FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Blount Big year day 2

[Charlie <cmmbirds@xxxxxxxxx>]

Northwest Blount County, January 3, 2004.  8 am to 11:30 am.

No, no, NO!  I'm not going to bore you folks with daily updates.  But
today I had a nice morning birding.

I tried to find some of the good waterfowl that Dean Edwards found
yesterday, but if they were around, they were hiding in the fog.  I
found 2 female BUFFLEHEAD and nothing else on the pond.  The Merlin
was not there, but a RED-TAILED HAWK was.  Ish Creek held my first
AMERICAN COOT RED-BREASTED MERGANSER and PIED-BILLED GREBEs of the
year.  I also checked my first of year HOUSE SPARROWS there, which is
funny since I drove the Alcoa portion of US 129 a few times
yesterday.  Hanging out with a bunch of starlings was my first of
year EASTERN MEADOWLARK.

Just after discovering Louisville Point Park was closed, I recieved a
call from Tracey telling me of Tom Howe's Common Goldeneye there
yesterday.  But 3 trips to that location today netted me just one
year-bird, a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH hanging out with the BROWN-HEADED
NUTHATCHES.   This park was also the site of one of the 2 different
MUTE SWANs I saw today.  Alas, I had no firearm, but I did tick it.

13 lucky Hooded Mergansers awaited me at Proffitt Creek.

A bit of back-road lurking found me in a community called Light Pink,
which yeilded my first 2 AMERICAN KESTRELS for the year and a flock
of about 15 FIELD SPARROWS (which I already had, but I like this bird
a lot).

A stop at the dam behind the Maryville Library yeilded the beautiful
male NORTHERN SHOVELLER that's been there for several months, as well
as the usual RING-NECKED DUCKS and a bonus "WESTERN" PALM WARBLER.

My total for the county for 2005 now stands at 61 including the
questionable Mute Swans.  Or 61.5 if you count that large accipiter
yesterday.  I only had 3 or 4 nightmares about that one last night...

Alas, tomorrow I'm back to work for the first time since October 1. 
I wonder if it will be harder for me...or them?  :-)

Good day!

Charlie

=====
**************************************************
Charlie Muise, Naturalist near
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of cancer."  -Edward Abbey
**************************************************


        
                
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