11/2/08 KY Lake areas of Henry Co Pace Point area, Britton Ford, Eagle Creek, Paris Landing I spent most of the day looking for new arrivals. Pace Point was my 1st stop, and among all the Ring-billed Gulls on the island were what I was hoping for, FRANKLIN'S GULLS. I was worried I would miss them for the 1st time this year, but had 3 today (2 1st-cycle and 1 adult). Lots of birds around Pace, and the diver raft is forming up nicely. No rarities today, but several Redheads were nice anyway. There were almost 150 Common Loons scattered around the area already, and pods of Horned Grebes have formed up everywhere. There should be something out of the ordinary around soon. I spent about an hour tromping around the big panicum field that has produced LeConte's Sparrows for several years now. I kicked up at least 4 today, with a couple of these sitting up for me. One bird in particular gave me the best study I think I've ever had of the species. It sat up on a weed stalk for 10 minutes, and let me get within 12-15 feet. I got some pretty nice shots of this bird, which I have posted. While I was walking this field, a flock of 18 Pine Siskins came over. Britton Ford was pretty quiet as well, highlight being a Sandhill Crane heard calling several times. Quite a few ducks are around the area now, and it should start filling up in a couple of weeks when they shut the bay down to boat traffic. Eagle Creek had a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers, my only shorebird of the day other than Killdeer. There were 75 Bonaparte's Gulls here, but nothing out of the ordinary. Paris Landing was quite, with a pair of Bald Eagles ruling the island that the gulls love to sit on. There were about 50 gulls huddled down on the far end, and others strung out in the water around the island. Nothing unusual though. Very few diving ducks in this area yet. If anyone is interested, I've posted a shot of one of the flying Franklin's Gulls, and several shots of the cooperative LeConte's. These are in a new gallery here: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/winter_20082009 , or the 1st shot starts here: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/105407502 . Good Birding!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN www.pbase.com/mctodd birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx =================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 //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 _____________________________________________________________