Nooga Naturalist

Nooga Naturalist Two naturalists looking for the natural history of the Tennessee River valley, with an eye toward birds and turtles.

Northern Parula. Studies from images. Warblers are moving along the Nottley Tailwaters trail, too. This Northern Parula...
09/08/2026

Northern Parula. Studies from images. Warblers are moving along the Nottley Tailwaters trail, too. This Northern Parula was too flitting in the Chinese privet thicket to try sketching. Shot some images, instead, from which to sketch later. The sketching helps me to learn the details to identifying these in the field.

Yellow-throated Warbler. Study from image. Warblers are passing through the yard now. This yellow-throated was in the Vi...
09/07/2026

Yellow-throated Warbler. Study from image. Warblers are passing through the yard now. This yellow-throated was in the Virginia pines with a northern parula, a pine warbler, and a Cape May warbler.

Tufted Titmouse. Sketch from image. These guys are daring, whipping in to grab a sunflower seed and fleeing to the pines...
09/04/2026

Tufted Titmouse. Sketch from image. These guys are daring, whipping in to grab a sunflower seed and fleeing to the pines despite the brutal air war among the dozen or so hummingbirds dueling over the four hummingbird feeders.

Red Fox. Study from Blink video. Still sorting out the neighborhood foxes. Still thinking this one is a red fox as the m...
09/03/2026

Red Fox. Study from Blink video. Still sorting out the neighborhood foxes. Still thinking this one is a red fox as the muzzle is longer, the feet & legs are dark, and the underside of the tail is dark.

Striped Skunk. Sketches from Blink video. The apparent swarm of skunks haunting the neighborhood nightly is paring itsel...
09/02/2026

Striped Skunk. Sketches from Blink video. The apparent swarm of skunks haunting the neighborhood nightly is paring itself down as we realize we can differentiate individuals among this cast of characters. The first is “handsome boy,” called that even we don’t know if it’s a boy or it’s considered particularly attractive to others. We sorted it out by its lack of a broad white tail stripe, and the particularly narrow back stripes which taper from the nape of the neck to the spigots of its stink sprayers. Will it stay this way as it ages, or will it grow the white tail? August 31, 2026.

Blue Jay. Sketch from life. Primary wing feather I found today while watering the native plants we put in this spring in...
09/01/2026

Blue Jay. Sketch from life. Primary wing feather I found today while watering the native plants we put in this spring in the backyard. Remarkably little blue. *NOTE: feathers from most native birds can only be held with appropriate federal and state permits.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Study from life. We’re up to five hummingbirds at a time dive-bombing each other. Had a few m...
08/31/2026

Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Study from life. We’re up to five hummingbirds at a time dive-bombing each other. Had a few minutes watching one this evening to try sketching from memory.

Day 239. Red-throated Loon. Study from images by . A friend asked me if I could memorialize a special family sighting of...
08/28/2026

Day 239. Red-throated Loon. Study from images by . A friend asked me if I could memorialize a special family sighting of a red-throated loon near the family’s cottage in Maine. It was a pleasure to do it. August 12, 2026.



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