[TN-Bird] Pickwick Birding

Jan. 24, 2004
Pickwick area - Hardin Co. TN

Saturday morning, I checked the water hole just west of Savannah off 64 
Highway and found gulls still dropping in. There were 1st, 2nd, 3rd year and 
adult 
Herring Gulls in the mix, which made for a nice study. At that time there were 
no Bonaparte's only a large number of Ring-billed to shuffle through. If they 
are hunting from the duck blind there is no use spending any time at this 
location as there will be no gulls at all.  Steve McConnell came up Sunday and 
there were hunters and no gulls, the same experience I had one day last week.

I went south to Pickwick Dam only to find very few gulls and no ducks on the 
lake just large black patches of Coots. A couple of adult Bald Eagles and 32 
Common Loons made the list at Bruton Branch State Park but found nothing else 
of interest. There are still a whole lot of Pied-billed Grebes and a dozen or 
so Horned Grebes.

I made my way back north through the Savannah Bottoms with a few Vesper 
Sparrows the only highlight. Back at the Highway 64 water hole at noon, there 
was a 
large group of Ring-bills and a few Bonaparte's plus a 2nd year Lesser 
Black-backed Gull along with a few immature Herring. At 1:01 PM, I noticed a 
dark 
gull coming in from the north and as it circled I noted the coloration and wing 
pattern of the immature Thayer's. This bird must move north from the dam with 
maybe a brief morning stop before leaving to go north and the return in the 
afternoon to bathe, preen and sleep before heading to roost above the dam. 
After 
spending another hour watching the bird splashing about, preening and then 
watching it go to sleep, I headed north to the Pace Point area.


Good Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA
Bartlett, TN


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