[TN-Bird] Cherokee: 2-4 Sooty, 6 tern sp. Douglas: 2 LAGU
- From: K Dean EDWARDS <kde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Tennessee Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 00:41:09 -0400 (EDT)
Once again, Cherokee Lake proves to be the place to go for
terns. I covered Douglas Dam (Sevier & Jefferson Co., TN)
and Cherokee Dam (Jefferson, Grainger, Hamblen Co., TN) on
Friday (17 Sept 2004). Skip to the bottom for the list.
After the remnants of Ivan's eye passed by Knoxville (at least
5 inches of rain at our home in west Knox Co.) I chased it
east. Birds were dropping in and out of the low clouds as
the rain ended at both lakes making counting difficult. There
appeared to be a high ... tern-over (sorry) ... of birds.
Several groups of 20-40 terns were seen during the 4 hours
I was at Cherokee Lake. Some may have been repeats but my
guess is that there were close to 150 terns that came and
went including 6 species!
At Douglas Dam (where 5 of the flood gates are open) around
1:30-3:00, I had 6 terns including 3 Black Terns and 3 Forster's
Terns. A Laughing Gull dropped down then disappeared back
into the clouds. A (presumedly) second Laughing Gull dropped
in and immediately landed on the water about 30 minutes later.
Non-Ivan birds included an Osprey chasing an adult Bald Eagle
(seemed backwards), 4-5 Double-crested Cormorants and 3 Blue-
winged Teal.
At Cherokee Dam I first stopped at the boat ramp on the Grainger
Co. side of the dam and immediately had a flock of about a dozen
terns do a quick, close-up flyby. I picked out at least two
immature Caspian Terns and some Common Terns. They continued
to the SW towards the Mossy Creek side of the lake. I packed up
and went to the main overlook on the Jefferson Co. side and stayed
there until just after 7PM.
I couldn't relocate the Caspians but did find about 40 terns here
including several Black and Forster's but mostly Commons. Birds
were coming and going from this group. The Forster's eventually
disappeared. For about 5 minutes I got on a group of small terns
that included 3 Black Terns and 2 terns that were roughly the same
size but with much paler backs, different shaped "ear-muffs", and
dark carpal bars and outer primaries. I had to confirm this one
with Olsen and Larsson's Tern guide and Sibley back in the car
but apparently 2 immature Least Terns.
This wave finally started to disappear until only a few birds
were left. About 4:30 or so, there were only about 6-10 Commons
left and they were probably about 2 miles up the lake. I wathced
through the scope as a bird suddenly dropped out of the clouds that
was jet black on top and bright white below and obviously larger
than the Common Terns. It dipped toward the water, flew around
a bit, then circled back upward about 6 times showing off the black
and white pattern before disappearing again into the clouds and
taking all of the remaining Common Terns with it. About a 1 minute
view from close to 2 miles away. Exciting, but not very satisfying.
About 15 minutes later, a small group of 3 Common and 2 Black Terns
showed up and made there way back toward the Mossy Creek area. Once
again, a (different?) Sooty Tern suddenly dropped in out of the low
clouds. This time though I had a close-up view (well, 1/2 mile to
1 mile away) as it flew around and FED(!) for about 20 minutes. I
even had time to call David Trently and rub it in a bit while I
watched. :-) Got to see all the field marks and rule out Bridled.
Then it got better. A flock of about 35 medium-sized, long-winged
terns (presumedly Common) appeared out of the SE from the direction
of Jefferson City. The flock was flying high and made a pretty
straight flight without dropping to the lake. They were flying
into the wind from the West and seemed to take forever to get anywhere.
The 3 Common Terns and the Sooty Tern started circling and had
time to climb up and join this new flock. As the Sooty made a few wide
circles around the group, it was joined by a second Sooty from out
of nowhere. TWO SOOTY TERNS and about 40 Common Terns in the scope
at once! The flock flew over the dam and headed down the Holston
River toward Knoxville, disappearing into the clouds.
I made a pit-stop, grabbed some food from the car and set up vigil
again. Soon, another(?) group of terns dropped in consisting of
3 Black Terns and 20-25 Common Terns. After about 15 min, a
(fourth?) Sooty Tern dropped in. This group was still there when
I left just after 7PM although I last saw the Sooty about 6:45.
Looked hard for Gull-billed, Sandwich, Royal and Brown Noody but
no luck.
Other birds seen at Cherokee were 2 adult Bald Eagles and a gull.
The gull was an adult and looked large-bodied with a pale mantle
and no obvious black wingtips but it dropped in almost 2 miles away
and flew further up the lake. I gave up on it as it got close
to Panther Creek. I heard two flocks of Least Sandpiper fly by but
couldn't spot them.
The list, all at Cherokee unless noted:
SOOTY TERN, definitely 2, probably 4
LEAST TERN, 2 immatures (1st-year)
Black Tern, about 10 (3 at Douglas)
Forster's Tern, maybe 5 (3 at Douglas)
Caspian Tern, at least 2
Common Tern, probably 100+
Laughing Gull, 1-2 at Douglas
gull sp., 1 at Cherokee
Bald Eagle, 2 adults at Cherokee, 1 adult at Douglas
Osprey, 1 at Douglas
Dean Edwards
Knoxville, TN
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