FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] TN West Coast Weekend

[OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx]

April 4-5-6, 2003
West TN

We were invited to tour some wetland development on Friday afternoon and the 
warm but overcast sky was kind. We picked up my first Prothonotary Warbler 
for the season and had a Yellow-throated Warbler come to our phishing and 
pose for a photo. Wild Turkeys were seen all weekend long with many strutting 
males trying to impress, seemingly un-impressable hens. They had better get 
that done soon as Turkey season is opening all across the area. At Lower 
Hatchie we ran across a single Cattle Egret and heard multiple Sora Rails 
volunteering sporadic calls, amid the haunting ranting of enamored 
Pied-billed Grebes.

On Saturday, we found a fresh Bank Swallows nest at Choctaw in Lake Co. and 
later a single bird flew by us. This is another of those right on time 
arrivals as April 5th has been consistently my early date as in 1995, 1997, 
and in 1998, now 2003. At Everett's Lake, 13 American White Pelicans cruised 
out of a willow thicket accompanied by DC Cormorants and by opportunistic 
Bonaparte's Gulls above. Bald Eagles were seen soaring in the area along with 
an Osprey. Both Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks were also on the move along 
with many resident Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks soaring over home 
territories.

Vesper Sparrows were flushed from roadsides along the levees. White-eyed 
Vireos gave song along the wooded roads with other resident and new arrival 
species expounding the joys of spring. On the Mississippi River, Bonaparte's 
Gulls outnumbered the Ring-billed Gulls and finally Forster's Terns appeared 
at Champy's Pocket on Reelfoot Lake.

Golden Plovers were found in groups of 100 to 200 all day in their most 
favored haunts among the thousand of acres that appear to be all the same. 
Even so they still have THEIR FIELDS of DREAMS, where they consistently 
appear year after year mostly forsaking the others. The BIG flock of the day 
was found at dusk. At Arnold Airfield in Halls, we located a flock of between 
1500 and 2000 birds that nervously would jump up and swirl in the air, land 
and feed and then flush again.

On Sunday the wind, rain and hail made for long study times as I birdied by 
myself. Sitting and watching how birds react to weather always produces 
revelations. On Saturday we had seen a few scattered Great Egrets but Sunday 
they were everywhere and in groups of 8 to 12, as evidently they had ridden 
the wind north overnight. Finally at the Great River Road and 79 Highway, a 
Little Blue Heron dropped in and an hour later a Snowy Egret floated down, 
both season firsts for me.

Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs were seen and heard at all locations. Pectoral 
Sandpipers were patrolling around all the plowed and fallow fields but unless 
you stopped and searched they would go unnoticed among the clods of moist 
dirt and crayfish towers.

An astonishing number of American Wigeon were found mucking around in the mud 
off 79 Highway on Sunday. As the rain fell I counted 650+. Joe Guinn and I 
had seen many thousands at one time, some years back in Katie's Gourd at 
Reelfoot. At that time they were feeding on the water but this was the 
largest number I had ever seen grazing together like cattle as they like to 
do. 

Good Birding!!!

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



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