A Walk on the Levee

In any year with rain, the Brainerd Levee would enclose a pond at this bend, holding geese and numerous species of ducks. I have heard that Chattanooga’s drive to become a National Park City includes some reinvigoration of the Levee area for nature enthusiasts.

An earlier version of the following article appeared in The Hellbender Press on March 1, 2003. The species mentioned could be visible there in any spring with wet weather.

The Northern Shovelers prove that nature has room for a sense of humor.  The shoveler is a most unusual duck, a rare bird, with the green head of a mallard, but a beak that even from a distance appears to be twice the length of its head. 

They feed on aquatic vegetation, scooped up with their outsized beak, and always manage to bring a smile to my face.  I watch them tip up to forage and expect them to be unable to lift their heads back out of the water.

As we rounded the first bend, I felt the chill breeze and knew I was not dressed for the weather, but it was a joy to be here even in the cold.  For one morning, I had escaped the computer terminals, the interiors of buildings, and the crowding that has become the modern human lifestyle. The cold made me more alert and more likely to notice the lives surrounding me.

Looking down from an elevated walkway, we saw a kingfisher take flight and give her rattling call.  She landed on a dead tree and posed for us to observe her magnificent red, blue, and white plumage.  I do not know what possessed a member of this species, normally in constant motion, to sit in plain view for so long. 

The red band on the belly is absent in male kingfishers, making them less colorful than the females. This is unusual among birds with males having the more colorful appearance to catch the females’ attention since mate selection is the female birds’ domain.

Meanwhile, a Red-tailed Hawk landed on a tree near the levee. It occasionally turned its head and looked at us, but the white chest remained turned away.  We had no opportunity to view this magnificent bird soaring, though I knew it would soon circle above the land courting a companion.

Birdwatchers converse with sparse scatterings of words such as “Red-tailed Hawk,” usually accompanied by a pointing finger. Those who are more verbose find themselves invited to fewer and fewer outings but not without a warning that conversation distracts our attention from seeking more bird sightings and perhaps frightens the birds away. Occasional rare sightings may merit a shout, as in “Wilson’s Warbler!!!” I had invited two friends on this expedition, but we said few words.

We only spent minutes watching the hawk. The first pond on the left caught our attention with its Mallard Ducks, Canada Geese, and two other species. A trio of Gadwall grazed on water plants in all their drab glory. Male Gadwalls are gray with black rumps. Females are brown.

A small flock of Green-winged Teal brightened the scene. The male’s cinnamon heads are divided by a horizontal green stripe. They and the brown females have a green stripe on the trailing edge of each wing. Teal are small pond ducks and sportsmen value the teal for their agility. They are fast and difficult to hit even with birdshot.

None of the waterfowl in this pond were rare, but I was delighted to see them in numbers. I hoped to see a Northern Pintail in the mix, as I had just weeks ago, but they made no appearance.  They had already begun their northward flight.

That pond on the left has since been obliterated with the construction of a freight depot, but the pond on the right remains in wet weather. There, we saw the object of our search. More than a dozen Northern Shovelers graced this pond.  Calmly they glided across the water in the company of Green-winged Teal and Gadwall.  They were not grazing or courting, simply being. They seemed at home in their calm environment.

We studied the shovelers for some time, before moving on to the next vantage point, where they were visible in even better light.  As we approached the second turn in the levee, our attention shifted to the trees on the left, across South Chickamauga Creek, where Great Blue Herons were sitting.  Roosting, we thought at first, but they were sitting near their nests.

Herons fly with their necks and legs outstretched giving them a primitive, ungainly appearance.  While standing upright in a stream or pond, they cast shadows of death with a beak and neck that surprise unsuspecting fish, frogs, and snakes, The beak has the speed of a striking snake.

When perched on the nest, the heron assumes comic proportions.  It seems too big for the thin branches of a treetop, and they frequently perch high above their enormous nests, waiting to take their turn at incubating, which will come when their mate leaves to hunt.

In all, we counted six heron nests and eight birds.  I have seen them on the nest here and I once saw a Great Horned Owl occupy one of the nests. Owls normally nest in hollow trees and can’t build nests, but no owl appeared that day. We wanted to see what lay around the second bend and further down the levee, so we moved on.

We walked a substantial distance past the second turn, counting the Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, and Green-winged Teal. When I commented that it was typical to see Red-shouldered Hawks here, I noticed something sitting high in a distant tree. There sat our Red-shouldered Hawk.

The hawk glided to another tree and perched a while before departing on whatever business takes a hawk out over the wetlands on a March morning.  The Red-shouldered Hawk typically makes its home over wetlands, lakeshores, and streams, unlike its larger cousin, the Red-tailed Hawk.  Red-tailed Hawks are birds of meadows and fields, built for soaring. 

After the hawk’s departure, we saw a great disturbance on the water’s surface, far back in the wetland.  Our binoculars revealed two male shovelers engaged in the ritual combat of territoriality.  Shaped by millennia of success, and certain to continue for centuries into the future, this battle involved rushing at each other, attempting to push the other underwater, and shoving each other, sumo wrestler style, out to the pond’s edge.

Territorial display followed each round of combat. In the ritual, the males circled with heads held high and then began bobbing their heads as if in greeting.  As graceful as water ballet, this ritual showed their willingness to enter the battle and their intentions toward the smaller brown female shoveler, watching from nearby.  Soon the battle was done, and she swam off with the victor in tow.

That was the appearance, but appearances can be deceiving.  The vanquished male soon followed, and another round of display and combat ensued.  It seems that the rites of spring have not quickly ended. A second female followed the trio, unable to catch the interest of either male. Sometimes animals seem human.

These observations filled my heart with joy, but two more sightings waited for us, perhaps the best of the day.  As we continued out the levee, one of my companions pointed out Redhead ducks – bay ducks expected on more open water.  I am not certain what they were doing in a seasonal wetland, but there they were, perhaps resting and preparing to depart for northern nesting grounds.

Then we saw five Blue-winged Teal.  These small ducks are cousins of the green wings we had been watching all day. They never appear here in numbers despite being a commonly seen duck.  Possibly they were up from the bayou country on their early migration to nesting grounds.  Whatever brought them here, I was delighted to see them stopping on their migratory flight.

We began the return journey to our vehicles with minds and spirits filled with the joy of nature, as seen in an urban wetland.  Nothing can replace such a day for me, and I hope to spend many more, watching the birds at the wetland along Brainerd Levee.

Tennessee Ornithological Society’s Chattanooga Chapter has a website with further information on birdwatching at the Brainard Levee.

On Friday, November 1, Walnut Street Publishing will present a launch of my new poetry book at Clear Story Arts, home of their office and studio. They plan to launch three poetry books at the event at 6:00 PM.