Jan. 17-18, 2004 Pickwick Area, Hardin Co. TN I spent most of both of these "damp" fine days looking through gulls at the pool west of Savannah and Pickwick Dam. The area off highway 64 west of Savannah produced very little in the rain Saturday, although there were hundreds of gulls (3 species) present. In the gull department about the best I could come up with was a 3rd year Herring Gull which are always good to study because you see so few. I did see Mike's single Least Sandpiper in the AM and 3 in the evening. Three Wilson's Snipe put in an appearance late in the day just as all the gulls left to go to roost in mass. This area held zilch on Sunday because there were hunters in the blind. I found just Ring-billed Gulls in the fields to the west Sunday. They did not stay too long as they seem to prefer their soybeans soaked under water. They fed on these underwater beans all day Saturday. I bet the roost is bubbly at night;o) At the dam on Saturday, I found a second year Lesser Black-backed Gull, 6 Common Loons, 38 Pied-billed Grebes and 9 Horned Grebes and a sprinkling of Bufflehead, the only ducks. The Merlin seems to stay in the area as I saw it on Saturday and again twice on Sunday. Two adult Bald Eagles still check out the area a couple of times a day as they trade about. More rain Sunday produced the same few Ring-billed at the dam plus a half dozen immature Herring, one, a very dark, huge immature gull which I'm still wondering about but after getting a few shots Saturday, it disappeared never to be seen again. The best gull was worth the wait as finally at noon I found another immature California Gull and this time I got a few distant shots. I saw no sign of any Thayer's over the two day vigil. I like sitting and watching an area for an hour or so at a time; it is amazing what the turn over is, as one bird after another makes an appearance and then is replaced by another of slightly different plumage or attitude. It is an ever changing panorama but you must pay attention to each character or you sometimes will miss a cameo appearance of a real star. Good Birding!!! Jeff R. Wilson OL'COOT / TLBA Bartlett, TN =================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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================