FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Harris's Sparrow & etc; 4/1/08

[<birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

4/1/08
Gibson Co (Ed Davis Fish Farm)
Carroll Co (Wingo Loop Rd west of McKenzie off Hwy 79)

I did a little birding on my way home from work this morning, with a 
gorgeous breeding-plumage Harris's Sparrow being the highlight.

I initially went by the Ed Davis Fish Farm, outside of Milan in Gibson Co, 
where I found a number of ponds drained down. One of these ponds had over 
200 Least Sandpipers, as well as a very pale and long-billed Dunlin that 
initially had me VERY excited; unfortunately it flew a few feet and blew my 
Curlew Sandpiper hopes out of the water! Other shorebirds here were a few 
Snipe, a Greater Yellowlegs and my 1st Solitary Sandpiper of the year. A 
single Caspian Tern was also a year bird for me. Also on the mud were about 
50 Rusty Blackbirds, one of which was an asymmetric partial albino, with 
white primaries on one side. I didn't have my cameras with me, would have 
loved a shot of that bird.

I made a pass down Wingo Loop, which is about halfway between McKenzie and 
Trezevant off Hwy 79 in Carroll Co. I made this loop to search the fields 
for Upland Sandpipers, which I had no luck with, but the sparrows more than 
made up for it. It rained off and on the entire time, but that didn't damped 
the enthusiasm of the Vesper Sparrows any; I saw at least 10, with 4 nice 
singing birds. This isn't normally a bird I hear a lot of. Savannah Sparrows 
were very much in evidence as well. I had already gone through one nice 
mixed group of Zonotrichia Sparrows, when I came upon another group just 
before getting back on the highway. Several White-crowns were feeding in 
some clover in a yard right by the road, with only their heads above the 
clover. About the 3rd bird I got a glimpse of had the black face and bib of 
an adult Harris's Sparrow. I watched this bird for a few minutes, then 
headed home to get my camera. I was back within 20 minutes, and after a few 
minutes found the bird again. This time, a number of White-crowns were 
feeding on buds in the top of some trees in the same yard, and the Harris's 
was with them; I even saw it sing a couple of times. It was active enough 
that I could easily follow it in the scope, but never could get a shot. 
After a few minutes it flew over the house to the field behind, and despite 
another hour of looking, I never saw it again. There are easily 20 
White-crowns in this area.

It has been several years since I've seen a Harris's in TN, and this is the 
1st really colorful adult bird I've seen period. I will look for the bird 
again in the morning. It was late this morning when I found the bird, 
hopefully it will be a little easier to track down earlier in the morning. 
If anybody happened to want more specific directions, just let me know.

I have added a couple of photos of Vesper Sparrows from this morning to a 
new gallery, Spring 2008. They are here: 
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/95020374

Good Birding!!

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



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