[TN-Bird] NESTS - New - Old - Recycled and Failed

June - West TN
 
Earlier this spring, I had shown Mike Todd a favored nesting tree of one  
pair of the Loggerhead Shrikes down at Ensley. I saw a ragged nest and a  head 
sticking up and thought they had returned. Much to our surprise, there was  a 
Mourning Dove on this nest. The pair of Loggerheads just went about a hundred  
yards south and raised a small brood. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed one  of 
these Shrikes taking nesting material back to the nest the dove had used and  
was reforming the nest. The next week she had changed her mind and had moved 
50  yards north and was building a nest in a Trumpet Vine tangle. Today, she 
was  feeding young. This is the 4th nest of Shrikes at Ensley Bottoms this 
year. 
This  is one reason the Western Kingbirds have pretty much moved to other 
areas as the  Shrikes took a lot of their young after they fledged. Last week, 
I 
found Shrikes  feeding young at 8 locations from Shelby to Dyer Counties plus 
other birds  that appeared to be just feeding themselves.
 
Last year at this time the Mississippi River was hanging around the zero  
mark, today it is near 24 feet. Needless to say, the Least Terns have no secure 
 
or exposed sandbars on which to nest. Going north along the river this past  
week, I found males feeding females anywhere there were sand blows and if they  
were not available, any plowed field would have to do for nests. Unless the  
river falls in a hurry there will be few Least Terns this year.
 
At the Pits in Ensley, many of the Black-necked Stilt nests were successful  
with many more still tending and even laying eggs but there have  been many 
failures since the water receded and left nests exposed to land  bound 
predators. Snakes took their toll on at least two nests, one being  the odd 
pair of 
Black-necked Stilts where the female was colored like the South  American 
subspecies. (More on that later).
 
I'm still watching for any sign of the pair of Spotted Sandpipers, but the  
grass has grown thick in the area where they were last seen, when she was  
displaying and chasing the male.
 
Today, I again watched a Cooper's Hawk take a bird by flying in low and  
jumping a levee. I'm pretty certain it took a Starling and as last time,  it 
headed southeast with Swallows, Swifts and Starlings following it over  the 
tree 
line and out of sight.
 
As far as I can tell, only one pair of Blue-winged Teal brought off young  at 
the pits, but there were plenty of molting Mallards and Canada Geese  
escorting young about.
 
Today, I checked Western Kingbird nests in Memphis and saw one pair feeding  
fledged young and the hybrid female still sitting on a nest in Frayser (she is 
 due right away), 3 pair feeding birds on nests in the Levee Road area, one 
pair  feeding young and another on a nest in the McLemore area. Didn't see the 
birds  at Ensley and did not check the Chelsea birds.
 
The Scissor-tailed Flycatchers have at least 4 young in the nest on  
President's Island.
 
At Mud Island there were many hundreds of Chimney Swifts flying low over  the 
high water and at Ensley hundreds of immature Barn Swallows were seen  
skimming the ponds and dozens festooning low trees in the back  fields. 
 
 
 
Good Birding  !!!
Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA
6300 Memphis-Arlington Road
Bartlett, TN  38135
http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/
What is this feathered thing that  lifts my heart to the heavens.



**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for 
fuel-efficient used cars.      
(http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)


=================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 http://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

_____________________________________________________________

Other related posts: