FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Killdeer fledgling, Bonaparte's gulls

["michael sledjeski" <mtnsylva@xxxxxxx>]

Dutch Bottoms, Cocke county
4/9/2007

I was checking out some least sandpipers in the grassy shoreline when they 
were joined by what looked to be a small shorebird with a single dark 
breastband."Semialmated plover" was my first guess, then an adult killdeer 
came into view and the little one followed it back up the slope.  I couldn't 
get another clear view of it in the grass, but when a pair of turkey 
vultures glided low across the scene, the adult called and the little one 
ran to it and appeared to crouch underneath.

Killdeer young can walk and feed immediately after hatching, and incubation 
takes about 4 weeks, so incubation began in early March.  That's about a 
month earlier than usual, according to the Stokes' Guide to Bird Behavior.

Leslie and I saw about 10 Bonaparte's Gulls at Dutch Bottoms today, the 
first we've recorded there this year. We also saw about 120 today in 2 
locations in the Indian Creek section of Douglas Lake, in Jefferson county.

Michael Sledjeski
Del Rio TN


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