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| Seven Islands Birding Park as seen from the Upper Trail Inner Loop, just below Shumpert Pond. |
Early February is a great time to get out
and take a walk, especially if it's a place like
the Seven Islands State Birding Park
just east of Knoxville, TN.
Click here for Information about the Park
We began our walk at the Bluebird Barn parking lot (see map,below).
We walked up the Upland Trail Inner Loop (blue) to the Outer Loop
trail (green), connecting back with the Inner Loop trail. We, then
walked by Wayne's Pond and followed the Seven Islands Loop
Trail back to the Bluebird Barn.
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| Trail map of the north half of the sanctuary. |
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| Walking up the Upland Trail Inner Loop. |
Anytime you go for a walk in TN you'll always see and hear
these two closely related birds...Chickadees and Titmice. They're
very vocal birds; listen to their calls by clicking the website below
the photos. We saw many, today.
very vocal birds; listen to their calls by clicking the website below
the photos. We saw many, today.
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Information and calls of the Carolina Chickadee. |
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Info and calls of the Tufted Titmouse |
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| This beautiful White Oak tree is growing at the top corner of the Inner Loop trail. Oaks are an important source of food for many animals, providing acorns for them to eat throughout winter. |
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| Walking toward the Outer Loop trail. |
It was here that we saw a female Bluebird. Click the website
below the photo to read about Bluebirds and hear their calls.
below the photo to read about Bluebirds and hear their calls.
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Information and calls of the Bluebird. |
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| This is a male; the photo above this one is of a not-so-blue female. |
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| A sign describing the habitat. There are signs like this one at many locations along the trails. |
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| We took the Outer Loop. Click the park map, below. |
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| Walking along the Upland Trail Outer Loop we could see many praying mantis egg cases (ootheca) in the forbs to our left. |
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| Click the photo to enlarge it and get a better look at the egg cases. |
If you see an egg case near your home
take it in your house in April and watch what happens.
This is a great activity for your kids or students!
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| Continuing on the Outer Loop trail. |
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Observing one of the many Blue Jays.
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| You can see the French Broad River, below. We will be walking along the river soon. |
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| Heading toward the Inner Loop trail. |
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| Looks like owl pellets, probably from a Great Horned Owl. |
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Info on Great Horned Owls |
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| Walking by Shumpert Pond. (see map) |
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| We've connected up with the Inner Loop trail, heading toward the Seven Islands Loop trail (turn right). |
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| Looking up toward the intersection of the Inner and Outer loops. |
Kai hears, then sees a Cardinal. The photo, below, shows a female
cardinal; to see a male and hear their calls, just click the website.
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Info and calls of the Northern Cardinal |
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| The French Broad River is down below. |
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| One of the many Bluebird boxes along the way. How to build a Bluebird Nestbox |
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| Heading toward the river. |
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| Toward the end of the Inner Loop Trail. |
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| Through the woods to Wayne's Pond. Click the map, below, to see where we are at this point. |
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| A Golden-crowned Kinglet!! |
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Information and calls of the Kinglet. |
At the bottom of the hill turn right and
head toward the pond.
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| Looking up from the bottom of the hill to where we were. |
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| A fern called Purple Cliffbrake growing with the mosses on one of the boulders. Click here for Info on Cliffbrakes |
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| We're now on the Seven Islands Loop Trail, near Wayne's Pond. |
We heard and then spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker in the trees
on the hill. It does have a faint red patch on its belly, but its usually
hidden by other feathers. These are very vocal birds. You will
hear them every time your take a walk! Listen to their
on the hill. It does have a faint red patch on its belly, but its usually
hidden by other feathers. These are very vocal birds. You will
hear them every time your take a walk! Listen to their
calls in the website below.
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Information and calls of the Red-belly |
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| A place for local bats to sleep. General Information on Bats |
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| Taking a look at one of the small islands that's out in the French Broad River. |
We spotted some Great Blue Heron nests on the island.
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Information on Great Blue Herons |
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| Wayne's Pond with Cattails and Spirogyra (algae). Information on Cattails |
Red-winged Blackbirds like to rest on the seed heads of cattails.
We saw a few redwings on the other side of the pond.
We saw a few redwings on the other side of the pond.
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Information and calls of Red-wings |
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| On the Seven Islands Loop Trail we spotted the seed heads of a plant called Mullein (also, see photo, below). You can see how tall they are! |
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| A close-up of the Mullein seed head with Mullein leaves in the background. |
There are two kinds of Kinglets, and they're both extremely tiny
birds, only about 4 inches long! We spotted a Golden-crowned
Kinglet a few times along our walk, and, then, Kai spotted
a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, here on this trail!!!
a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, here on this trail!!!
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Information on Ruby-crowned Kinglets |
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| If you turn right here you will be getting on the Seclusion Bend trail. We'll do that next time. Today, we turned left and continued on the Seven Islands Loop trail. |
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| You can see how tall these Sumac shrubs are. Some books call them small trees. Information on Sumacs |
We saw many different kinds of Sparrows on this trail.
An Eastern Towhee (black/red sparrow) was flying around
the sumac shrubs.
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Towhee Information Listen to the sound of a towhee. |
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| The red, backlit bark of a nearby tree. |
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| A Cocklebur plant with its seeds, which will stick to your clothes. Information on Cockleburs |
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| You can see the Cocklebur seeds on Sara's clothes. |
It was here where we heard thousands of frogs called
Spring Peepers. Click the video, below, to hear them!
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| We saw many Veronicas along the trail. Each flower is only 5-10 mm across. Info on Veronicas |
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| The papery bark of a Birch tree. Info on Birch trees |
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| We're very close to the Bluebird Barn, where we began our walk. There were Blackberry stalks all along this path. Some great Information on Blackberries |
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| You can tell how gigantic this Oak is by comparing it to the bench at its base. Information on White Oaks |
I heard and then spotted a White-breasted Nuthatch as we walked
away. I like the way this species walks down the tree trunk in
search of food (insects, seeds, and nuts). It will lodge an acorn
into the oak bark and then peck at it to hatch out the "meat" of
the acorn. Listen to their call.
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Info on the White-breasted Nuthatch |
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| The Bluebird Barn |
The weather was perfect for a walk through a bird sanctuary!
Even if you're not a birder you need to visit this park and explore
its many habitats and just enjoy the outdoors!
Bring a friend or relative with you, or just enjoy the park
by yourself!
Just get out and explore!
