[TN-Bird] Laughing Gull at Ensley Bottoms/Plus

June 26-27, 2004
McKellar Lake/Ensley Bottoms
Shelby Co. TN
On Saturday, I had a distant hooded gull on McKellar Lake that I thought was 
a Laughing Gull but the bird was too far away. The wing cadence looked good 
for Laughing over Franklin's.

Sunday, lo and behold the bird was wading around and feeding in one of the 
pits. I got pretty good shots of this 2nd year bird.

On Saturday and Sunday mornings the two Least Sandpipers found last weekend 
were feeding in the exact same two pools within a few feet of their positions 
used last weekend. Finally, late Sunday I located 6 more Least Sandpipers in 
another pit.

The ratty looking Greater Scaup stood again for photos before it decided to 
fly. The pair of Shoveler ducks no longer dote on one another as they both molt 
into something more comfortable. I just could not will that nesting to 
happen. The male Blue-winged Teal is also in pitiful shape and the female is 
down to 
only one or two young which she keeps hidden quite well. You have to sneak up 
on her which is hard to do with all the racket the Black-necked Stilts raise 
whenever you come around anywhere on the pits. Their young are scattered about 
in all sizes.

The mother of the year award goes to a Mallard hen at the pits. Last week I 
saw her with 14 equal sized young and Sunday I found her again and she still 
has 14, now much larger young, in tow. A pair of Loggerhead Shrikes are feeding 
young in a nest that produced earlier in the season.

This week, I've had 3 Cooper's Hawk sightings. Two in Memphis and one just 
east of Collierville.

I photographed a group of 4 immature Yellow-crowned Night-Herons hanging out 
at a nest in the front yard of a home in Southaven. 


Good Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA
Bartlett, TN


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