FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Fulton TN to Fulton KY

[OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx]

July 5, 2004
Lauderdale, Dyer, Lake Co. TN
Fulton Co. KY
I started Monday at Fulton, TN and the Lower Hatchie NWR. There was little of 
note at Hatchie except egrets and herons and at the Mississippi River the 
house on the bluff is about to go. I've watched the river chew at this land for 
years. The Cliff Swallow colony is in full swing and has split into 2 areas.

I rechecked the location where all the Black-necked Stilts set down just 
north of Chisholm Lake Sunday and as expected the water was gone as were all 
the 
birds that the storm had put down. I did find a few Black-necked Stilts at 
Chickasaw NWR, with one pair chasing crows away from their young. The 
concentration of Great Egrets was the largest seen over the weekend with 354 
counted in 
one sweep so probably 400 using the area. There were 72 Great Blues, 52 Little 
Blues and 43 Snowy's. There were also 3 Lesser Yellowlegs and a single Common 
Tern coursing the flats. 

The Great River Road yielded slim pickings with the scattered wet areas 
holding only a few pair of Black-necked, 2 Lesser Yellowlegs and 4 Least 
Sandpipers 
with big numbers of Killdeer and young. Most of the back water has drained 
quickly and Ol' Sol will take care of what is left shortly. At White Lake 
Refuge 
there was even less with a few Black-necked Stilts and two week old 
youngsters. Black Bayou and Phillippy had a total of 2 Lesser Yellowlegs and 1 
Least 
Sandpiper. At Phillippy I did find 7 Black-necked Stilts with one on a nest. A 
surprise find on the way back south was a Solitary Sandpiper in Lake Co. in the 
same hole that I photographed the Cooper's hawk in a few weeks back.

The largest and most diverse shorebirds were found in Fulton Co. KY, late in 
the afternoon. There were 67 Black-necked Stilts total with 49 in one 
location. Most of the birds were unmatched males with a few couples sprinkled 
in. In 
the 4 locations I located 4 nests for sure and suspected a couple of more by 
some behavior witnessed. A lot of the birds were resting and laying on the 
ground and could have looked like they were nesting but they were not. One of 
the 
nests that I had located before had been flooded out and two of the eggs were 
left scattered. On the good side, one nest has hatched young, I only saw one 
but the parents were widely separated which might mean more. This nest is 
remote 
from the main colony.

Other shorebirds located were;1 American Golden-Plover in basic plumage w/ 
photos (Hap Chambers and I had 3 a few years back about the same time and 
location in the same plumage), 16 Lesser Yellowlegs, 3 Least Sandpipers and 2 
Pectoral Sandpipers w/ photos (these two were loners at two different 
locations). 
The last find before I had to start the almost 3 hour ride home at 6:30 was a 
full breeding plumaged Black Tern (ph) sitting on the flats.


Good Birding!!!

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


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