FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Another banner day at Rankin (Cocke Co., TN)

["Donald Miller" <pandion@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

September 2, 2006
[posting date: September 3, 2006]

First off, thanks to Rick Knight for his timely post of September 1.  In 
addition to alerting us all to the presence of birds at Rankin after the recent 
rain, it also stands as a record of one of the best shorebird days at Rankin in 
the last decade or so. 

Yesterday I visited Rankin Bottoms twice--first in the late morning and early 
afternoon, and then again shortly before roosting time.  Shorebird numbers 
appeared to be down somewhat from the previous day, but things were still 
hoppin'.  Throughout the day, other regional birders also visited the site.  
I'm hoping that one or more of them will fill in gaps in my list.  I know that 
I didn't find every species that was viewed yesterday.  Nonetheless, I had a 
great day that included 18 shorebird species.  Numbers below also reflect a few 
observations made at Dutch Bottoms and along Rankin Hill Road.

Highlights (conservatively counted, allowing for the fact that many birds were 
too distant to view well):

Canada Goose (385)
Wood Duck (4)
Mallard (28)
Blue-winged Teal (3)
Double-crested Cormorant (10+)
Great Blue Heron (13)
Great Egret (266)
Cattle Egret
Green Heron (2)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (2)
Wood Stork (immature)
Osprey
Broad-winged Hawk
Semipalmated Plover (5)
Killdeer (40+)
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs (2)
Lesser Yellowlegs (10+)
Spotted Sandpiper
Sanderling (5)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (30+)
Western Sandpiper (11)
Least Sandpiper (41)
White-rumped Sandpiper (2)
Baird's Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper (55)
Stilt Sandpiper (5)
Buff-breasted Sandpiper 
Short-billed Dowitcher (5)
Wilson's Snipe
Red-necked Phalarope
Laughing Gull (2)
Forster's Tern
Black Tern (2)
Common Nighthawk (391)
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (18)
Gray Catbird

Don Miller
Greeneville, Greene Co., TN

pandion@xxxxxxxxxxxxx