FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Re: Rankin stork, BBplover, etc.

["michael sledjeski" <mtnsylva@xxxxxxx>]

(not sure why that last email took off before I wrote the message - pardon 
me)

Rankin area, Cocke county
8/5/06, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Douglas Lake elevation: 998'

Another late start because of thunderstorms - we set out by canoe from 
Rankin Bridge and surveyed the Holt Town Rd inlet.  An assortment of waders 
was present, but, despite the expanse of fresh mudflats, few shorebirds.   
Maybe they were spooked by the Cooper's Hawk that we saw as we left the 
area.

We crossed over to Rankin Bottoms and methodically explored the sloughs, 
finding many mallards, Canada geese, and killdeer (200+), while great egrets 
(100+) flew in to roost.  After sunset, we finally came across a more 
uncommon variety of birds, noted below, in and around the emerging mudflats 
between the old RR bed roadway and the Norfolk Southern tracks.  It should 
be possible to view at least the lower edge of this area from the opening 
next to the RR crossing at the entrance to the Rankin WMA.

As usual at Rankin at this time of year, we saw wood ducks, double-crested 
cormorants, great blue herons, green herons, black-crowned night-herons, and 
ospreys all along the way.

Highlights:
Little blue heron (40 immature, in one late flock - a new high record for 
Rankin)
White ibis (3 imm.)
Wood stork
Black-bellied plover (adult breeding plumage)
Lesser yellowlegs (5)
Solitary sandpiper
Spotted sandpiper (6)
Peeps (30+, too dark and distant to i.d.)
Pectoral sandpiper (36)
Cedar waxwing
Common yellowthroat (singing on the riverbank)

Michael Sledjeski
Cocke county TN


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