FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] GBH morph?, osprey matefeeding II

["michael sledjeski" <mtnsylva@xxxxxxx>]

(another posting without content, another apology)

Rankin area, Cocke county TN
8/17/2006 5:00 - 8:30 PM
Douglas Lake elevation: 986.2  (Viewing from land should be good by Labor 
Day weekend)

GBH MORPH?  We observed a white-headed & white-necked bird, with the heavy 
bill and overall gray body of a great blue heron, perched at the top of a 
snag in the tree line at the east side of Rankin Bottoms.  It appeared to 
have thin black plumes at the back of the head.  We wached it for a couple 
of minutes from about 200' away, then attempted to move upriver for a 
different perspective but it flew away across the embayment.  We didn't spot 
it again that evening.

      Wurdemann's Heron, the "intermediate morph" shown in the Sibley 
Guide, is the closest i.d. match, but further research on the web shows it 
to have white head plumes.  If anyone wants to look, it might be seen from 
the tipple viewing area, but a canoe trip would cover more area and provide 
closer looks.

OSPREY COURTSHIP: We've seen an osprey nest in a sycamore on the east side 
of the French Broad, about 100 yards south of McCowan's Creek, since last 
summer, but only one osprey in the
vicinity until last weekend.  On this trip we saw the smaller bird carry and 
present a small fish to the larger osprey in the nest.  After a few seconds, 
the presumed female carried the fish off to a nearby limb and ate it.  
According to the Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior, that pattern is typical of 
courtship and breeding.  Every other instance of breeding that we've seen in 
the area takes place in early to mid spring.  The 5 other nests that we've 
observed in the upper Douglas Lake area have been empty for several weeks.  
The nestling phase ordinarily takes 7-8 weeks.

CORMORANT ROOST SEIZURE:  About 75-125 double-crested cormorants have 
usually roosted in a row of eastern cottonwood trees across from McCowan's 
creek for several years now.  As we approached the roost at about 7:00 PM, 
we spotted a third-year bald eagle in one of the cottonwoods.  Over the next 
hour, we saw more than 100 cormorants, individually or in groups of up to 
10, approach the line of trees, pass by the eagle, then fly off into the 
distance. When we left well after sunset the eagle was still there, but no 
cormorants.

Also seen:
Wood Duck (32)
Blue-winged Teal (3)
Great Blue Heron (11 adults, 7 imm.)
Great Egret (130)
Little Blue Heron (11 imm.)
Cattle Egret (2)
Green Heron (13)
Black-crowned Night-heron (18)
Wood Stork
Osprey (6)
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Semipalmated Plover (5)
Killdeer (180+)
Solitary Sandpiper (2)
Spotted Sandpiper (18)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (2)
Least Sandpiper (52)
Pectoral Sandpiper (38)
Dowitcher spp. (2)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Eastern Screech Owl
Prothonotary Warbler

Michael Sledjeski and Leslie Gibbens
Cocke county TN


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