[TN-Bird] Iceland Gull & etc.; KY Lake (Henry Co.) 2/7/07 (long)
- From: <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 00:06:24 -0600
2/7/07
Kentucky Lake area (Henry Co.)
Pace Point area, Britton Ford, Paris Landing
I got my 1st day of TN birding in over a month in today, after returning from a
great 2-week trip to Venezuela. I had been dieing to get back to KY Lake, but I
didn't get to the Pace Point area until about 11:00, and I was hoping that I
hadn't used up all of my luck in Venezuela! Despite (or because of) the bitter
weather, it was a great day of birding. The highlight was definitely an Iceland
Gull, but the sheer number of gulls was equally impressive. I would say that a
conservative estimate of the gulls in the immediate Paris Landing/Pace Point
area is 30,000-40,000. I've seen a lot of gulls in this area before, but
nothing like this that I can remember. 95% of these birds were Ring-bills, with
seemingly 90% of them being adult birds.
My 1st stop was at the bay where the tower is being built, hoping for Common
Mergansers, as this is the best spot for them. This area is tough to bird now,
as you have to look through the trees on the bank to see most of the ducks. I
was able to pick out two nice drake Common Mergansers here though. Hooded's
were everywhere of course, and the main river was loaded with Red-breasted's,
for a nice 3-Merganser day. Waterfowl numbers weren't what I expected overall,
and I didn't see any Eagles in this area today, which is unusual. I would see
several Bald Eagles over the course of the day, of course.
I next went towards Pace Point, stopping to look out over Coot Bay on the way
in. Coot Bay is the only water that the road gets close to on the way into Pace
Point, less than a mile from Pace Point. Not much here, but while scanning the
River, a creamy-white gull in the distance got my attention in a big way. It
was too far initially to be sure, but sure looked like an Iceland. I walked
through the woods to get to the bluffs overlooking the TN River here (basically
the north point you are looking at from Coot Bay), and though the bird was
still distant, I spent the next hour or so happily watching a frosty Iceland
Gull, most-likely 1st-winter. The bird was very uniform, in flight the
upperwing was very pale and uniform, with no secondary bar or contrasting
darkness in the primaries that I could see. The tail had a barely-noticeable,
diffuse and broken tail-band. The flight feathers were entirely pale from
below, with no dark on the tips of the primaires. On the water, the primaries
were usually paler than the rest of the bird, though at times they appeared
uniform with the tertials and rest of the bird. At no time did the primaries or
tertials appear darker. This was a fairly small gull, not much bigger than the
nearby Ring-bills, and smaller than the couple of Herring Gulls that were
sometimes nearby. The head was nicely rounded, and the bill was short, and
all-dark that I could tell. There could have been some lightening at the base,
but not that I could see. The face was entirely pale, with no mask that
Thayer's often show. This bird was very active, flying around a lot, and when
on the water it would tip-over submerging it's head often. This is only my
2nd-experience with Iceland in TN (or anywhere for that matter), following
several great days at Reelfoot a couple of winters ago when several of these
birds put on such a great show.
After getting my fill of the Iceland, and realizing that it wasn't going to
come in any closer for a decent photo, I went on to Pace Point. I hoped the big
diver raft would be there, but no luck. However, it looked like a snowstorm
anywhere I looked, there were that many gulls flying around. Common Goldeneye
and Red-breasted Mergansers were displaying to beat the band. When I pulled to
the end of the road overlooking Pace Point, the island was white; literally. A
young Bald Eagle came through just as I arrived, flushing everything, and
creating quite an impressive spectacle. All I could find in my time here was a
young Lesser Black-backed Gull. Rocky Point was basically the same, lots of
gulls and diving ducks, but nothing unusual. I saw less than 50 loons all day,
everything I could get a decent look at being Common.
Britton Ford wasn't as productive as I'd hoped. The bay with the observation
platform was almost deserted, only a few dabblers in the area. The next bay
down though was stacked with birds, most unusual being what looked like a
Mallard x American Wigeon hybrid. It had basically the head and breast of a
male Mallard, complete with neckring, but the rest of the body looking much
like an American Wigeon, with the pinkish buff sides and big white femoral
tract. As usual, a couple of Mallard x Black Ducks were also here. The only
geese I could find today were Canada, a coule of dozen Greater White-fronts,
and 3 Snows.
I finished up at Paris Landing, with, you guessed it; a gazillion gulls. I
couldn't find anything unusual, but it is a needle in a haystack right now.
Unusually, the big rafts of Scaup that are always around were on the north side
of the bridge. Very few were in the areas they usually hang out. I had big
numbers of divers here, but unfortunately no Scoters or Long-tailed Ducks.
All in all, a nice day, with the Iceland Gull the icing on the cake. I have
placed 3 distant shots of the Iceland, as well as 3 shots showing the number of
gulls around Pace Point, in my winter '06 gallery. The 1st photo is at:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/74107520 , clicking next will take you to the
next shot, and so on.
Good Birding!!
Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbase.com/mctodd
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