FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] A Third Ruff at Memphis! - Photo

[OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx]

May 4, 2005
Ensley Bottoms
Shelby Co. TN
 
I met Gail King at the pits early Wednesday and we quickly found a  female 
Ruff (Reeve) plus White-rumped and Baird's Sandpiper before the small  male 
Peregrine went to work. There were more shorebirds at the pits than I've  ever 
seen before in the spring and all were in the air in great convulsing  clouds. 
The birds were hell bent not to become breakfast. Before I had to  leave we saw 
the Peregrine make 4 different trips over the pits without  scoring a hit. The 
bird would hunt, then rest and have another go.
 
Jim Peters and Don Davidson came in from Manchester, TN, for a try for  Jim's 
lifer Ruff and spent 3 hours looking before the birds settled down and  they 
located the Reeve in the afternoon. Gail came back later with her mother  and 
they were joined by Linda Zemple. When Pete Peterson and I arrived at 4 PM,  
they had nailed the Reeve down and it was feeding at the south end of the pits. 
 There were definitely fewer birds than Gail and I had that morning. The  
Peregrine syndrome had taken effect and cut the numbers way down.
 
Coming down the levee, I had seen 6 adult female Wilson's Phalarope doing  
their spinning thing and one male playing it safe in a location remote from the 
 
whirling girlies. We had great looks at quite a few White-rumped Sandpipers 
and  distant but great looks at a handsome Baird's Sandpiper. A total of 20 
species  of Wind Birds were rooted out.
 
Gail and her mom left and Jim and company headed to get some Memphis  
Bar-B-Q, before their 5 hour plus trip home. Believe me, the drive is  shorter 
when 
you got your lifer than when you missed it.
 
Pete and I visited a few more pools and we found another Reeve, much  
different in color and even size than my previous 2. The bird was much lighter  
and 
less colorfully marked than the bird we had been watching all day. We  hurried 
back to check on the other Ruff and found it preening at its  regular haunt.
 
As we were leaving, I got a call from Gail, she wanted to know if we had  
gone to the front pools before we left. She had found a bird there but it was 
so  
different from any Reeve she had seen before (her first was today;o) that she 
 was not sure the bird was a Reeve. I told her we had seen the bird also and 
she  was quite proud that they had ferreted out the odd bird in such a large 
flock of  look alike Legs.
 
I posted a head shot on my wed site that I got just before the bird flew  
north and left Reeve Central. We later watched many groups of  various numbers 
fly overhead with much chittering about their trip  north.
 
It has been a RUFF two days...........  
Good  Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA
Bartlett,  TN



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