FreeLists / tn-bird / [tn-bird] August Big Day

["Desgrosellier, Jay" <jay.desgrosellier@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Saturday August 31, 2002
Reelfoot Lake (Lake Co.) to Memphis (Shelby Co.), TN
5am - 8pm
276 miles


Still smarting from our near miss in July, Chris Sloan and myself took our best 
stab at the August big day record only to come up even further behind. We ended 
up a little short of the old record and way short of the new record that Jeff 
and Mike set on Saturday by doing the same route backwards.

We began the day in the Reelfoot Area at 5 am. A little patience payed off when 
the Tiptonville BARN OWL finally appeared like a ghost out of the darkness. Our 
usual spot for EASTERN SCREECH-OWL was also productive, though we ended up 
finding 4 more owls during the day, the last one as late as 10 am! Since we 
both really wanted to find the BELL'S VIREO we decided to hold vigil along the 
treeline just before sunrise figuring the bird would start singing around that 
time. We were rewarded with the vireo, but not until about an hour after 
sunrise! In the meantime we picked up a few good birds such as COOPER'S HAWK, 
NORTHERN BOBWHITE, CEDAR WAXWING, DICKCISSEL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, RED-SHOULDERED 
HAWK and our first of many migrating GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHERS. 

A quick trip into the Phillipy Unit of Black Bayou NWR yielded our first flock 
of migrant passerines. We quickly added YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, WARBLING 
VIREO, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, WHITE-EYED VIREO, BALTIMORE ORIOLE and ACADIAN 
FLYCATCHER. 

The closure of Walnut Log Road hurt our route, but a quick trip in as far as 
the "Road Closed" signs yielded some more migrant passerines including AMERICAN 
REDSTART, PRAIRIE WARBLER, YELLOW-THROATED VIREO and NORTHERN PARULA.

The ridges along the east side of Reelfoot Lake were again productive. Here we 
found OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, BELTED KINGFISHER, SUMMER TANAGER, ORCHARD 
ORIOLE, BLUE-WINGED WARBLER and BLACK and WHITE WARBLER. Reelfoot Lake itself 
was not very productive. The only tern found was a distant FORSTER'S TERN and 
two OSPREY rounded out our additions from the lake. A quick check of 
Tiptonville Bar found a single BLACK TERN and numerous LEAST TERN, as well as 
good looks at a couple of BANK SWALLOWS. 

Heading south from Reelfoot we were able to eke out a single EURASIAN COLLARED 
DOVE flying over a field south of Ridgley. Whites Lake NWR continues to have 
some shorebird habitat. A quick count found nearly 20 BLACK-NECKED STILTS here 
as well as numerous LESSER YELLOWLEGS a single GREATER YELLOWLEGS, SOLITARY, 
SPOTTED, PECTORAL, LEAST and STILT SANDPIPERS and a single juvenile 
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. Everett's Lake was also productive. Again we found 
about 100+ AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN'S in two groups on the lake. Also here was a 
nice flock of about 50+ SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS and our only WOOD DUCKS on the 
day.

From there it was off to Memphis at 2:30 pm, about an hour behind schedule. We 
were disappointed by several misses that morning, but were heartened by a tally 
of 103 species at that point in the day. Little did we know that when we 
finally hit the pits at 4:30 pm that the place would be dead. This was really 
surprising considering that the place had apparently just experienced a 
thunderstorm. The mudflats looked bare compared to what I've witnessed there in 
the past. The majority of the birds were LEAST SANDPIPERS, with relatively few 
pecs compared to what I'm used to seeing here. However we still managed to find 
a couple of WESTERN SANDPIPERS in the mix. Probably the best find of the day 
was when I got on a largish looking shorebird off by itself. The bird looked 
extremely disheveled and didn't move an inch, even when every other bird in its 
vicinity took flight in response to some unknown threat. After some thorough 
head scratching we identified the bird as a very worn RUFF. While observing 
this bird we made the cardinal sin of taking our eyes off it for just a second. 
That was all it took, as by the time we looked up the bird was gone! It was one 
of the most amazing disappearing acts I've ever witnessed. A bird that wouldn't 
even move just got up and left in an instant! That was the highlight of our 
time in Memphis as few other birds were added. In fact we added only 5 birds 
while in Memphis, so our total stood at a paultry 108 species by 5:30 pm. 

Knowing that the record was a longshot we decided to try for the wood storks 
and spoonbills seen earlier in the week. This proved to be a fatal mistake. The 
long drive coupled with our unfamiliarity with the area led to quite an 
adventure which ate up our remaining daylight. By the time we navigated the 
roads to Mud Lake we had but a few minutes of daylight remaining. The trees 
were full of GREAT EGRETS and GREAT BLUE HERONS, but nothing else could be 
seen. We decided to walk down to the waters edge for an unobstructed view, only 
to find ourselves in the middle of a torcherous brier patch. After adding no 
new species and bleeding from our encounter with the thorns we called it a day 
and began the long journey home to lick our wounds and plan for next month!

We ended the day at 108 species with 8 species of warblers and only 14 species 
of shorebirds. Of course, the Bell's Vireo and the Ruff were nice consolation 
prizes for a great day in the field!

Good Birding!

Jay Desgrosellier
Nashville, TN



 

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