Percy Priest Lake, Davidson Co. 3/11/17
What a difference a day or two makes - Phillip Casteel and I met up this
morning to see what waterfowl we could find, and virtually all of the ducks
from a day or two earlier had moved on. Luckily for us, the loons decided to
stick around. We started at Seven Points, and almost immediately found an
unbelievably cooperative winter-plumaged Pacific Loon just out from the boat
ramp. It was swimming very close to shore, and never dove once. It was the
finest views I've ever had of a Pacific Loon. Phillip got some pretty cool
pics through the scope which are attached to our ebird report (link at bottom).
After studying the bird for a while, we left and worked our way gradually
around the lake: Cook Rec Area, the dam area, and Hamilton Creek Rec Area were
pretty quiet, but once at Anderson Rd Rec Area, we found a nice winter-plumaged
Red-throated Loon, along with another Pacific Loon - this bird was just
beginning to molt, and some of the white feathering on the back was starting to
come in. Good numbers of Common Loons still in the area made for lots of great
comparisons and a fun morning.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S35124700
Mike SmithHendersonville, TN