Blue Goose ~ Day 279

March 2, 2015 ~ Covington, TN to Camden, TN

Yesterday I was at Lower Hatchie and today I went upriver to Hatchie NWR. It was pleasant outside, the sun somewhat tentative but at least trying.

Access into Hatchie was limited due to high water but the VC faced Oneal Lake and I could drive around that, which I did, taking a couple of hours to drive 2.5 miles. 

Hatchie NWR - TN

Some of the women at the front desks (nearly always women) are civil but not especially welcoming. They answer questions but neither ask questions nor offer information. Some wear the USFWS brown uniform and are invariably friendly. Those in civilian clothing may or may not be. I am slightly bothersome, interrupting very important work. Sometimes, I hear staff in offices down short hallways but more often they are out and about doing refuge work. 

Oneal Lake was mostly ice-free so there were waterfowl, and the surrounding woods and fields were full of birds. What happens is that I drive along and see a bird in the brush, on the road, in the trees; if I stop and am patient, several other species usually drop by. I hear Carolina Wrens more often than I see them, and the only warbler so far is the Yellow-rumped (and Pine Warblers at certain refuges) but I usually see several woodpecker species. Today, there there were Red-bellied, Red-headed, Downy and Northern Flickers, along with kinglets, Eastern Bluebirds, sparrows, Killdeer, several C. geese, ducks, mergansers and the ever-present coots, head-bobbing along in the water. I got nice looks at Gadwalls with their silvery-gold feathers splayed on their backs.

Gadwall (and coot) at Hatchie WNR - TN

It was delightful parked on the verge with the windows open watching the lake on one side and the woods / fields / wetlands / watery ditch on the other. A variety of habitat...always the best for birding. 

The Hatchie River is not dammed, impounded, channelized or otherwise manipulated in most of its run through Tennessee where it is designated a Scenic River. I learned from Wikipedia that the name "hatchie is redundant as it means river in many Native American languages." It manages river bottomland, with an emphasis on red oaks. 

Watching the weather, as I do, I figured tonight I could comfortably van-camp before things starting happening again, like major cold, snow and ice. There were several Walmart-towns coming up on my route and I chose Camden, carefully picking a spot on the parking lot edge that backed up to tall trees. My window coverings are pathetic as they are only brown paper grocery bags which actually fit nicely in the rear pop windows, but the others are pieces of poster board. I only use one of these occasionally depending on lghts and proximity to other vehicles and it is ripped and ragged.

When I woke up for good (I often wake up in the middle of the night and read an hour), the cab of a Little Debbie truck was about 15 feet from me. Why, with the whole parking lot available, do some truckers do this? It never seems creepy but a benign boundary invasion.

Oneal Lake - Hatchie NWR - TN