[TN-Bird] First Run - West TN

From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2009 08:36:45 EST
Jan. 1, 2009
Memphis to Reelfoot
West TN
 
Started and ended the day a Lauderdale Waterfowl Refuge, near Halls TN. The  
numbers of Snow, Ross's and Greater White-fronted continue to grow, nearly  
crowding out the ducks. Most of the geese spend their time in the standing corn 
 
in the back, only to explode with each passing Eagle. Somewhere between 4 and 
6  Cackling Geese were hiding just over the middle road, just coming up to 
tease; I  did not see any wild Canada Geese until late in the day when a string 
of 34  came over the Great River Road very high, heading toward the 
Mississippi  River in Dyer Co. A late Great Egret was seen and photographed in 
a barrow 
pit  off the Great River Road in south Lake Co, just north of Highway  103. 
 
At Bogota WMA on the Obion River in Dyer Co, the intermediate dark morph  
Harlan's has company in the form of a dark morph western Red-tail and numerous  
light morph Western and Eastern friends, but alas no Rough-legged Hawk the  
object of my search. Seven Western Meadowlarks were flushed into a tree here by 
 
a Harrier.
 
Reelfoot Lake was dead except for the large concentration of ducks on the  
west side between the State Park and the TWRA boat ramp. Out from the ramp, I  
did find the bird of the day, an EARED GREBE. Gulls, Ring-billed and  
Bonaparte's, were few and far between on the lake. The only concentrations were 
 
sitting in a few wet fields. 
 
Only 9 Bald Eagles were seen and the bad news is the huge concentration of  
Laps has evidently moved on as only a few hundred remained in the field where  
Mike found the Chestnut -collared Longspurs on the CBC. I did find smaller  
groups to the west of this field and a thousand or so in a cut Milo field near  
Mooring to the south. One good find was a group of Western Meadowlarks off  
Donald Road, which I relocated twice and counted at least 19 birds, one of  the 
larger groups in the last few years up there. 
 
The most impressive event of the day was gathering of Crows in mind  boggling 
numbers in the trees to roost at dark at the Lauderdale Waterfowl  Refuge. It 
is an awesome collection of large black birds and when the Snow Geese  are 
flushed into the mix it is some kind of show. I waited till the last crow  
called and only muted goose calls were heard out of the dark, before  leaving 
sometime after 6:30 PM. If you want to see a lot of crows, stay late.  Only a 
few 
Fish Crows were heard earlier but they seemed to fly over and on to  the south 
to another roost which I'll have to locate later.
 
Total waterfowl species at Lauderdale, 19, add the Canada Geese along with  
Greater Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser and Common Golden-eye at Reelfoot  Lake 
to make a New Years' Day total of 23 species.   
Good Birding  !!!

Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA
6300 Memphis-Arlington Road
Bartlett, TN  38135
http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/
What is this feathered thing that  lifts my heart to the heavens.

**************New year...new news.  Be the first to know what is making 
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[TN-Bird] First Run - West TN

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