[birdky] KY Dam area 2/15 & 2/16/04 (long)

Ky-birders:

After working all night Friday night, I received a call from Don Manning
about the Little Gull that Hap found Saturday at Ky Dam. So what do you
do? Of course you go KY Dam, battle a fierce wind all day, then finally
come home and crash after being up about 30 hours!

We had no luck with the Little Gull as Hap has posted, but had a great
day nonetheless. This is an amazing concentration of birds. We have had
huge numbers of gulls lately just south of the KY/TN line in the Paris
Landing/Big Sandy area, but these thousands of gulls are spread over a
wide area. To see these numbers concentrated together in a literal
blizzard of gulls will take some getting used to!

After looking above the dam, we went to the parking area below the dam.
Eventually I spotted a white-winged gull in the distance, down around
the boat launch. Even from this distance, it was obvious that it wasn't
a Glaucous, and looked much too pale for a Thayer's, so was hopefully
the (kumlieni) Iceland that Dave Roemer had posted about. We immediately
left and went to the boat launch area. When we 1st arrived the immature
Great Black-backed was sitting at the edge of the parking lot, giving
great views. It took a little while, but we finally found the pale gull
that send us over here, it was using the construction/barge area, and
then flew over to join the gulls loafing on the rocks and parking lot.
The bird looked perfect for an immature kumlieni, if a little on the big
side for what I was expecting for an Iceland, well within range though.
I talked to Hap while we were watching this gull, and she got there
shortly thereafter. We enjoyed splendid looks at both the Iceland and
Great Black-backed for over an hour, and were then joined by the
Dever's.

From here we continued back up to the Dam area for a Little Gull vigil,
but the fierce winds made this for naught. Don and I had to return
mid-afternoon, and left the others to their Little Gull search.

I returned today after lunch, to find the lake smooth as glass, with
great viewing conditions. Nothing out of the ordinary above the dam, but
I ran into Bill Osowski (sp?) and we went down to the boat launch. The
Great Black-back wasn't there when we arrived, but did come in from
toward the dam while we were there. When we 1st arrived, the Iceland was
over in the barge canal beside the boat launch, but we only got brief
looks at it before it disappeared. We spend a good bit of time in this
area, and it never returned. Bill had a Glaucous in the mass briefly,
but I never got on the bird. The Great Black-back left and I watched it
fly over the dam and disappear. Bill and I parted company and I went up
to view the mass of birds working the tailrace below the dam. I couldn't
pick anything out of this maelstrom of birds, so looked up top (the
Great Black-back was splashing around above the dam) and then returned
to the boat launch. I never did see the Iceland again, but did have a
1st-year Thayer's working over the area for a few minutes.

I finished the day looking out over the mass of birds from the beach
overlook. No luck with the Little, as the Bonies mostly remained out at
the edge of vision. I did have a big Scoter sleeping out from this area,
most likely the White-winged that Dave Roemer reported, as it was much
larger than the Goldeneyes and Scaup in the vicinity, it never raised
its head though.

I will be adding some photos of the Iceland and Great Black-backed to a
new website I've been working on shortly, and will post when they are
up. It's always a treat to bird this area, and it never disappoints!

Good birding!!

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

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