Want an Unusual Adventure? Visit Seven Islands State Birding Park

I know what you’re thinking. You’re not the stereotypical bird watcher with binoculars hung around your neck so why would you want to go visit a birding park of all places? That’s exactly what I thought when I came across Seven Islands State Birding Park while I was searching for different places to explore in Knoxville. Each time I came across it, I put it on the back burner…until this past time. I just couldn’t pass up the unusual adventure I found at Seven Islands State Birding Park.

Seven Islands is a former dairy farm which was turned into a wildlife sanctuary in 2002. It went on to become the 56^th Tennessee State Park in 2013. It’s Knox County’s only state park and Tennessee’s only state birding park. But Seven Islands is so much more than a birding park

Located just 19 miles east of downtown Knoxville, Seven Islands occupies 416 acres along the French Broad River. This aquatic and grassland habitat is located on a peninsula that juts out into the river and supplies hikers with eight miles of natural trails.

It has an ADA trail that begins at the entrance to the park and takes you across a pedestrian bridge to a small island giving you great views of the French Broad River and the mountains. In addition, it has a small canoe/kayak launch where a local company rents out canoes and kayaks during the summer months.

What’s the big deal? Hummingbirds..to be more specific, hummingbird banding. Yes, you read right, hummingbird banding. And what is that? It’s applying minuscule bands around hummingbird legs in order to track the hummingbirds.

I don’t know about you, but hummingbirds have always fascinated me. Each spring, I faithfully put out my hummingbird feeders hoping the enchanting birds will stay awhile. When they do, I love watching as they flit between the feeder and the Redbud in our backyard.

So, when I saw Seven Islands was sponsoring an event about hummingbirds, I was hooked. I decided maybe it was time to change my opinion about this park and check it out.

Early on Sunday morning, hubby and I staggered out of bed (neither of us are morning people), got ready for the day, grabbed our coffee and headed out the door. Hubby had been to Seven Islands years ago for a Boy Scout camping trip, so he knew the approximate location. But we plugged in the address to our trusty GPS phone app and began our adventure.

While Seven Islands isn’t that far from our home in north Knoxville, it seemed to take a long time to get there. After finally getting to our destination, we met up with an eclectic group of people at the Bluebird Barn at the entrance to the park.  Our guide made sure to tell us to visit the restroom before we left this area as it is the only restroom in the park.

Once everyone had a chance to use the facility…which took a while as it was only a one-seater. Our guide led us on a short hike along the Kelly Lane Greenway to what is called the Green house. Not because it’s painted Green, but because that is who owned the house.

As we walked along the path, we saw vibrant flowers, colorful birds flitting between the trees, and deer nonchalantly feeding in the surrounding grasslands. When we finally reached our destination, there were two different locations to see. One was the table where they were banding the hummingbirds and the other was the house where they were catching them.

As quickly as these little creatures zoom around, I couldn’t imagine how you could safely catch them without hurting them. But the people at Seven Islands State Birding Park had it under control. In fact, when you think about it, it seems way too easy.

They simply placed a hummingbird feeder in a bird cage. They then attached fishing line to the birdcage door and strung the line back to where they sat. When the birds entered the cage, they released the line which shut the door. They were then able to carefully catch the birds and put them in little bags to transport them to be measured.

Many of the people who do this are volunteers who have been helping at Seven Islands for years. It takes a great deal of patience to quietly sit and watch for a hummingbird to make its way into the birdcage. And to release the string at just the right time.

Once a hummingbird has been captured in the birdcage, the trained volunteers carefully extricate the birds, place them in tiny bags and take them to what I call the weighing station. Here, trained professionals carefully weigh and measure them before checking them for mites and finally banding them.

The pictures below give you an idea of what the entire process looks like. You can also check out this past Facebook event to see even closer pictures. (Can I say I’m just a little jealous because these pictures are so much better than mine?) As the hummingbirds are being banded, the park employees are explaining the entire procedure and answering all of your questions.

Now here is where it got exciting. Several people were chosen to release the hummingbirds. Park employees gently placed the bird on the lucky person’s outstretched hand and the hummingbirds then flew away. While I wasn’t lucky enough to be chosen to release one of the hummingbirds, it was such a treat to watch them flit away.

Seven Islands only offers this event one or two times a year in the fall and registration is limited. I plan on signing up again next year and who knows, maybe I’ll be one of the ones chosen to release a hummingbird.

Hummingbirds aren’t the only birds that are banded at Seven Islands.  This fall there have been several bird banding events. More than 190 different bird species have been sighted in the park and the park is also in the migratory path of many of the bird species. So there are plenty of different birds who need to be banded in order to study them. You can click here to see all the different events available.

Bird banding isn’t the only activity offered by Seven Islands. If you’re fascinated by butterflies, check out the Monarch Butterfly Tagging. This adventure starts out with a brief explanation of how monarch butterflies migrate, followed by a short hike of about one to two miles through the park to find and tag butterflies. Because we are talking wild creatures, the staff can’t promise you’ll find and catch butterflies, but it’s worth a try.

In addition, there are hikes after dark where you can search for nocturnal creatures and other creepy crawly things (I won’t be attending these).

Finally, Seven Islands hosts Sturgeonfest every year where you can release a baby sturgeon into the French Broad River. Now, if you’re like me, you might have to look up what a sturgeon is…it’s a fish. But once you do, it sounds like it’s an interesting event. They have food trucks, vendors and exhibitors at this event. It is a free event, but if you want to release a baby sturgeon, you need to register…click here to do that.

Now that I’ve told you about my awesome experience at Seven Islands State Birding Park, let me give you some additional information. The address of the park is 2809 Kelly Lane, Kodak, Tn. Like all of Tennessee’s state parks, there is no admission fee, but donations are accepted.

Before visiting, click here to see if there are any active alerts. The active alert button is the orange strip at the bottom of the top picture. Click there for any relevant information. Currently, as I am writing this, there is an active alert about flooding.

When traveling to Seven Islands, the first entrance you come to on the left is the boat landing. It is a curvy, narrow paved road that has limited sight, so be careful if you’re headed that direction to kayak or canoe. If you’re headed to the park, pass that entrance up and go to the end of the road and turn right at the gate into a gravel lot.

While hubby and I went to the hummingbird banding together, I went back by myself to explore a little more of Seven Islands. This second time, I had a little more time to explore the Bluebird Barn at the entrance. There is kiosk with a map near the entrance that highlights all of the different trails. You can also download a brochure and map here.

I decided I wanted to try out the Bobwhite Accessible Trail. It’s a pleasant path that is easily followed to a pedestrian bridge that goes over the French Broad River.

If you are approaching the bridge and are needing a rest, make sure you stop at the bench before you get to the bridge. There are no seats on the bridge. The bridge rails are shoulder high which interferes with your view but there are three viewing platforms along the bridge where you can stop and take pictures or just enjoy the view.

A couple of words of warning. Watch your step on the bridge. While most of the bridge is in really good shape, there are several boards that need to be screwed back down and at least one is beginning to rot. In addition, once you get past the bridge, the ADA accessible path quickly ends.

If you’re up for a little more exploration, I’d suggest taking the Island Loop trail. Unlike the majority of this park, a significant portion of this trail is shaded. Segments of this trail take you right beside the river with other sections giving you only glimpses of the river through the trees. There are benches spread throughout the trail where you can sit and listen to the water lapping onto the shore, see the fish leaping out of the water, and see if you can catch a glimpse of a bald eagle or blue heron.

As you can see, Seven Islands State Birding Park isn’t just a park for bird watchers. With its eight miles of trails, it is a treasure trove for hikers, and dogs are welcome as long as they remain leashed. Bikers will enjoy this park but are only allowed on the Bobwhite Accessible Trail and the Kelly Lane Greenway Trail.

It’s a park all of Knoxville can enjoy. It is a little more out of the way than Lakeshore Park or Ijams Nature Center, but it is well worth the trip. Have you been there? If so, let us know what you thought about the park in the comments below.