FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] KY Lake run; 9/5/07

[<birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

9/5/07
KY Lake areas of Henry & Benton Co
(Pace Point area, Big Sandy Flats, Eagle Creek flats, Paris Landing)

Finally the water is coming down in KY Lake. The level yesterday of 356.4 
finally started exposing some flats, and shorebirds are responding. It 
should get better by the day now, and I plan to be back up there probably 
the 1st of next week. There was also a fair warbler movement through the 
area yesterday, with 13 species. Gulls and terns are around in numbers, if 
not a lot of variety. A couple of Laughing Gulls being the highlight on that 
front.

I started off working the big Sandy flats, with the following shorebirds 
there:

Killdeer 50+
Semipalmated Plover 8 juv.
Solitary Sandpiper 2 juv.
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1 juv.
Western Sandpiper 1 juv.
Least Sandpiper 30+ (mostly juv.)
Pectoral Sandpiper 9 (5 juv.)
Stilt Sandpiper 1 juv.
Wilson's Snipe 1 (FOS)

Otherwise here were a couple of adult Little Blue Herons amongst the Great 
Egrets, a scarce sight this year.

I then left for Pace Point, with a stop at Lick Creek along the way. Lick 
Creek has very little shoreline exposed, but there were a couple of immature 
Little Blue Herons here as well. There was a very nice passerine showing in 
the woods here, as most of my warblers were here, I'll list the species for 
the day:

Tennessee Warbler (5 birds, 2 locations)
Nashville Warbler (1)
Northern Parula (3)
Yellow Warbler (1)
Yellow-throated Warbler (2)
Pine Warbler (singing, Eagle Creek)
Prairie Warbler (1)
Black-and-white Warbler (2)
Prothonotary Warbler (3 birds, 2 locations)
Northern Waterthrush (1)
Wilson's Warbler (1)
Yellow-breasted Chat (1)

In addition I had a Least Flycatcher at Lick Creek. No other migrant Empids 
noted.

Pace Point was covered with Ring-billed Gulls and Caspian Terns (38). Among 
them was the almost customary for this time of year, juvenile Laughing Gull. 
There were no small terns present though. Shorebirds on the island were 
pretty sparse, with 3 Pectoral and a couple of Least besides the Killdeer. 
Also though, there was one Buff-breasted Sandpiper that a caught a couple of 
glimpses of working amongst the grass on the island; could have been more 
than one.

Eagle Creek had a lot of flats exposed, but few birds. Only a handful of 
Pectoral among the many Killdeer. No terns in the area, which is a little 
unusual.

The island at Paris Landing is exposed a little, and covered with 
Ring-billed Gulls and Caspian Terns. I counted 71 Caspian Terns on the 
island, which in addition to the birds on Pace Points, put at least 100 or 
so in the area. Still, no small terns here either. No other gulls on the 
island, but while scanning around I noticed a Laughing Gull sitting right 
out from the public swimming area at Paris Landing State Park. I got over 
there in time to get some decent shots of this 2nd winter bird.

Nothing great at all, but it's nice to finally see some mud on KY Lake. I 
have posted a few shots of late, to my Fall '07 gallery. These include a 
couple of Buff-breasted Shots from Memphis the other day, and several shots 
of the Laughing Gulls from KY Lake. They are in the following gallery: 
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/fall_07 , or you the new ones start with this 
shot : http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/84896889

Good Birding!!

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


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