The Erwin Record

2 weeks ago | erwinrecord.net | Bryan Stevens

I’ve always been a warbler fan, celebrating every opportunity that comes my way for seeing these colorful, energetic feathered sprites. On May 9, the first indigo bunting (a male) showed up on at my home. A day later, I hosted a Baltimore oriole (a rare visitor at my home) and an even rarer visitor with a singing (more like caterwauling) male yellow-breasted chat. I’ve had only one of these birds in the yard since I began birding in the mid-1990s.

3 weeks ago | erwinrecord.net | Bryan Stevens

Watching birds offers a variety of benefits to the watcher. The activity offers solace and therapy, hope and optimism. There’s just something about our feathered friends that can be therapeutic and healing. I can’t begin to count the times a sighting of an unexpected bird has put a smile on my face. The website www.caringcardinals.com is dedicated to the spiritual symbolism that has come to be associated with a common bird known as the Northern cardinal.

3 weeks ago | erwinrecord.net | Tessa Worley

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — Dollywood’s Splash Country announced additional days to its 2023 season in August and September. Splash Country added a total of seven days to its 2023 operating calendar, with five days in August (Aug. 7, 9, 10, 15 and 17) and two days in September (Sept. 16 and 17), which will serve as the end of the park’s 2023 season. Splash Country said they added days to ensure that all families can visit the park before the end of summer.

3 weeks ago | erwinrecord.net | Tessa Worley

ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. — The Rogersville Heritage Association will host Heritage Days on Oct. 13-15 with vendors, entertainment, an art show, a Civil War reenactment and more. Melissa Nelson, executive director of the Rogersville Heritage Association, said Heritage Days is about returning home. “Heritage Days to me signifies coming home and the kickoff to the holiday season,” Nelson said.

4 weeks ago | erwinrecord.net | Bryan Stevens

I’m thinking that most people have probably heard of a “gaggle” of geese or a “murder” of crows as a way to describe a flock of these particular birds. Warblers also have their collective names. A flock of warblers is often referred to as a bouquet, a confusion, a fall, a cord or a wrench of warblers, according to the Birdorable Blog. I personally like “wrench” of warblers.