[Bristol-Birds] nolichucky plovers

We launched our canoe at the Leadvale boat ramp on upper Douglas Lake/lower French Broad River to survey the mouth of the Nolichucky River, about 1 mile upstream. There's good shorebird habitat, but viewing from land is limited, if not impossible. A tight flock of nine SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS was the best find. About a dozen PECTORAL and twice as many LEAST SANDPIPERS were also in the area, along with 5 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS. Plenty of KILLDEER, of course.

Rankin Bottoms is on the opposite side of the river/lake, and typical Rankin waterbirds were also present on the Nolichucky : GREAT EGRET, GREEN HERON, WOOD DUCK, BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, & GREAT BLUE HERON. A hundred+ DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS gathered on a midriver shoal, near a small flock of CANADA GEESE.

As the big red sun dropped over the horizon, we watched great egrets cruise in from all directions to form a long queue in the watery edge of the Rankin flats. The two white pelicans stood center stage, dwarfing the waders to either side of them.

The lake is losing about a foot of water daily. Viewing opportunities from land at Rankin Bottoms will be optimal for the next few days.

Michael Sledjeski & Leslie Gibbens
Cocke County TN


*************************************************
      BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at:
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5

This is a regional birding list sponsored by the
Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia
and Northeast Tennessee. --------------------------------------------------
You are subscribed to Bristol-Birds.
To post to this mailing list, simply send an email
to: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send
an email to bristol-birds-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
the one word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
--------------------------------------------------
Wallace Coffey, Moderator
wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(423)764-****

Other related posts: