. The lightning woke me up out of a sound sleep just before 2 a.m. I kept waiting for the rain to start and then it started with a mighty wind coming out of the north. Many trees were blown down on my street and two trees were down at my neighbor across the street, at the Boyd's residence. Scary night and even more as Dotty Kim and family stopped by to see if there was anything tore up at my place. Two large limbs had fell from the h­­­ackberry tree out by the back door of my home. I thank God that there was little damage done to my property.

By RAY POPE 

If questions cost a nickle, I could buy enough bird seed to get me through winter. Everyone have been asking me, where are the Hummers hiding? Finally after what seems like an eternity, some are starting to show up at my feeders. I am not sure what caused the birds to be as scarce as they have been, but the weather had to take part of the blame. You would think that heat would be no problem, since most of our Hummers spend the winter months down in South America. I'm told you can walk into the jungle canopy for one minute and then you can take off your shirt and wring water from it.

Today after church, one of my newer bird friends was telling me about her three Hummingbird feeders staying busy. Felicia Drake, who lives out the Old Hunters Point Pike, has what must seem a complete plethora of wild birds. One of her shepherd hooks supports a bird feeder that sits just off the ground, where a flock of Wild Turkeys can take advantage of it.

I've never heard this before, but someone told Felicia that if you sprayed Pam, the non-stick cooking spray, on your Hummer feeder that it would keep wasps away. Just maybe, it would make the surface to slick to hold on to. I wonder which flavor works best!

By  RAY POPE

Some of you might wonder why in the world I put my mailing address at the bottom of my bird articles. Even in this fast-paced world of computers and 4G gadgets, there is still several people that choose not to partake in this scientific bliss. If there were not any alternative methods of communication, besides e-mail, I would lose out on close to 1/4 of my readers.

I received a very nice card from Mary Nixon, who resides in Hickman, Tennessee, who wanted to share with me some of the critters and our feathered friends that reside at her home. My favorite part of her message had to do with a snake that was heading toward the house, until a Mockingbird drew the line in communal friendship. The Mocker must have been very brave as it actually chased the snake away. Some birds have been known to attack snakes that seem to be climbing toward their nest by pecking it on the head repeatedly. Mary said that the snake was, "moving on," sounds like an old Hank Snow song.

I was out in the back yard next to my Bluebird house when I noticed that the Bluebirds were raising their 4th brood. It seems that the strange early spring must have really messed with the Bluebird's hormones, and jump-started them into nesting over and over. This pair has already fledged twelve babies from this one house. It is in a better location than last year’s nest as it is out of sight of my house and the only times that they were disturbed was when I sat out back watching the Tree Swallows.

By RAY POPE

It is really nice to have Carole Young back where she belongs. We missed her very much as she tried her hand at living in East Tennessee, but she decided that she belonged here around us. Me and her friend, Maggie Whiteaker, were invited to a hamburger dinner this past Friday out to Carole's home.

She pretty well lives in a heavily wooded area and you know what that means, Birds and other wildlife. A virtual plethora of things that I enjoy watching. Her property has a large field where you can find Bob White Quail, another species that is getting lost in this ever growing need for people to move out into the country. One of these days, we will have to go out farther into the wilds to enjoy the familiar whistled call, "Bob White!" 

As we made the trip down her driveway, which has washed out with all the rain and looks like a war zone, there were numerous species that followed us to the house. Field Sparrows and Indigo Buntings escorted our hungry group down all the way to the small "crick," which is northern for creek, where the woods begin.

By RAY POPE

We should be catching a break this week on these extreme high temperatures. It seems that every day for the past week has been in the 100s, and now the humidity is so high you can chew it. I am in hopes that this year at the Wilson County Fair it will not get as hot as it did several years ago

I took a side trip out to the blown out bridge on South Dickerson Chapel Road this past Friday, and every few yards had an Indigo Bunting singing its little heart out. They must be one of the most prolific birds in the county. I wanted to get some pictures from there to go on my facebook to share with my friends that subscribe to "If you grew up in Lebanon, you remember" page. An old friend, BC Yahola, is on there and we try to share photos and our memories with all the others. Check it out.

Of all the birds here on my side of the road, there is one who stands out with his singing. It lives across the street where Holly Boyd resides with her husband, David, and two children, Ayla and Atticus. Their back yard is fenced in with lots of plants growing there. That makes her back yard a paradise for a Song Sparrow. Sometimes it will visit me to feed on the ground where I toss out mixed seed for my ground scratchers.

By RAY POPE

Last Sunday, our church family hung around talking about this and that after a great service. My old bowling partner, Anthony Walker, started asking about how the birds in my life were doing and when will I write about the Belted Kingfisher. It’s strange that almost everyone that has anything to say to me always gets around to asking me something about birds.

Many years ago an old friend, Neal Blackburn, photographer for The Lebanon Democrat, pinned the name "Birdman" on me as I was taking pictures for the articles in the "About Birds" featured each week in their newspaper. I'm not sure if he knew my real name, but he taught me quite a bit about taking pictures and developing my own negatives and prints. Barbara Manners also started calling me her “Bird Guru” which Karen Franklin picked up real quickly. That is quite a reputation for me to live up to.

By RAY POPE

Where have all the Hummers gone? Almost sounds like some old-style song. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds seem to be as scarce as hen's teeth, at least in my yard. I have seen only one at my feeder in front of the kitchen window. Right after the feeder was placed, it didn't take two days before the ants found it. Thank goodness for ant moats, purchased last year from my friend in Mt. Juliet, Roy Garr. In about three days the ants had returned with a vengence, so why was the water disappearing so quickly? It didn't take too long to discover the reason. My large family of Carolina Chickadees had been using it as their personal water fountain and bird bath along with natural evaporation with all this hot weather. Now all I have to do is keep my eye on the moat and keep water all the way to the top. My other family of Tufted Titmouse and House Finch must have been watching the Chickadees and now they have joined in the antics and started using the ant moat as well.

By KAREN FRANKLIN

My family recently went on a two day camping trip to Fall Creek Falls, in Pikeville, with some friends. One of the first things I noticed when we arrived at the wooded campsite was the sound of birds all around us. After a few hours and a little patience I discovered we had quite a variety, which included Tufted Titmouse, Chickadee, Cardinal, Blackbird, Chipping Sparrow, Downey and Red-Bellied Woodpecker. However, there was one call in particular that was close, frequent and unfamiliar to me. I soon discovered there was a large family of Northern Flickers near our camp site.

I believe this is the first time I have seen a Flicker, but they were easy to identify.  They are 13-14 inches in length and very unique. They have a beautiful red “V” on the back of their head, a spotted chest and a black crescent on their front lower neck and black cheek patches. Their sound is a very distinct “wicka-wicka-wicka.” I tried to count how many there were but of course they would not hold still long enough for me to get an accurate count. I’m assuming there were 6-8 and most likely parents with their first set of fledglings. Flickers are a type of woodpecker but are primarily ground feeders who prefer ants (which make up almost half of their diet). They also eat other insects, fruit, berries and seeds and will visit bird feeders.

Anthony Gray called me the other night just to chew the fat about some of our old adventures. Later, I received a message from him on Facebook telling me some things that he had forgotton to mention when we were on the phone.

One of his home birds, a Robin caught a hugh grasshopper and the hopper decided that he was not going to lay down and give up. He struggled and fought back several minutes then Anthony said that the Robin got fed up and flew  to the birdbath where he kept dunking the grasshopper in the water untill it ceased to struggle. That was one smart bird.

Anthony also told me that he had never paid any attention to the way birds drink. They get water in their beak and hold their head back so the water will run down into their stomach. He said that it looked like the birds are giving thanks to God for the cool drink of water.

Thursday night just happened to be one of those special times that makes sitting outside worth while. There were no mosquitoes to interrupt my train of thought. With all the lightning bugs coming up out of the grass, it took me back a few years ago to one of my Owl Prowls at the Cedars of Lebanon State Park.

It was a little before dark and my crowd of campers were already chomping at the bit to have a little nocturnal fun. We took the road up to the Group Lodge, took a right turn over to the edge of the woods where I was preparing to work some emotional magic to pull a Screech Owl out of the woods and hope that everyone could catch a look at it. Most of our birds live in territories where the sound of an interloper will justify a response. We saw about three or four Owls before returning back to the camp store.

On the road back to civilization, there were probably over a million lightning bugs all over the place. It was so bright that we all turned off our flashlights and walked back just using the light from their tails. I have only seen that one time, and it was way cool.

While doing my Owl Prowl at Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Buddy Ingram asked me if I could come back the following Wednesday morning and take a group of kids from Trousdale County out to see some birds. Of course, I answered. Not everyone has an interest in just one subject. That’s why “Our Feathered Friends” has certain readers, as well as “Telling Tales” and our resident fisherman and hunter, John Sloan.

Bright and fairly early, I made my way to Cedars, looking forward to hiking up the concrete walkway past Hermit Cave in hopes of locating a few birds. The school buses had taken a wrong turn and were waiting up by the swimming pool when we discovered that they would be late. Buddy had planned on breaking the school bunch into groups of 17 which made four groups. The best time to find birds, especially during migration is first light in the early morning. It was almost 10:15 a.m. before we could get started, and the first thing they wanted to do was drink from the hose pipe down on the corner by the Nature Center. The birds were too quiet and there was nothing stirring except a Red-bellied Woodpecker. We looked all over the Jackson Cave area and then went out toward the Dixon Merritt ½-mile trail. Everything there was also muted till we took a short cut off the trail into the field next to where the Ranger's horses are stabled.

One of my favorite work friends, that I worked with at Hartmann Luggage, has been at the well known super store on South Cumberland Street for several years. Gloria Denney always gives me a hug, no matter how busy she is. Gloria works with Sandra Palfreeman, whose husband Bob sent me a great photo of a Red-bellied Woodpecker that really shows the red on the belly. I hope this will print good in the Wilson Post.

After some delicious turkey burgers cooked by our friend Angie Zurawski, Maggie Whiteaker and myself took off to the meeting spot for my Owl Prowl over by theDixon Merritt Nature Center. The hay ride minus the hay, gives me an unpleasant feeling everytime we load up on the wagon. I am not afraid of too many things, but the thought of getting a splinter stuck in my backside drives me wild. It happened to me once many years ago at one of the Wrestling Matches at the Nashville Fairgrounds where some lady asked me to scoot over so she could sit down. That was the last time for scooting for me. In about two hours, and sitting side saddle in the back of a pickup truck, I had to wake my mother and get her assistance to remove what seemed to be a 2X4 plank. Come on Buddy, I'm sure the park can afford some hay bales.

By RAY POPE

I made another run out in the country to my friend Haskell Evans for some more feathers, or Swallow enticements. These were more of the downy type feathers, which will make a good lining for their nest. Now I know who rules the roost. The male sat on the top of a second nesting box while the female was sticking half way out of the main box. I took a small feather and held it aloft then let it catch a breeze right in front of the birds. The male sat and watched as the female took off and caught the feather in just a second. She returned to the hole, but the feather kept her from getting a grip. She then circled and flew straight to the hole and this time she went into the hole to place the feather in just the right place. I did this several times and she would always catch it. The male never gave chase, and sat there as if to say, yes dear, wherever you place it will work for me. You da' boss!

By RAY POPE 

It’s always nice to run into old friends from the Elsie Quarterman Glade Festival, formally known as the Wildflower Pilgramage. This was my 38th year of doing programs on birds and owls. Many of the people who worked on the first one are still active.

My friend Ron Zurawski, who is the State Geologist, has been to all of the geology programs but one, and that was when his wife Angie gave birth to their daughter Melody Zurawski. Melody is going to college in Utah, and I really miss her coming to my Owl Prowl. While having dinner with the Zurawski's, Melody called and asked me if I would give her an Owl hoot for old time’s sake, which I was happy to do.

It has been a real trying weekend. Wanda Walker's dad passed away this past Wednesday night, and I have been at the funeral home most of the weekend. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

I finally got my paws on some chicken feathers to attract the Tree Swallows to my nesting box. I had racked my brain, trying to locate some, then it came to me as to where I could find them. I was calling my good friend, Haskell Evans, who is a farmer and also sells produce at the farmers market, to ask what his favorite tomato was. Pink Girl and Bradleys were number one and number two on his list. I also remembered that he sold fresh country eggs and put two and two together, which added up to having chickens and, of course, feathers.