[TN-Bird] Belated report from Reelfoot area; 5/18/09

5/18/09
Reelfoot Lake area
Obion, Lake, Dyer Co
Jared Barnes and I spent a rather quiet day birding around the Reelfoot area on 
Monday. As everyone has commented lately, shorebirds were very hard to come by. 
Habitat should be great for a late season push though, with all the water in 
the fields right now. We had a surprising total of 11 shorebird species for the 
day, with most of these in the regularly productive fields where Hwy 103 hits 
the Great River Rd in Dyer Co. Here we had:

Semi Plover  11
Killdeer
Semipalmated Sandpiper 50
Least Sandpiper 10
White-rumped Sandpiper 3
Dunlin 35
Short-billed Dowitcher 1

We also had two pairs of Black-necked Stilts in Lake Co, several Spotted 
Sandpipers at a wet spot in Obion Co, and 2 Greater and a Lesser Yellowlegs in 
a flooded field off the Great River Rd in Lake Co.

Reelfoot Lake itself was pretty quiet as well, with literally not a duck 
visible on it. An alternate adult Laughing Gull working out over the lake was a 
surprise. Several terns were flying around out at the edge of vision, but the 
only one that came close enough to ID was an adult Common, and one 1st-spring 
Forster's was sitting on a stump not too far out. Least Terns were all over the 
River and surrounding areas.

Passerine highlights were 2 Alder and 1 Willow Flycatcher heard singing, though 
we didn't see any of them. These were all in Lake Co. A walk out to Black Bayou 
where the Bell's normally show up wasn't successful, but a nice singing Sedge 
Wren here was a nice consolation. Warblers were very scarce, with nice looks at 
a male and female Cape May in the cypress trees at Keystone the highlight on 
that front. I had hoped to try our spot for Connecticut Warbler on the road out 
to Island 13, but it is under several feet of water! Around a hundred or so 
Bobolinks were seen in groups along the levee, with all but a handful female 
birds, as expected this late in their migration.

I've added a handful of shots from this trip (Tree Swallow, Yellow-billed 
Cuckoo, female Bobolink, Least Sandpiper) if anyone is interested. The 1st 
image starts here: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/112750600

Good Birding!!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbase.com/mctodd


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