[TN-Bird] KY Lake area; 10/23/05

10/23/05
KY Lake area from Paris Landing to Big Sandy
Henry & Benton Co.

I spent the day this last Sunday birding KY Lake again, including meeting a 
few members of the Clarksville Audubon Society that afternoon for a look at 
some of the areas close to Paris Landing.

I began the day at the Big Sandy Unit of TNWR, with a very cold and dreary 
morning. Sparrows were quite numerous, including my 1st Fox of the season, 
several Lincoln's Sparrows, and my 1st of season LeConte's Sparrow. The 
LeConte's was in the field below the area that was formerly the maintenance 
shed. There is a nice strip of panicum grass that runs down the center of 
this field, from north to south. I was within 10 feet of this bird, but 
never could get it up for a clear shot.

Warblers on the day were dominated by Yellow-rumps, but I also had several 
Pine and Palms, and a couple of Nashvilles, as well as an Orange-crowned. 
Later, at Paris Landing State Park, we had numerous Tennessee's and a 
Bay-breasted. The only other lingering passerine migrants were a few Tree 
Swallows, House Wrens, and numerous Indigo Buntings.

When I was at Pace Point, the fog and mist was so bad that I could barely 
see the island. Dabbling ducks were everywhere, with all of TN's expected 
dabblers present on the day. Teal numbers are now dominated by Green-wings, 
though a few Blue-wings were seen. My 1st Wigeon and American Black Ducks of 
the fall were seen. I had hoped for some diving ducks, but saw none all day. 
There were only a handful of gulls at Pace Point.

The Lick Creek area (Benton Co.) had a nice group of 200+ American White 
Pelicans that were feeding inshore, allowing for decent photographs. Also 
here were several Snipe, 4 Dunlin, and a lingering Little Blue Heron. A look 
out from New Hope Landing (Benton C). produced the only Forster's Terns for 
the day (6), but little else.

The flats on the Big Sandy, accessed via Manor Rd, were pretty quiet, though 
4 FRANKLIN'S GULLS overhead here were nice. These were the only Franklin's 
on the day. Shorebirds here were a calling Greater Yellowlegs and a small 
flock of Pectoral Sandpipers. Numbers of Great Egrets are still present in 
several areas.

Britton Ford held a good number of Canada Geese, but no other species yet. a 
nice surprise was a juvenile American Golden-Plover that was hanging out 
with a couple of Greater Yellowlegs here. A small group of Least Sandpipers 
were also at Britton Ford, and birds got a little nervous when a Sharpie 
came though.

Eagle Creek had nothing of consequence, though it was late in the afternoon 
when we were there. The skies had cleared pretty much by the time I got to 
Paris Landing, and several high-flying raptors were seen heading south. 
These were mostly Red-tails, but also included an Osprey and Northern 
Harrier. The island at Paris Landing once again had very few gulls on it, 
but the area was covered with Coots and dabbling ducks. The 1st Horned Grebe 
of the season was seen here, but disappointingly no loons were seen.

I have posted a few photos from the day, including a shot of the LeConte's 
that is doing a nice job of hiding in the grass, and a pretty nice 
comparison shot of the Golden-Plover and Greater Yellowlegs. These are in 
the following gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/recent_additions ,  or this is the 1st of the 
new shots,
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/51207984, and you can just use the 'next' 
tab to view the following shots, of which there are 9.

Good Birding!!

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

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