Birding Kingsport is an organization dedicated to fostering an enthusiasm for birds and birding. It’s also one of three birding organizations located in Northeast Tennessee. Previous columns have highlighted birding groups based in Elizabethton and Bristol.

Betty Bailey is part of the leadership team that helms Birding Kingsport, also known as the Fred J. Alsop III Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society. The organization was founded in 2015.

“Bill Grigsby was instrumental in the establishment of our club,” Bailey noted. “We strive to promote the public awareness of birds, nature and conservation issues through the study of birds primarily in the greater Kingsport area and through projects aimed to conserve bird populations.”

Bailey noted that one such project is the ongoing building and monitoring of nest boxes for Eastern bluebirds on the Kingsport Greenbelt.

She also pointed out that the Kingsport Birding Trail (KBT) was the first recognized birding trail in the state of Tennessee.

“Our linear park, the Kingsport Greenbelt, hosts six KBT locations,” she added.

“We make a concerted effort to participate in community events, like Warriors’ Path Spring Nature Festival and events at the Exchange Place,” she said.

“In addition to local bird walks to birding hot spots, we offer field trips to Roan Mountain, Seven Islands State Birding Park, Burke’s Garden, Phipps Bend, Laurel Run and other areas in our region,” Bailey said. “We count birds in Sullivan County in the spring for the Lee and Lois Herndon Chapter in Elizabethton.”

Instead of chapter officers, Birding Kingsport has chosen a leadership group to helm the organization.

“We felt this would be a better way to share the responsibilities of running the chapter and get more people involved with helping out with the tasks required,” Bailey said. “We have six members on the team.”

Bailey noted that Helen Sirrett served as club president for many years prior.

The chapter is also featured on the website tnbirds.org.

The public can like the group on Facebook at Birding Kingsport, a chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society. The chapter’s name — the Fred J. Alsop III Chapter of TOS — honors well-known local birder and retired East Tennessee State University biology professor Fred J. Alsop.

Bailey noted that Kingsport is also fortunate to have many different and varied habitats.

“This rich source of habitats allows many species to thrive,” she explained. “For example, over 130 species have been recorded on the Kingsport Greenbelt. A couple of our members and expert birders — Bambi Fincher and Sherrie Quillen — located a Virginia’s warbler near the Holston River on a very cold winter’s day.”

Although the chapter is the newest birding group in Northeast Tennessee, it is not lacking for distinctive accomplishments.

“We have conducted an Audubon Christmas Bird Count each year,” Bailey said.

Chapter members also conduct bird walks during Kingsport’s Fun Fest event each year to introduce people to birding and the importance of maintaining local habitats.

She also noted that the group has worked with the city of Kingsport to establish birding-related signage on the Kingsport Greenbelt with photographs by club member Belinda Bridwell.

Bailey also said that the chapter has hosted two state meetings for the Tennessee Ornithological Society with birders flocking to the Kingsport area from all parts of Tennessee.

Bailey sees many benefits that a birding group can provide to a novice birder or an experienced birder new to the area, including the sharing of information about local habitats, migration patterns that bring in different species to the area and how to better observe and identify birds in their natural habitats.

She also issued an invitation. “New and experienced birders can help with citizen science projects such as the Audubon Christmas Bird Count,” she said. “Experienced birders have the opportunity to share knowledge with other interested people and to increase public awareness of birding and conservation.”

For more information, email birdingkingsport@gmail.com.

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Bryan Stevens has written about birds and birding since 1995. Contact him at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.