[TN-Bird] Pickwick to Paris Landing

Nov. 26-27-28, 2004
Pickwick Dam- TN
Bay Springs in MS
Paris Landing and Britton Ford -TN


A trip to Pickwick found the gates open but less than a hundred gulls above 
and below the dam and only the 3 expected species could be gleaned from them. 
Above the dam from there to the state line, I had 124 Pied-billed Grebes, 9 
Horned Grebes, 37 Common Loons and lots of Gadwall but few other species of 
waterfowl.

I dropped down the Tom Bigbee waterway in MS, to Bay Springs and at the loon 
roost had 73 common Loons plus an adult PACIFIC LOON. A few gulls were also 
scattered in the area plus 19 Red-breasted Mergs, Bufflehead, Ruddy, scaup, 
Mallards and again gobs of Gadwall.

Since the Pace Point area is closed, I spent most of the time on the Big 
Sandy side of the area. At Eagle Creek, I had 16 Forster's Terns and an 
interesting small gull that flew directly away from me. Anyone in the area 
might look 
for a possible 2nd year Little Gull among the many. Off Paris Landing, I had my 
first Goldeneye for the season. I also had a close encounter with a small Bald 
Eagle that came in and sat close by at Eagle Creek. Bald Eagles were seen 
everywhere I went this weekend. Nothing else of interest in the gulls until I 
got 
to the Big Sandy Flats and had an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull.

On Saturday, Britton Ford was socked in with rain and mist and ducks were 
almost a solid cover over the area but Sunday about half had left but the 
viewing 
was excellent. I scanned the birds for two hours coming up with 19 species of 
waterfowl but nothing out of the ordinary.

From Paris Landing to the Big Sandy Flats, I had over 250 Common Loons with 
one RED-THROATED LOON off Trailer Road. One of the groups of loons found 
contained 90 birds while another went over 100. There was no telling how many 
were 
in the area with that many seen during the day; the roost at dusk must have 
been spectacular. Horned Grebes were found in numbers also, with 121 at Britton 
Ford and more smaller groups scattered at any point.

Of course the bird of the weekend was the return of "little red", the male 
VERMILION FLYCATCHER, in adult plumage found at Hatchie NWR.



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
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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

Other related posts: