KODAK – A dairy farm that developers once envisioned as an amusement park instead became a serene escape into nature barely 20 miles east of the bustle of Market Square in downtown Knoxville and the roar of UT’s Neyland Stadium.
The clanging of roller coasters’ drive chains and the rumbling of go-carts’ engines never materialized. Instead, you hear songbirds serenading, turtles splashing and breezes rustling the grasses on open fields at Seven Islands State Birding Park.
This 416-acre tract along the French Broad River is Tennessee’s only state park with “birding” in its name. Its appeal transcends the feathered visitors it attracts.
“This is a great place to get some nature therapy. I love that every day is different here,” said ranger Stephanie Mueller, summing up the park’s appeal.
More than 250,000 people a year find the narrow road that leads to Seven Islands State Birding Park. People who come for birding record additions to their “life lists” of species they have seen. More than 220 bird species have dropped in to visit Seven Islands or live here all year. Plenty of other wildlife is present, including white-tail deer, raccoons, turtles on the riverbank and plenty of butterflies.
“Every spring and fall, Seven Islands is a stop-over point for migratory songbirds,” Mueller noted. In autumn, they are headed to wintering grounds in the Caribbean or into South America. In spring, they are traveling north to points well beyond East Tennessee.
Right now, the autumn migration includes several species of warblers, including Cape May warblers, bay-breasted warblers and palm warblers, Mueller said, adding that some species get to Seven Islands and are content to stay for the winter. Among them are white-crowned sparrows and white-throated sparrows. The terrain at Seven Islands offers several habitats – forest, riverside, bottomland and open fields among them – that appeal to different bird species.
Raptors are in the mix, too. You may see bald eagles, ospreys, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks and even Cooper’s hawks. You are more likely to hear owls than see them. The park attracts barn owls, barred owls and tiny screech owls, whose call sometimes can sound like a horse instead of the “whoo-hoo” noise you expect. Mueller said one of her treats was seeing northern saw-whet owls from Canada that are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.
Park staff and volunteers capture and band birds spring, summer and fall and use those opportunities to explain to visitors how the data gained from the temporarily detained birds adds to the knowledge of their ranges, longevity, mating and more. Lucky visitors sometimes get to hold birds for a fleeting second before release.
UT alumnus and nature photographer Mitchell Massey, who now lives in Asheville, N.C., recalls how he became a fan of Seven Islands while on a multi-month work assignment in the area for a utility consulting firm.
“My job kept me outdoors, and it got old just looking at utility poles. When you start paying attention, nature gets exciting. I started going to Seven Islands and probably went once or twice a weekend for six or seven months,” he said.
Massey said he had birded a little bit while growing up in Wilson County and knew that early morning hours were ripe for sightings and for good light. He was successful enough that the park asked to use one of his images – an iridescent indigo bunting perched on a branch – on the park website.
TRIP BASICS
Seven Islands State Birding Park is at 2809 Kelly Lane, Kodak, TN 37764 less than 20 miles east of Knoxville’s Sunsphere via I-40 exit 402. Park information is at TNStateParks.com, and area visitor information is at VisitKnoxville.com.
(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available at Amazon.com.)
