[TN-Bird] More Gibson Co. Golden-Plovers; 3/30/05

3/30/05
Gibson Co.

I had considered going north after work today to look for Mark Greene's 
great finds from yesterday, the Sprague's Pipits. But, I didn't have enough 
daylight to do much with, so looked for shorebirds again. I had also 
considered going back to the field from yesterday. A conversation with Mark 
Greene revealed that he had been over there this morning, and was equally 
impressed with the birds, having a few more Golden-Plovers than I had 
yesterday, and a couple less Baird's. So, I thought I'd just check out a 
couple of wet fields on the way home.

I struck gold again (literally, plover-wise anyway :") in a large wet field 
along Hwy 79 in the Rutherford Fork Obion River bottom just north of Milan. 
This large leveed field is the field on the north side of the river, on the 
east side of the road. As I drove by the area, I could see the distinctive 
silhouettes of Golden-Plovers in the field. This is a big field, and to get 
a little closer to the birds I walked out a field road. Mark's Sprague's 
Pipits had me paying close attention to the grassy road I was walking, but I 
couldn't do any better than a few Savannah Sparrows playing hide-and-go-seek 
with me.

Shorebirds were all over the field, both along the flooded area, and in the 
field itself. Pectorals were once again the most numerous species. I 
couldn't get a good count, as I didn't have any elevation here, and they 
were feeding all out in the field, and I would see them come and go between 
furrows. However, there were more birds here in this field than in the field 
yesterday, easily 400-500 Pectorals in this area. No Baird's here, as the 
only peep was a single Least. I was surprised also not to have any Snipe in 
the area. There were around 50 Lesser Yellowlegs working the flooded area, 
and about a dozen Greaters.

Golden-Plovers were the highlight, and they were spread out all over the 
field. The majority were using the field near the water, though several were 
also feeding with Pec's away from the water. I counted 98 Goldens, though I 
could easily have missed some. This is the largest flock I remember having 
away from the immediate Mississippi River area.

I wasn't close enough to the Goldens to quite get the photos I would have 
liked, but I've posted 3 shots for anyone that hasn't had a chance to cross 
paths with these charismatic birds yet this season. I have posted these 
photos in my American Golden-Plover gallery, and the 1st image can be 
accessed at:
 http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/41450956 , clicking "next" will allow you 
to keep advancing to the next image. Some of these birds have just started 
to molt into alternate plumage (with a few golden spangles above, and a 
black splotch or two below),  I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing some 
that have acquired alternate plumage later in the season!

Good Birding!!

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

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