[TN-Bird] MISS RV - TVA Lake - Ensley Bottoms

DEC. 23, 2006
Shelby Co. TN
 
The Mississippi River front was almost dead but I was expecting something  as 
the river is down 10 feet and sandbars are sticking their noses out from the  
murky water. Two Ring-billed Gulls, 1 Pied-billed Grebe and 11 Great Blue 
Herons  were all I could find on two trips Saturday. Maybe today?
 
At TVA Lake, I spent a couple of hours counting and sorting through the  mix. 
Gull wise there was a constant turn over of Ring-billed and  Bonaparte's plus 
DC Cormorants were flying in and out. There were 15  species of waterfowl 
seen on two visits, one to count and one to scan for new  arrivals, and the 
immature Ross's Goose, hanging with the Canada Geese, raised  the total for the 
area to 16. The Ross's posed for some head shots today.
 
The waterfowl count on TVA consisted of: a lone Canada Goose (the others  
were at the pits),2 hen Wood Ducks, 7 Mallard, 1 hen Pintail, 11 Shoveler,  16 
Gadwall, 11 Canvasback (no hybrid), 5 Redhead, 238+ Ring-necked, 2455+ Lesser  
Scaup, 85+ Greater Scaup,  1 male Common Goldeneye (present for a couple of  
weeks), 3 hen Bufflehead, 8 Hooded Merganser and a single Ruddy Duck.  The 
Pied-billed Grebes numbered 16 and Old and New Coots 64.
 
The rufous morph Red-tail still complains but let me get a little closer  for 
photos along with the immature Krider's. Both eastern and  western Red-tails 
continue in amazingly high numbers for such a long time,  you'd think they 
would run out of food. An adult Cooper's, 3 Harriers and 6  Kestrels completed 
the raptors. Two small groups of Least Sandpipers plus  Killdeer and a couple 
of 
ditch Wilson's Snipe rounded out the shorebirds. 
 
A sprinkling of scattered Pipits has been the norm lately and I've not  seen 
the large flocks that we usually get around here. Are their  numbers down in 
other areas; we had none in the open fields in our  territory on the CBC at 
Reelfoot???
 
Rusty Blackbirds (60-70) foraged in a group along the east edge of the pits  
while two female and one male Brewers strolled the open flats.
   
Good Birding  !!! Happy Holidays!!!!!

Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA
6298 Memphis-Arlington  Road
Bartlett, TN 38135



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