[Bristol-Birds] Shorelines exposing shorebird habitat

From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:07:30 -0400










       July 14, 2008                                Aug 21, 2008

Reservoir drawdown and the lack of rain is starting to create early
habitat in the upper Sullivan County area.  Above is looking north
from Musick's Campground on South Holston lake at Spring Creek.

Middlebrook Lake at Bristol is starting to fall in level and extremely
little water is flowing over the dam.

Paddle Creek Pond in eastern Sullivan is falling also, creating 
exposed shorelines and a separate but small wet area in the upper
end.

Watauga Lake is at low levels.  Watauga and South Holston
are the upper end reservoirs in the Holston River drainage and barely
began to fill this summer.  

Boone Lake remains full as TVA uses whatever drawdown they can
afford from the higher reservoirs upstream.  Watauga and South
Holston drawdown flows downstream into Boone Lake.  It is mostly 
used for water quality, hydroelectric generation and navigation of
locks on the Tennessee River starting downstream of Knoxville.

Study the shorebird and waterfowl tables in the back of your new
copy of The Birds of Northeast Tennessee to see the species
coming into passage season at these exposed mudflats.  They are
just beginning.

Austin Springs on the upper end of Boone Lake will be later in
shoreline habitat exposure as the lake level will fall later.

This chart shows Boone Lake at full level (red line current level)


















This chart shows S. H. Lake well below targets and last year.


This chart shows Watauga Lake well below target and last year.
















The blue line is full/flood level.  The gray space is desired level for this 
date..
The dark line above the red, in the gray space, is last year's level this date.

More Musick's Campground views at the mouth of Spring Creek on South Holston:










Looking northeast towards Washington County  VA from
Musick's Campground.

Let's go birding.......

Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN

[Bristol-Birds] Shorelines exposing shorebird habitat

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