FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Pace Point/Paris Landing, 2/12-13/07

[Bill Pulliam <bb551@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks to my wife having work to do in the area and having a room at  
the Paris Landing hotel, I got to hit this area on back-to-back  
days.  Visibility was hampered by rain and fog, and though I found  
many gulls my totals were in the 1000's range, not the 10,000s range  
like Mike Todd reported last week.  I also wasn't able to track down  
his Iceland Gull, but I did find a first winter Lesser Black-backed  
Gull on 2/12 at Pace Point.  I suspect this may be the same bird that  
has been seen there multiple times since October, it seems to be  
present about 50% of the time.  So, anyone who still needs a life or  
State LBBG...

Some general notes:

Geese -- Good numbers of Canadas and about 40 Greater White-fronted  
Geese in the Britton Ford area; no Snows, Cacklers, or mysterious  
small Canadas.
Puddle ducks -- huge numbers around Britton Ford, heavily dominated  
by Mallards but a mixture of other species.
Diving ducks -- large rafts shifting around.  1000s of scaup well out  
on the lake, including a few Greaters close enough in to ID from  
Paris Landing.  A huge raft of Canvasbacks (about 1500) was visible  
from the bay north of the observation tower at Britton Ford on Feb  
12, but I only found a few scattered ones today.  As Mike reported  
last week, Common Goldeneye and Red-breasted Mergansers were at Pace  
Point in large numbers, displaying away vigorously.  Goldeneye were  
also at paris Landing by the 100's.
Loons -- very few, and these all Commons.  Visibility was probably a  
factor here.
Gulls -- as Mike noted, the vast majority were adult Ring-billed  
Gulls, with a smattering of Herrings and some Bonaparte's (plus the  
LBBG) at Pace Point.
Terns -- three Forster's Terns flew by Pace Point today (2/13)
Blackbirds -- an enormous flock at Britton Ford refused to yield  
anything other than Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, and a few  
Brown-headed Cowbirds on either day.  There was one albinistic  
grackle with white outer tail feathers and several white primaries in  
each wing; fortunately when I first saw it it was at very close range  
so there was no opportunity to be startled and wonder what on earth  
it was!

And on a side note -- today was the first day I have spent in this  
area without adding a single species to my nascent State list!

Bill Pulliam
Hohenwald TN
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