FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Good Grebe Day! KY Lake 1/11/06

[<birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

1/11/06
KY Lake areas
Henry Co.

Don Manning and I made a quick run up to KY Lake, to see what might be out 
and about today. We started by going to Pace Point. We hadn't had much of 
consequence when we got down to Pace Point itself. We stopped initially to 
go through the ducks that always congregate in the bay just west of Pace 
Point. While scoping through the various species of waterfowl in the 
distance, I almost overlooked the two Western Grebes that were feeding 
further inshore, no more than a couple of hundred yards out!

The ways of birds are always amazing. I 1st had these birds almost 3 weeks 
ago at Britton Ford, with them never getting far from each other, but they 
weren't there the following couple of days when Jeff was up looking for 
them. Since then, Jeff had a single bird out from Pace Point on two 
different days, but not the 2nd bird. Now, they are back hanging out 
together, like they've never been apart. After going down to the Point, as 
we left the area we stopped to see if they were there. A quick scan didn't 
produce them, but I then picked them up sleeping among the big raft of 
sleeping Ruddy Ducks. Ruddy Ducks look small enough, but they're simply 
dwarfed by the Westerns.

The Point area was once again covered up in ducks, grebes, and pelicans. It 
didn't take long to find one, and then the 2nd, Red-necked Grebe. I only had 
a single bird the last time I was here, though Jeff had been having both. 
They were down farther to the right of Pace Point than they had been, as we 
had walked around the 1st point when I picked them up. We had hoped for a 5 
Grebe day, as there are hundreds of Horned Grebes in the area, but not an 
Eared among them. :"(

After enjoying the Western and Red-necked Grebes (not often you get 2 each 
of these species within a few hundred yards of each other, not in TN 
anyway), scores of Pelicans and displaying Goldeneye, along with 
Red-breasted Merg's everywhere you look, we left the Point. Out next stop 
was a walk through the woods to see the exposed sandbars where I had a 
Thayer's last week. This area was literally covered in gulls and White 
Pelicans. There are at least 300-400 Pelicans in this area, and a mass of 
resting gulls. Bonies were the most numerous, but none of the goody gulls 
that have been around the last month or so. We only had the 3 expected 
species of gull on the day. Loons were scattered around everywhere on the TN 
River side of the Point, but all that I saw were Commons. We also flushed a 
medium-sized Owl from an area of cedars and pines near the edge of the 
woods, didn't get much of a look but possible Long-eared.

Rocky Point was very quiet, and we didn't have any luck with Golden Eagles 
today at about 11:30 when we came back through the maintenance area. We 
didn't have time to stay though.

Britton Ford was lively as usual. The flock of Snow/Blue/Ross's Geese were 
resting out from the observation platform, giving great looks. We didn't see 
any of the White-fronts or Cackling Geese today, though they probably would 
have been around later this afternoon. Nothing else out of the ordinary, but 
a lot of birds in the area.

Paris Landing had the usual suspects as well, with masses of gulls in 
several places.

We were short on time, so after a quick look at Paris Landing, we called it 
a day.

I have placed a few shots of the Western and Red-necked Grebes in my January 
2006 gallery. The following link:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/54724337  , will take you to the 1st of 4 
shots of the Westerns, and 3 of the Red-necks. Hitting the 'Next' or 
'Previous' tab will let you navigate among the photos, as will going to the 
January 2006 gallery heading above the photos.

Good Birding!!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbase.com/mctodd



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