FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Herndon trip: dark morph Red-tail, Sandhills, Vesper...

[Dnldhlt@xxxxxxx]

Field trip of Herndon (Elizabethton) Chapter TOS
Saturday, November 15, 2003 - 8am-5pm
Participants:  Don Holt, Don Miller, Dexter Newman, Linda Newman, Mike Poe
Sites:  Greene Co.: Green Rd., Matthews Lane(Bible Refuge), Jim Kirk Rd.,
                                 Pottertown Rd.(Walmart Distribution Center 
ponds)
          Jefferson Co.: Douglas Lake(Taylor's Bend)

     Good birds were found today in spite of cold and drizzle.  Highlights as 
follows:  On Green Rd. some time was spent examining a large flock (200 +) of 
AMERICAN PIPITS at close range.  With them were at least 40 KILDEER.  Nearby 
a large flock of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS included a few RUSTY BLACKBIRDS.  
SAVANNAH SPARROWS watched from the weedy edge of the fields, and in the wooded 
yard 
and swamp nearby were at least 6 RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS, including a first 
year bird still only partly red on top and with a black line across the white 
wing patches.
     Sparrows were the focus at Joachim Bible Refuge Unit.  A lone VESPER 
SPARROW posed in good view for a long look.  Other species were SWAMP SPARROW, 
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, FIELD SPARROW, SONG SPARROW, AND 
EASTERN TOWHEE.  A YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER brought us close to a clean sweep 
of woodpeckers (we missed the Hairy).  Our first RED-TAILED HAWK of the day 
was followed with a female NORTHERN HARRIER and a "Red-shouldered Blue Jayhawk" 
that kept messing with me.  
     Traveling on Jim Kirk Rd., the normally wet fields we hoped would turn 
up some shorebirds were dry, but a JUVENILE DARK MORPH RED-TAILED HAWK made the 
side trip worthwhile.  It was harrassed as it sat in a tree by a juvenile 
NORTHERN HARRIER, then as it flew off by an AMERICAN KESTREL.
     After lunch a trip down to Douglas Lake was an adventure as we searched 
a vantage point we were unfamiliar with, on the Jefferson County side of the 
lake in a bend in the river (Taylor Bend) below Dutch Bottoms.  We finally 
found the place and saw another RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, many RING-BILLED GULLS, 
over a hundred GREAT BLUE HERONS, HOODED MERGANSERS, and NORTHERN SHOVELERS. 
Best 
of all, we saw 5 SANDHILL CRANES standing together on a sandbar/mudflat!
     We finished the day back in Greene Co. at the Walmart Distribution 
Center ponds.  NORTHERN PINTAIL (2 male, 1 female), GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, 
and 
GREEN-WINGED TEAL rounded out our waterfowl list, while a DUNLIN and a WILSON'S 
SNIPE were our only sandpipers of the day.
     Many thanks to Don Miller for his help in finding everything, sites as 
well as birds.  And thanks to Rick Knight for providing Miller with the tip on 
the site at Douglas Lake.  The full species list for the trip follows:

Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Gadwall
Mallard
Hooded Merganser
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
American Wigeon
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Kildeer
Dunlin
Common Snipe
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
American Crow
Blue Jay
Carolina Chickadee
Eastern Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
American Pipit
European Starling
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Red-winged Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
     Total spp.=57

Don Holt
Johnson City, TN
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       BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST

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Bird Club, Bristol Bird Club, Clinch Valley Bird Club
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