FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Reelfoot Lake are; Obion & Lake Co. 5/2/07

[<birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

5/2/07
Reelfoot Lake area (Obion & Lake Co.)
Walnut Log (Obion Co.) over to Phillipy & Black Bayou area

I spent all day at Reelfoot Lake yesterday, finally arriving early enough to 
enjoy a nice day on Walnut Log. Warbler variety was pretty good, though I 
didn't  have near the numbers of birds that were seen at Radnor Lake 
yesterday. Otherwise, I finally go there early enough for Yellow-crowned 
Night-Herons, which I had missed my last couple of trips. Thrushes were in 
short supply, with none singing other than Wood Thrush; Swainson's was the 
only other one on the day. Another new addition for the year, finally, was 
Yellow-billed Cuckoo, with several singing. Warblers seen were:

Blue-winged Warbler: 1 female
Golden-winged Warbler: 1 male
Tennessee Warbler: many
Nashville Warbler: 6
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler: one on the Log, several more later in day
Chestnut-sided Warbler: 3
Magnolia Warbler: 7
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler: 1 heard
Blackburnian Warbler: 2 heard
Yellow-throated Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler: 2
Black-and-white Warbler: 1
American Redstart: 5
Prothonotary Warbler
Swainson's Warbler: one in same location as last visit
Ovenbird: 1 heard
Northern Waterthrush: several over day
LA Waterthrush: 1 heard
Kentucky Warbler: many
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat

I left Walnut Log and went around the top end of the Lake to get to the 
Phillipy area. I stopped at the same spot just north of Long Point (in KY) 
where there was a shorebird concentration last week. Semipalmated Plover 
numbers have grown to a whopping 86, and I'm sure I missed some in the 
grass. Otherwise, a lot of Pec, Least, and Yellowlegs. I didn't even go into 
Long Point, as there is no shorebird habitat there. Also in KY I had a 
singing Marsh Wren, and a couple of Lincoln's Sparrows that popped-up for 
me.

I spent most of the day in the general Phillipy and Black Bayou areas. I did 
not refind the Ruff, despite looking numerous times throughout the area. I 
arrived at Phillipy just as a heavy rain started. I was sitting there with 
my window cracked, when I heard the wonderful sound of Black-bellied 
Plovers. Six of these beauties dropped into the pit on the north side of the 
road, and two of them were in what looked to be full-alternate plumage. I 
had hoped for a photo of them, but literally within minutes of the rain 
moving on, these birds called and were gone. Lots of birds in the area 
still, with 15 White-rumped Sandpipers counted, nice for early-May. 
Pectorals are the dominant bird here now, with an easy 500 in  the area. It 
took a lot of looking to finally pull a couple of Semipalmated Sandpipers 
out of the mix here.

I checked the field a couple of times that Mark had the Ruff in on Tuesday, 
with no luck. Finally did get a couple of Black-necked Stilts there. Didn't 
see any Stilt Sandpipers all day. The Ibis Hole was pretty quiet with the 
exception of 5 nice Long-billed Dowitchers. I was able to get close enough 
to them to get some semi-decent shots, for ID purposes. When I returned to 
the Phillipy Pits again, after another shower, a pair of breeding-plumage 
Wilson's Phalaropes were in close. I called Nancy Moore and she was able to 
get there just as the rain started again, she got great looks at the 
Phalaropes and we looked at some White-rumps as well. I couldn't match the 
shorebird list Jeff had at Memphis, but 14 species in that little area 
wasn't bad, and I'd add a couple more at Black Bayou.

I wanted to check on the Bell's Vireos at Black Bayou, and they don't seem 
to be in yet. On the way back though I flushed a Sora, and kicked up several 
more Lincoln's Sparrows, for a 9 Sparrow day. The shorebird pond at Black 
Bayou looks alright, though nothing of interest there except some Snipe. On 
the way out, I stopped and looked at the flooded field on the southwest side 
of the road on the Black Bayou loop, just before you get back out to the 
highway. This field had 11 more Wilson's Phalaropes (6 female, 5 male), and 
at least 30 Dowitchers. It started to rain again while I was on my way out 
there; most of the Dowitchers structurally looked like Long-billed, but a 
couple of the closer ones were nice bright Short-bills. The distant 
Dowitchers I didn't get to get any details on.

Over the last few days, Dickcissels have really taken over. I heard 
Bobolinks overhead one time, but didn't see any. I had hoped to get to the 
Lake, but ran out of time. Still, with the limited areas I went to, I had 
134 species on the day. 150 would have been very doable if I had been trying 
to run up a list.

I've posted several shots from the day (Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, 
Lincoln's Sparrow, Dowitchers, White-rumps, Phalaropes, etc) in my Spring 
2007 gallery. If interested, the images start here:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/78158131  , or you can just go to the 
gallery at: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/spring_2007 , with new images being 
towards the bottom of the page.

Good Birding!!

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

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