FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Reelfoot Lake area 3/15/04

[<birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Reelfoot Lake area 3/15/04

After not having been to this area in some time, I spent the day here
until the rain set in. I was hoping for signs of migration, and wasn't
disappointed. One of the birds I was really hoping to see, and that Jeff
had yesterday, were Golden-Plovers. I went to Phillipy, and had both
Yellowlegs (several other places as well, a few more Greater than
Lesser) but no Golden's for the day. I did have my 1st Pectorals (2) at
a nice wet area just north of Walnut Log. Great Egrets were seen a
couple of places, and teal were in abundance.

Overall, much the same as Jeff reported. I was on the lookout (and
listenout) for Western Meadowlarks, but didn't have luck with them
either. One ricefield in Black Bayou had 138 Wilson's Snipe packed into
a small area, and several Killdeer, but no other shorebirds. Speaking of
Black Bayou, the Pied-billed Grebes are really hooping it up right now,
it sounded like the backdrop of a Tarzan movie.

Walnut Log was noisy, with everything singing from Ruby-crowned Kinglets
and Hermit Thrushes, to a single Winter Wren trying to liven up the
monotonous songs of its Carolina kin-folk. Fish Crows are in big-time.
One bird that I was a little surprised to see already was a nice
Yellow-crowned Night Heron on Walnut Log, although it's about time for
them. I had hoped for an early warbler to sneak in, but nothing but
Myrtle's.

Highlight of the day was spending about 15 minutes watching a Mink at
close-range at Black Bayou. I had briefly seen a Mink on Walnut Log, but
it didn't give me much of a look. The Black Bayou Mink swam up to a tree
near the road, and then proceeded to casually go about its business,
with no concern for me. After it got to where I couldn't see it, I got
out of the car and walked over to where it was, and this didn't concern
it. It finally made its way deeper into the woods, but I finally got a
decent shot of it (through some limbs, but a good look for a Mink).

I have added a photo of the Mink, and several other mammals I've
photographed (a few "mammal" shots my wife wasn't too crazy about so
they didn't make it:') in a new gallery on my website:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/mammals

I've also been working on some more bird shots in my spare time, and
have expanded the sub-galleries under the 'TN Birds' gallery. These are
galleries for pelecaniformes, and another for wading birds I've
photographed in TN. As usual, these photos vary from good to not very
good, but all show features of the birds well. There are several photos
for most species, but if anyone has some spare time and not much to do,
try: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/tn_birds

A quick way to see what's in this gallery is to look at the 'tree view'
at the top of the page, this lists the # of images for each in all of
the galleries, and the species in the 'TN Birds' gallery.

Good birding!!

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



=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    ========================================================