Missbirders,
JR Rigby, Hal Mitchell, and I birded the northern Delta today, checking a
variety of locations in Tunica, DeSoto, Coahoma, Quitman, and Tallahatchie
Counties.
The day started with disappointment, as we discovered that Battle Sod Farm
in DeSoto County (near Hwys 3/4), formerly reliable for Buff-breasted
Sandpiper and American Golden-Plover in fall, is no longer a sod farm, but
rather is planted with soybeans now. Battle catfish ponds were also not
very birdy. But things picked up when we visited the big roadside pond
northwest of Walls, which held 25+ BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS (including
at least one group of recent hatchlings) and 100+ WOOD DUCKS in eclipse
plumage.
We checked the levees north of Bass Landing for Olive-sided Flycatchers
with no luck, and also did not see the Buff-breasted and Upland Sandpipers
recently found along Old Hwy 61 by Dick Preston. The levees around the
Tunica casinos were more productive, with the most interesting bird being
an apparently LEUCISTIC songbird, perhaps an Eastern Kingbird (photo:
https://flic.kr/p/L3UZvj; opinions welcome!) near the Bally's Casino.
The ponds at Fish Lake Road had lots of Great Egrets and LEAST TERNS, but
not much else. So, we headed for another sod farm, Oasis Sod Farm, which is
along the Mississippi River levee northwest of Clarksdale. We were happy to
find that it was still a sod farm. Shorebirds there were represented
exclusively by Killdeer, but we did find 3 LARK SPARROWS, which was a nice
surprise.
After a caffeine-refueling stop at the delightful Yazoo Alley in
Clarksdale, we headed for Coldwater River NWR, where we were thrilled to
find excellent shorebird habitat visible from the public observation
tower. Such nice publicly visible shorebird habitat is rare in the Delta.
Beyond the ubiquitous Killdeer, shorebirds were mainly represented by
hundreds of PECTORAL and LEAST SANDPIPERS, plus good numbers of
SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS, a few STILT SANDPIPERS, and one
WILSON'S PHALAROPE. Also visible in the distance to the southeast were
around 100 WOOD STORKS.
Good birding!
Jason Hoeksema
Oxford, MS
