FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Early Windbird

[OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx]

March 15, 2003
Shelby-Tipton Co. TN

I started in a dense fog on Saturday (of course I start in a dense fog most 
days) at Ensley Bottoms. I could not see the ducks on the lake until after 
9:30. The numbers are still high with thousands of Lesser Scaup. The Greater 
Scaup numbers are down and I could only find a few Ring-necked and a single 
Redhead in the masses. There were about 100 Ring-billed Gulls resting with a 
few filtering in and out from McKellar Lake. I did photograph the very 
smallest Ring-billed Gull I've ever seen. I'm always looking for a good gull 
and thought I might have had it, but it was nothing but a runt RB. There is a 
big range in size of these birds but this was a really small bird. Something 
new every time out of the box.

Green-winged Teal were present at the pits in big numbers along with a few 
Blue-winged and Shovelers. Gadwall, Mallard, Woodies and 2 Wigeon plus the 
resident Canada Geese filled out the bill.

I had a Harlan's and 2 Krider's that allowed a few photos and the resident 
Kestrels and Shrikes are in romantic moods. A few Pipits were found in the 
fields but no Laps.
Even the dense fog could not deter the territorial calls of the Red-winged 
Blackbirds and the Eastern Meadowlarks were adding their notes to the 
melange.

The best find for me of the day was at Eagle Lake Refuge where there were few 
shorebirds, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Lesser, 3 Pectoral and my earliest by 
three weeks, a Semipalmated Plover. There are a couple of early March records 
on the books but this was an unexpected surprise for me. I did get a few 
distant shots as it rested and preened with the Pectorals.

I stopped at as many traditional sites as I could and located about 12 more 
Greater YL and 7 Lesser, 44 Pectoral and 9 Least Sandpipers. Killdeer scrapes 
are everywhere but I did not find any with eggs but I bet they are out there, 
maybe today.

I did see quite a few Great Egrets scattered in the bottoms and a lot of 
trading Great Blues going in and out of the rookery at Shelby Forest. I'll be 
watching for an Anhinga display over the next few weeks. A single Bald Eagle 
was seen in Tipton Co. and three more Red-tailed Hawks nests were found with 
setting birds.


Good Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL' COOT / TLBA
Bartlett Tenn.


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