FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Ky Lake area 11/06/04

[<birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

11/06/04
KY Lake area
Henry/Benton Co.

After the mad dash yesterday to get to Memphis for the Clark's Grebe (the 
Clark's wasn't there this morning 11/06/04), I decided to bird KY Lake again 
instead of Reelfoot, which I am dying to get to. I was hoping the recent 
cold front would have pushed some ducks and loons down, and wasn't 
disappointed. The Lake has jumped back up to over 357ft elevation, and no 
flats were out at any of my regular haunts.  They are calling for a quick 
drop in water level, so some resting spots for gulls should quickly come 
back out. At Paris Landing, you could see where the water was breaking over 
the top of the island there that is so good for gulls.

At the Eagle Creek flats (Bull Durham Rd), there was a great selection of 
ducks, and I kept hoping for a stunning red-head in amongst all of the 
American Wigeon present, but to no avail. There was nothing out of the 
ordinary here, though Bonaparte's Gull numbers were obviously up, and the 
Forster's Tern numbers still remain up at around a couple of dozen.

Port Rd wasn't productive at all, but the pines at the Big Eagle campground 
did finally produce the Red-breasted Nuthatch that I've been wanting. A 
feeder in the area that has been good for Purple Finch in the past, wasn't 
productive though. I would also get my 1st Pine Siskin of the season (and 
year) later at Britton Ford. Also, looking out from the campground towards 
the main river, I had my 1st 25 Common Loons of the day.

Britton Ford was literally covered with ducks. The bay has now been closed 
to boat traffic, and ducks are spread out all over the area. Best find was a 
female-type Surf Scoter, and it was apparent that both Scaup and Ring-necked 
Ducks are in with substantial numbers. No Canvasbacks yet though. Also at 
Britton Ford was my 1st big flock of American Pipits, over 50 strong. A 
lingering Osprey was also present. The only lingering passerine on the day, 
was a Gray Catbird seen at Britton Ford.

I wound up the day at Pace Point, where I ran into Ken Allen from FL, and we 
were later joined by the Ol' Coot. There weren't any unusual species to 
report, and the Point is just barely out of the water at all. Duck numbers 
are up big-time around the Point, with the big Ruddy/Scaup raft forming up 
nicely.

Highlight of the day was an unexpected number of loons in the area. I was 
hoping for the numbers to be coming up, as very few had been in last 
weekend. We had a conservative count of 500 Common Loons, mostly on the Big 
Sandy side out from Rocky Point. Though I left a few minutes before it got 
totally dark, up till that time none of the "good" loons were seen. It's 
only a matter of time though, and Jeff is in the area tomorrow so who knows 
what he'll turn up!

On a side-note, Scoters are certainly coming through now. In addition to the 
Surf I had today, and Jeff's Surf yesterday in Memphis, Jeff had a Black 
Scoter this morning on the Mississippi as well.

Good Birding!!

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


=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    ========================================================