FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Baird's Sandpiper, Tennessee Warbler, etc. (Cocke, Hamblen, Jefferson Co., TN)

[Don Miller <raincrow@xxxxxxx>]

August 27, 2005
[posted August 28, 2005]

I spent a productive five hours yesterday at Rankin Bottoms and nearby 
areas.  I was on my own in Hamblen and Jefferson Counties but met and 
birded with about ten people from the Hernon Chapter of TOS at Rankin 
Wildlife Management Area (RWMA) and later canoed with Leslie Gibbens and 
Michael Sledjeski at RWMA and adjacent areas.  Species diversity was 
fairly high, though little mudflat is currently exposed.  At RWMA, 
birding from the shore is unlikely to produce few shorebirds until 
drawdown proceeds further.

Locations:

Cocke County (C): RWMA; adjoining stretch of French Broad River below 
Rankin Bridge; mudflats on exposed floodplain between French Broad River 
and Holttown Road;

Hamblen County (H): bottomland along Leeper's Ferry Road approximately 
0.75 mile from Jefferson County line at intersection of Leeper's Ferry 
Road and Leadvale Road; these bottomlands are less than a mile upstream 
from the mouth of the Nolichuckey River, which they adjoin;

Jefferson County (J): Leadvale Road and nearby shoreline [Leadvale Road 
is accessed off Highway 25-E by turning on any of several roads 1-2 
miles north of the J.M. Walters bridge].

Notable species--

Double-crested Cormorant (107 RWMA);
Great Blue Heron (8 C; 3 H);
Great Egret (75+ C; 10 H; 1 J);
Little Blue Heron (14 C, plus 3 others observed by Michael Sledjeski for 
a total of 17);
Green Heron (14 C);
Black-crowned Night-Heron (6 C);
White Ibis (immature RWMA);
Canada Goose (45 H; 30 C);
Wood Duck (17 C; 3 H);
Mallard (15 C; 7 H);
unidentified ducks (20+ observed in poor light at dusk);
Black Vulture (50 J);
Osprey (4 RWMA);
Bald Eagle (immature (probably 2nd-year) along Holttown Road area mudflats);
Killdeer (21 C; 5 H);
Semipalmated Plover (4 RWMA; 1 H);
Greater Yellowlegs (3 H; 1 RWMA);
Lesser Yellowlegs (4 C);
Solitary Sandpiper (4 C);
Spotted Sandpiper (5 C);
Least Sandpiper (21 C; 10 H);
Semipalmated Sandpiper (9 C; 2 H);
Western Sandpiper (along Leeper's Ferry Road);
unidentified fly-by peeps (20+);
Stilt Sandpiper (along Leeper's Ferry Road);
Pectoral Sandpiper (9 C; 8 H);
Baird's Sandpiper (RWMA);
Wilson's Snipe (RWMA);
Caspian Tern (RWMA);
Eastern Screech-Owl (2 RWMA);
Eastern Kingbird (35 RWMA, plus 23 others observed by Rob Biller for a 
total of 58);
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (2 C; 1 H);
Barn Swallow (1 H);
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (6 RWMA);
Red-eyed Vireo (2 RWMA);
Tennessee Warbler (RWMA);
Prothonotary Warbler (3 C).

Don Miller
Greeneville, Greene Co., TN



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