FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Birding Pickwick, Lake co.,and Pace Point, TN

["Kevin A. Calhoon" <kac@xxxxxxxxxx>]

As Jeff Wilson already posted; Bonnie Johnson, Judy Newsome and I (Kevin
Calhoon) had an opportunity to join Jeff at Pickwick Dam on 2/8 and enjoy
the gull bonanza.  Thanks to Jeff's skill and knowledge we came away with 5
species of gulls. The Great-black Backed, Lesser Black-backed and Thayers'
Gull were state birds for Bonnie and Judy and the Thayers' a state bird for
me (state birds are getting harder and harder to get for me!) I want to
thank Jeff again for sharing his time and considerable gull knowledge with
us, I learned alot, but know I have a long way to go to learn the finer
points of "gulling".

We spent the morning of 2/9 in Dyer and Lake counties (Reelfoot lake area)
picking up year birds.  Some of the highlights included: 
- Over 50 American Tree Sparrows between Black Bayou and the Airpark Inn
areas
- 26 Lapland Longspurs
- 4 Purple Finches at Nancy Moore's feeders
- Short-eared Owls
- LeConte's Sparrows
We did not see the Vermilion Flycather despite several drive-bys through the
Airpark Inn area.

We then headed to the Pace Point area and the Big Sandy Unit of the
Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge (Benton and Henry counties). Highlights
there included:
- 1 Pacific Loon - off the rocky point viewing area
- 2 Red-throated Loons - rocky point (hanging out with the Pacific)
- 210+ Common Loons
- 29 Common Mergansers - rocky point and the slough below the old refuge
maintenance building.  This is the highest number of this species I have
seen on TN.  Some of the males were beginning to show some pink on their
bellies as breeding season approaches.

We totaled 96 species for the two days! Not a bad mid-winter count.  We
observed 10 species of sparrows for the two days.  The one we missed was
Chipping!  I was in heaven, those of you that know me know that I am a
sparrow freak!
Sparrow species:
American Tree Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
LeConte's Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow

Kevin Calhoon
Chattanooga, TN







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