FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] West TN Weekend

[OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx]

Dec. 5-6, 2004
West TN

Mike and I had a good run Saturday with some nice birds, the leucistic Horned 
Lark was the second I had ever seen and Mike's first and after looking all 
day for an interesting Red-tailed Hawk we found only the one in Tiptonville. 
There were Red-tails and Red-shouldered every where we went with very high 
numbers of Harriers and Kestrel. As he said the numbers and the species count 
on 
waterfowl was down but still 17 species is not too shabby.

The next morning near Bogota in Dyer Co, I came across a concentration of 
"calurus" Red-tails with 4 in view at one time. One light morph and 3 dark with 
two looking like identical twins sitting on consecutive light poles. Not too 
far away I had a dark Harlan's. I got a few photos showing the wing extensions 
and other plumage characteristic of the western red-tails. I also had an 
immature Krider's in Dyer Co. and an adult Krider's in Lauderdale Co.

I found only a few more fields with small flocks of Lapland Longspurs. I 
really think the re-sprouted fields are going to make for slim pickings because 
it 
lessens the food supply in these fields.

I ended up in the afternoon at the "Pits" in Ensley. It was raining pretty 
steadily and the ducks were stacked up in TVA Lake but I saw nothing unusual in 
the mix. A lot of Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls were grouped up on the ash 
flows with a single Forster's tern which I took a photo of because it looked 
so miserable in the rain. The Snowy Egret with the injured wing looked pretty 
forlorn as all the Great Egrets have left.

I had lower numbers of shorebirds with a few Western Sandpipers and Dunlin 
but no Sanderling. I also saw my first Canada Geese for the weekend and there 
were Pipits and Horned Larks strewn about. Started out in fine weather and 
ended 
in Damp Fine Weather.




Good Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA
Bartlett, TN


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