[TN-Bird] Lesser Black-back & Laughing Gulls, etc. (KY Lake)

9/22/04
KY Lake area from Danville (near Big Sandy) to Paris Landing
Henry/Benton Co.

Once again to the same areas, persistence will pay off one of these days!
Pretty slow day overall, but a gorgeous day to be out.

I began the day at the Danville area (this is the roadbed just south of Lick
Creek that almost connects to Highway 147 in Houston Co.; DeLorme pg. 50),
which can be a great area that Jeff Wilson turned me onto a couple of years
ago. It was pretty slow today, but there is something here that you can
always count on this time of year. I have never seen Blue Jays move the way
they do across this narrow peninsula. There is a constant stream of Jays
crossing the river here in a southwestern direction. Today, during one big
movement, I had OVER 75 Blue Jays come overhead in less than one minute! At
any time you can usually see 5-10 Blue Jays in the air, and seeing 25-50
traveling together is the usual. Standing at the tip of the peninsula,
looking towards Houston Co. I had 110 Blue Jays in the air simultaneously.
They come in high from middle TN, and then travel tree-top height down the
peninsula. If you aren't expecting them, a mass arrival right on top of you
is actually unnerving, as is sounds like a sudden strong wind coming upon
you! I have never seen Blue Jays in these numbers anywhere else, but this is
normal for this spot. I have no doubt I saw well over 1000 Blue Jays today
in the hour or so I was here. When they make the crossing they seem to
disperse, and just a short distance away the big groups aren't seen.
Although the river is only about a mile and a half wide here, they seem to
definitely prefer to cover most of this distance with vegetation under them!

It was a slow day for Warblers, with 9 species, but very few individuals.
Magnolia was most common, with Northern Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided,
Pine, Prairie, Bay-breasted (my 1st of fall), Black-and-white, and Common
Yellowthroat also being seen. An eye to the sky produced 9 very high-flying
Broad-winged Hawks, with 8 of these coming over in single file one after
another. No other migrant raptors today, though the beautiful, sunny skies
made seeing them at a glance very tough.

Other highlights included a couple of Least Flycatchers, one of which was
determined that NO other bird was going to share its area. This Least ran a
Pewee completely out of the area and then returned to hide in the same bush
it had ambushed the Pewee from to start with! On another note, a juvenile
Black-crowned Night-Heron appears to have set up residence in the willows
below the observation deck at Britton Ford, as it was there the last time
Don and I were in the area. This isn't a bird I've seen very often at
Britton Ford. Pace Point was again a disappointment, with 100+Ring-billed
Gulls, and nothing else.

Shorebird habitat is still marginal, and once again the mouth of Eagle Creek
was the only productive area, with 6 species, and few individuals. There was
one Buff-breasted still working the grass here, with a handful of Least &
Pectorals, and single Spotted and Westerns among the many Killdeer. Over 50
Forster's Terns were also loafing in the area.

Paris Landing was my final destination, and the island just south of the
bridge was literally packed with gulls, and a few Caspian and Forster's
Terns. When I 1st arrived (with a quick scan from the bridge peninsula) only
a single adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was different among the Ring-billed
and Herring Gulls. After a quick stop at Gray's Landing, I came back to the
State Park area at Paris Landing to look over the island again, and scan the
expanse of water. While scanning here, I picked up a Laughing Gull in the
distance, coming from the south. This basic adult went into the mob on the
island, but only stayed about 10 minutes. It preened a little, squabbled
with a couple of Ring-billed Gulls, and took flight again. It appeared to be
headed toward the Marina, but I couldn't relocate it. Feels good to have
finally seen a Laugher, as they are usually around the Pace Point/Paris
Landing area by now. Franklin's shouldn't be far behind! :')

Good birding!!

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



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