FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] KY Lake still producing (loons, grebes, etc); 11/6/06

["Todd, Michael C." <michael.c.todd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

11/6/06
Pace Point area (Henry Co)
I spent a little over 4 hours this morning in the Pace Point area, leaving
as the rain arrived around 12:00. I began the morning at Rocky Point, with
calm conditions and excellent visibility with practically no heat waves.
Very few gulls were in the area, and no sign of the jaeger. However, loons
were literally anywhere I wanted to look. In one sweep, I counted 378
FEEDING loons; birds going under and popping up continuously as I scanned.
There are very possibly 800 or more loons in the area already. Many loons
were feeding close to Rocky Point, but the only different bird I could come
up with was a distant PACIFIC which was back towards Pace Point. 

After about an hour here hoping for the jaeger to show, I made a trip to
Pace Point. The big raft or Ruddies was in its usual spot in the bay just
off the west side of Pace Point, so I hoped something would be in the mix.
Before going through these birds, I made a scan of the open water, and
immediately came across a lone WESTERN GREBE. Two Westerns hung around here
last winter, though they were typically in with bay with the bulk of the
other birds. After a little while the Western joined up with a little pod of
Horned's, and was working in the direction of Rocky Point when I last saw
it. I scanned for the Western on the way out of Pace a little while later,
with no luck. This same pattern was help last year, with off and on
sightings.

After getting my fill of the Western, I started going through the rafted
birds in the bay. Good numbers of Scaup are finally in the area, with around
200 resting with the Ruddies in this area, 5% of these were Greaters. While
scanning through the birds, a sleeping RED-NECKED GREBE brought another
smile to my face. I scanned through several more times, hoping for the 2nd
bird, with no luck. This Red-necked slept practically the whole time I was
in this area, I only saw it's head up briefly a couple of times. I checked
it again on my out of Pace, and it was still asleep in the same spot.

There were only a handful of Ring-billed Gulls around Pace Point, and I only
had the 3 expected species on the day. There were big numbers of Bonaparte's
Gulls in the area on Saturday, but I never found them today. The
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER is still present, but today it was pretty distant off
the northeast point of Pace Point. It also slept most of the time I saw it.
Very few loons were using the TN River side of Pace Point today, and a short
walk down the TN River shoreline to check the bar that gulls like to loaf on
produced no gulls, but 8 Bald Eagles of various ages hanging out there. A
nice flock of Chipping Sparrows was working the shoreline here, but nothing
unusual among them.

I stopped briefly to scan Coot Bay (the bay that the road goes along shortly
before you actually get to Pace Point), many dabblers and coots, but not
much else. Redheads were mixed-in here again, as well as at Pace Point. Not
a single loon was in view from here, they all seemed to be in the Big Sandy
today. I then went back and spent another hour or so at Rocky Point. Still a
lot of loons in the area, with one big pod right out from Rocky Point with
over 100 in it. I didn't see the Pacific again though. All the loons had a
large number of Herring and Ring-billed Gulls in a frenzy for a while, which
I hoped would draw the jaeger in; no luck. I think I saw more loons on the
wing today than I ever have. They were making short flights all over the
area, often 8 or 10 would be in the air at once, all seemingly going in
different directions. Didn't look to be a migration, but not sure what it
did look to be!

On the way out I made a quick pass through the field we had a couple of
LeConte's in Saturday. I went farther down this area, and it is much more
extensive than I had realized. I flushed at least 6 LeConte's, and had a
couple pose for quick looks; just long enough for me to get my camera up and
almost hit the shutter! I kept an eye to the sky while I was here, hoping
for a Golden Eagle overhead. Nothing was soaring today, and it started to
rain as I got back to the car.

I wanted to make it to some of the other areas, but having to work tonight I
wasn't able to. KY Lake can be good anytime of the year, but the next 4 to 5
months is when it is really hard to imagine a more productive area
(especially for water birds) in the midsouth. I know this is debatable, but
the Pace Point-Britton Ford-Paris Landing triangle has to be up there with
the best of the best.

I have posted a few shots of the Red-necked and Western Grebes in the same
gallery as the Scoters from the other day. That gallery has been renamed 'KY
Lake Nov 06' as it is apparent that the area will deserve it's own gallery.
I have included a couple of fairly close (for me anyway) shots of the
sleeping Red-necked Grebe, as that isn't a look that's shown in many field
guides. The new shots start at: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/69820595 ,
clicking next will take you to 2 more shots of the Red-necked and a more
distant shot of the Western with some Horned Grebes.

I look forward to getting back up there soon, though it may not be until
next Saturday. Hopefully the area will be as productive when NTOS makes a
visit.

Good Birding!!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (home)
Michael.c.todd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (work)
www.pbase.com/mctodd



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