FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Pace Point Weekend -

[OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx]

Nov. 10-11, 2007
Pace Point, Rocky Point, Lick Creek
Big Sandy Flats, Granny's,
Britton Ford, Port and Trailer Roads,
Eagle Creek, Paris Landing
Stewart, Benton, Henry Co, TN
 
 
It had been too long since I had been up there and I decided to scout out  
the area before Thanksgiving Turkey Trot weekend. I found it REALLY had been 
TOO 
 long as there is always something around the next corner up that way. Lots 
of  building and new areas to explore. Ninety Six species with little  woodland 
birding produced some really good birds.
 
I ran into Nancy Moore, Saturday morning at Big Sandy, when I stop at the  
store for provisions. Our first stop was Rocky Point on the west side looking 
at 
 the Big Sandy Reach. Loons, loons, loons but not the largest number I've  
had there by far but plenty to keep us busy. In one of the first groups scanned 
 
appeared a PACIFIC off to one side which almost instantly started feeding and 
 diving going away and out of the 400+ loons in the area, it never seen 
again.  Finally, at 4:30 PM Sunday at Port Road Overlook, I located two adult  
RED-THROATED LOONS going to roost but could not worm out a YB. On Sunday the  
loons were moving south, flying in groups low over the water towards Big Sandy, 
 I 
relocated these birds out from Antioch and the east road from Britton  Ford 
which will soon be closed.
 
Pied- billed Grebes counted from every stop ran around 400 birds while  
Horned totaled up to 650++. While we were looking at the birds at Rocky Point  
and 
I was going over ID points of Horned and Eared Grebe with Nancy, the Bird  
Fairy kissed me right on the nose. I looked at a tiny bird right up next to the 
 
shore, swimming by and low and behold it was the most cooperative EARED  GREBE 
I've ever had the pleasure to photograph. We may get one a season up  there 
so it was a bonus for the weekend. The bird taught me something right off  the 
bat, a behavior I'd never seen, it was feeding on insects, picking them off  
the water and even snapping them out of the air. Lesson one for the  weekend.
 
We did not have very many Pelicans with just over 20 at Lick Creek but  
hundreds of DC Cormorant steadily flew south both days. Twenty-one species of  
waterfowl with no Canvasback or Scoters and only one flyover Goldeneye. The 
best  
bird was photographed on Sunday at the Britton Ford observation platform, a  
female LONG-TAILED DUCK a.k.a Oldsquaw. Over night there was a huge influx of  
Canada Geese and in the mix came 2 Snows and 4 CACKLING Geese. We had a few  
Greater White-fronted on Saturday but their numbers had doubled over  night.
 
Seven species of raptors with Golden Eagles a no-show. Wild Turkeys at  three 
locations, Coots in huge numbers and Wind Birds were a bust with just  
Killdeer and lots of Wilson's Snipe. Gulls were a different matter but the  
Laughing 
Gull did not cooperate leaving we with just 7 species, 2 FRANKLIN"S at  Pace 
Point and 1 at Britton Ford all photographed, Bonaparte's, Ring-billed,  
Herring, 1 adult THAYER'S at the Point along with a first cycle CALIFORNIA and 
2  
LESSER BLACK-BACKED. Forster's terns were seen in good numbers at Eagle Creek,  
Big Sandy Flats and Port Road at the roost. Lesson 2 for the weekend, two  
Bonaparte's took a dislike to one of the thousand Crows flying across Britton  
Ford and proceeded to dive and swoop on the bird. I watched them as far as I  
could, with the Crow dodging and putting on the afterburners trying to get away 
 ??
 
Only 8 species of sparrows but did I phish up one Le-Conte's at Britton  Ford 
at their much degraded habitat. Over-all a great weekend and looking  forward 
to getting back for the rest of the exciting winter birds that can be  found 
up that way.
 
 
Good Birding  !!!
Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA
6300 Memphis-Arlington Road
Bartlett, TN  38135
http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/
What is this feathered thing that  lifts my heart to the heavens.



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


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

The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen.  The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
      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
                ------------------------------
                Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
                         Cleveland, OH
                -------------------------------
               Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
                          Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________
         
          Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
              web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                          ARCHIVES
 TN-Bird Net Archives at http://www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/

                  EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com

_____________________________________________________________