Tennessee Gold (and Blue)

The Golden-winged Warbler sites in Tennessee are primarily reclaimed mines on the tops of mountains. These sites provide beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and foggy valleys (photo of Gunnar Kramer by Elijah Davis).

The Blue-winged Warbler sites in Tennessee are at lower elevation, and some sites are in more attractive areas than others. We tried not to spend too much time around these ponds contaminated with mercury and PCBs from historic lithium and uranium enrichment in nearby factories. We'll be testing the birds.

Blue-winged Warblers were harder to come by, but much easier to capture, in Tennessee. Here, Pam Stampul and Kate Maley process a Blue-winged Warbler while Gunnar Kramer takes notes and looks thoughtfully into the distance (like a boss).

Many thanks to Jim Evans (above, far right) of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency for his guidance in seeking out BWWA sites and helping us with land access. Jim has a long history as a great partner of the University of Tennessee and he has been working with our project Co-PI, David Buehler, for decades.