Harrison Bay Birding

Notification Alert

Construction from Brand New Playscape

Harrison Bay State Park

Please excuse our mess as we work to build a brand-new learning playscape! Work has begun paving the way for a nature-based playscape that will combine the fun of a play area with opportunities to learn and help children connect with nature through a hands-on experience. Due to the heat, work may begin each day in the early morning hours before quiet time is over, causing noise for our campground guests. Please contact the park office for additional details. Thank you for your patience during this project!

Wooden observation platform covered in snow

A bird perches on a branch in calm water, surrounded by out-of-focus green leaves. The scene is peaceful, with soft reflections in the lake.

Birding at Harrison Bay

Harrison Bay State Park is located on the largest open water area of Chickamauga Lake.

Shorebirds, wintering waterfowl, osprey, and bald eagles are frequently seen. A bald eagle nest is located on the golf course. One hundred thirty species of birds have been observed.

Featured Birds

Canada Goose
Great Blue Heron
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Bald Eagle
Gull
Scaups
Terns
Ducks
Mergansers
Eastern Kingbird
Orchard Oriole
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Pine Warbler
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
Tennessee Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Red-headed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Brown Creeper
Waterfowl
Black Tern
Caspian Tern
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Wild Turkey
Killdeer
Song Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Eastern Phoebe
Red-shouldered Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Shorebirds
Waterfowl
Red-tailed Hawk
Great Egret
American Bittern
Orchard Oriole
Winter Wren
Rusty Blackbird
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Sandpipers
Plovers
Yellowlegs

Birding Locations

Bay Point Loop Trail

Featured birds: Pine Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Vireos

Forested trail that follows along the lakeshore and shallow bays.
Boat Ramp and Fishing Pier

Featured birds: Canada Goose, Great Blue Heron, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Bald Eagle

The fishing pier is one of the best spots in the park to view bald eagles and osprey. Osprey often hunt between the Chickamauga Dam wall and the park’s inlet, and a nesting pair of bald eagles calls the park home, raising several offspring right here on site.
Keep an eye out for our resident grey heron, often seen stalking the shallows near the pier. You can also spot cormorants. Sunset is the perfect time to listen for the heron’s loud, unmistakable calls.
Booker T. Washington Hiking Trail

Featured birds: Eastern Kingbird, Orchard Oriole, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Pine Warbler, Red-breasted Nuthatch

The brushy lake shore affords fall migrant songbirds and breeding eastern kingbird and orchard oriole. The Virginia pines hold breeding brown-headed nuthatches and pine warblers. 
Picnic Area

Featured birds: Caspian Tern, Osprey, Canada Goose, Great Blue Heron, Common Loon

This wooded and semi-open peninsula provides easy views into the main lake and bay area containing the marina. 
Standifer Gap Marsh Road alongside the marsh

Featured birds: Wild Turkey, Canada Goose, Killdeer, Song Sparrow, Field Sparrow

This site is owned by the Woodland Park Baptist Church and contains a cattail marsh with some large pockets of open water, bordered by stands of wet grasses, sedges, bulrushes, and willows and other moisture-loving trees and shrubs. Over 200 species of birds identified.

Woodland Park Baptist Church
Chester Frost Park: Entrance

Featured birds: Waterfowl, Shorebirds, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Red-headed Woodpecker, Bald Eagle

A leisurely walk around the park roads offers good birdwatching for waterfowl and gulls in winter with views of the lake and mixed pine/deciduous forest. One hundred and seventy species of birds identified. 
Brainerd Levee (South Chickamauga Creek Greenway): Parking Area

Featured birds: Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, American Bittern, Common Yellowthroat, Orchard Oriole

This stormwater control structure, with a paved trail atop the 2.60-mile-long levee, has created freshwater habitats including cattail marsh, seasonal mudflats, wet fields, wet woods, shallow ponds, fields with shrub and shrubby edges, and riparian woods. Over 190 species of birds have been identified.

Responsible Birding

Do not endanger the welfare of birds.
Tread lightly and respect bird habitat.
Silence is golden.
Do not use electronic sound devices to attract birds during nesting season, May-July.
Take extra care when in a nesting area.
Always respect the law and the rights of others, violators subject to prosecution.
Do not trespass on private property.
Avoid pointing your binoculars at other people or their homes.
Limit group sizes in areas that are not conducive to large crowds.