Returning To Bird Island

Today was very warm and the weather was lovely but unsettled.

This afternoon my Mountain Boy and I eagerly headed out onto Woods Reservoir which is the lake adjoining Arnolds Air Force Base property about 10 miles from Tullahoma.

Woods is used extensively by area boaters and fisher.......persons.......and neither of us have been on the water during the past month.

We spent a few hours roaming parts of the lake - heading into coves, LC tossing out his line and successfully catching a number of fish today, me day dreaming and taking pictures.

We had a great time on the lake.  As we always do.

I will post other pictures in another blog post, but these are pictures we took as we slowly navigated the tiny island in the middle of the lake called Elder Island.

I long ago named it Bird Island, when I unexpectedly found it during one of my kayaking excursions on the lake, and it was only recently that I learned what its real name is.

On that day many summers ago I had put in at a public beach area, paddled across the lake to land on the opposite side, and then spent a lot of time exploring the shore and coves.

When I was done I saw the island sitting in the middle of the lake and curious to see it, and not yet ready to head back to LC and my truck, I made my way to this new mysterious island.

As I got closer I saw a large heron sitting on a log in the water close to the island and stopped paddling because I did not want to scare him into flight.

As soon as I stopped paddling I heard the noise.

I had been very focused on that one beautiful heron but when I heard the unexpected noise I turned to look more closely at the island, and was stunned by what I saw.

I felt as though I had suddenly been transported back in time because the endless screech coming from the island sounded prehistoric.

There were thousands and thousands of birds of all shapes and sizes crammed into the small space of the island.

Birds flying to and from the island.  Birds flying around the trees, landing on branches, landing in nests.  Birds walking along the shorelines and birds swimming in a wide berth all over the circumference of the island.

It was a scene of intense and non-stop activity and never-ending noise.

At the time it was a completely stunning scene for me.  Completely unexpected and wonderfully exciting.

I smiled and laughed and watched the action, loving every minute of it.

After slowly paddling around the entire island I paddled back to the beach, told LC what I had found and told him that he HAD to go see it because he would not believe it.

I then handed him my kayak paddle and he too went out to explore.

I visited the island often after that until one day a few months later I paddled out and the entire island was empty.

Just........empty.

No birds.  No noise.  No frantic and frenetic activity.  Just silence and emptiness.

They returned the next spring and began the cycle all over again.

Ever since we arrived back in Tennessee I have eagerly been waiting for the birds to return.

Each time LC and I head out onto the lake either by fishing boat or by kayak we have headed over to Bird Island-Elder Island and so far the island has always been completely empty.

Until today.....................

Click on a picture to begin a slide show of enlarged pictures.

My first reaction when I saw these birds in the trees was huge excitement.

It is still too early in the year for babies yet, but this is a nesting island and when the adults are there that means that babies will follow soon.................

As we continued to slowly make our way to the island I started to look more closely at the island and gradually my heart began to sink.

Where was the rest of the island?

It looked so much smaller than it had just a couple of months ago, and although I had noticed that the lake is now much higher than it was during the winter I did not remember it looking this small in the past.

More importantly where were all the trees?

Where WERE all the trees???

As we got closer I looked for them, didn't see them, wondered what had happened and wondered if these birds would be alright and still able to use this island as their nursery?..............

LC slowly moved the boat close to the shore and we began to work our way around the island.

I looked at these beautiful creatures and felt conflicted.

Very pleased to see that the adults had again come home to nest. 

Concerned about the lack of growth on what trees still remained.

Again and again I wondered what had happened here............

As we found our way to the back of the island I began to find my answer.

Trees that were completely uprooted.

Other trees that were snapped in half.

I wondered which of the many storms we have had these past months caused the damage that was in front of me.

Looking warily at the carnage, I was suddenly realizing for the very first time just how much I have internalized and invested in this tiny island.

The home to untold types of birds.  Home to hundreds and then thousands of adults and babies.  A safe haven to reproduce and live unobstructed. 

A human-less prehistoric sanctuary.

The trees were all still there.  Downed.  But there.

And without knowing a whole lot about birds I imagined (hoped.......implored) that there were still many safe nesting places in and among the damage.

Now that the adults were back we will visit often................

A duck blind on the back side of the island.............

The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life. . . . The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds -- how many human aspirations are realised in their free, holiday-lives - and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song!........John Burroughs

We spent a long time circling back and forth around Bird Island as I snapped pictures and we talked about the surprising state of this very special and tiny piece of real estate in the middle of Woods Reservoir.

We passed by the island again on the way back across the lake and as we were heading towards the boat dock and our truck an hour or so later.

I snapped a few more pictures that will be part of another blog.

A good day on Woods.............

A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song...........Chinese Proverb