FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Rankin flooding

["michael sylva" <mtnsylva@xxxxxxx>]

April rains in the mountains have added 12 feet to Douglas Lake in the past 
week (currently 987').  Water surging into Rankin Bottoms in Cocke County is 
expanding along the floodplain, bringing fish and fowl into the shallows.  
Leslie Gibbens and I paddled south from the coal chute to check out the 
wildlife.  Birds included:
40+ Double-crested cormorants
30+ Great Blue Herons (we watched one patiently maneuver a big carp into his 
throat)
1 Tundra Swan, ranging near the many Canada Geese
32 Wood ducks, numerous Mallards
A pair of America Widgeons, and a pair of Northern Shovelers
36 Blue-winged Teal
4 Hooded Mergansers
6 Ospreys
2 Bald Eagles, both immature
2 American Coots, which appear to be establishing territories
2 Killdeer, and a distant flight of 25-30 peeps  
7 Greater Yellowlegs
6 Caspian Terns, and 2 Ring-billed Gulls
1 Prothonotary Warbler
20 or so Tree Swallows, and about as many Cliff Swallows
All accompanied by the music of Red-winged Blackbirds, the sudden splashing of 
carp,  
      and the quiet contemplation of dozens of painted turtles.

Michael Sylva Sledjeski
Del Rio TN
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