[TN-Bird] Pace Point Jan 25th - all 3 Mergansers, Goldeneye, etc...

 
Big Sandy Unit, Tennessee NWR, Benton/Henry Co. TN.  I took my wife on her 
first visit to Pace Point Saturday, and after regaling her with stories about 
all of the waterfowl and eagles we would see, Pace did not disappoint!  
Gunshots crackled all around us at Britton Ford, which kept the ducks moving 
around quite a bit, but we still managed to get great looks at Northern 
Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, American Black Duck, Gadwall, and few other 
goodies.  We encountered one of the largest flocks of bluebirds I have ever 
seen, and they were feeding on the ground among several Pipits and Lapland 
Longspurs.  Once we got to Pace Point itself, things got very interesting.  We 
set up the scope behind the maintenance shed, and had all three Mergansers in 
the bay to the east.  Common and Red-breasted were in the same scope view and 
allowed for awesome comparisons.  Also represented were up to a thousands 
Ring-necked ducks, along with lesser numbers of Bufflehead, Gadwall, American  
Wigeon, Canvasback, and Mallard.  Three eagles took turns harassing the ducks, 
and a coyote foraged along the shore.  At the point itself, we found Jeff's 
enormous flock of gulls, and more just kept coming in as we scanned.  
Unfortunately I don't have the letters "tlba" after my name and couldn't pull 
anything rare out of the Ring-billeds and Bonaparte's.  The bay just before the 
reaching the point itself yielded several more Red-breasted Mergansers, a huge 
flotilla of Ruddy Ducks, and several displaying Common Goldeneye.  A large 
flock of turkey near the eagle roost rounded out the day.  A wonderful 
leisurely day of birding, along with several life-birds for my wife, all but 
guaranteed we will be back to this magical place! Michael SmithGallatin, TN
_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!


=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
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

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    ========================================================

Other related posts: