Hey Missbird,
Rob Harbin and I birded the North Delta on Tuesday of this week. Beginning at
Sardis Lake at sunrise, we were greeted by the very accommodating Lesser
Black-backed Gull on Lower Lake. At the north boat launch, there was a very
large group of mergansers. Most were Red-breasted, but we were able to pick
out 5 Common Mergansers also. We headed west and photographed many Red-tailed
Hawks along the way. We were able to re-locate the Nelson Rd dark morph
Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk (photos are pretty neat). On the way back home, we
stopped by Buck Island Rd. While driving slowly down the road listening for
Western Meadowlarks, Rob noticed a bird flush from the roadside, flying in big,
undulating “steps”. We both jumped out the vehicle and walked to where the
bird landed. It flushed again and this time let out the flight call of the
Sprague’s Pipit. It was located almost exactly where it was last year (just
north of Hambrick Rd where the center pivot irrigation system is nearest to the
road). It looks like the Holly Grove Rd bird is not the only pipit to favor
MS. Good bird to end the day on.
Checklist with Photos and Audio:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34072371 ;
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34072371>
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34076426 ;
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34076426>
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34076416 ;
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34076416>
Hope all is well,
Hal Mitchell
Southaven, MS
