[TN-Bird] Gulls still present at Pickwick, plus Red-throated Loon!

11/2/09
Pickwick Dam area
Hardin Co

I arrived above the Dam at Pickwick at 07:30 this morning, there were maybe 
200 gulls in the area. Within 10 minutes I had a short look at a darker-end 
1st-cycle Thayer's Gull. It was on a rail briefly, then made a few passes 
around the area before disappearing. The adult California Gull was also 
sitting on the rails, and I had it in view for over an hour, sitting side by 
side with both Herring and Ring-billed. The big adult Lesser Black-backed, 
and two 1st-cycle Lesser Black-backs were present, and a single sleeping 
Franklin's Gull. There was only one gull flying around below the Dam when I 
went down there. I never saw a Bonaparte's, so settled for a 6 gull day.

After getting my fill of gull goodies, I went down to the campground below 
the Dam and had 5 Brown-headed Nuthatches. I also had 2 in a small stand of 
pines just below the Inn at Pickwick State Park. Other highlight was a 
Red-throated Loon out from Bruton Branch. I had 5 Common Loons in the area, 
and though I searched all morning I couldn't find the Eared Grebes that had 
been seen over Jeff's last couple of trips.

I went back to scan the gulls at about 12:30, and literally had nothing but 
Herrings and Ringers, not a single one of the goodies was out there, not 
even a Lesser Black-backed. I couldn't stay for the afternoon show, but 
definitely seems like early or late is the time to try for these birds.

I made a quick trip thru the bottoms, and found very little. Practically all 
of the fields were in cotton or soybeans, with very little grassy sparrow 
habitat. I did find one nice little patch of panicum, where a single 
LeConte's Sparrow flushed from.

I will post a few photos later. The only gull I shot was the California, and 
my distant shots aren't near the quality of Jeff's. I will post one just to 
post though. I did get some decent shots of the Nuthatches for a change, the 
ones below the Inn would come down to practically eye-level, and were in 
smaller trees anyway. The birds over below the Dam always seem to stay up in 
the tops of the big trees there.

Good Birding!!

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

=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen.  The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
      To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
                    tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________ 
                To unsubscribe, send email to:
                 tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
            with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                ------------------------------
                Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
                         Cleveland, OH
                -------------------------------
               Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
                          Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________
         
          Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
              web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                          ARCHIVES
 TN-Bird Net Archives at http://www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/

                       MAP RESOURCES
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com

_____________________________________________________________

Other related posts: