Ten Islands & Dutch Bottoms, Cocke county, 9/25/08, 5:00-8:30 PM, by canoe Lake elevation: 967.9 ft. TVA lowered Douglas Lake about a foot over the past 2 days, widening muddy shores and exposing offshore mudbanks at Dutch Bottoms. We went toward Ten Islands first, then back under Walters Bridge to survey the fresh flats. After sunset, Leslie spotted an odd bird foraging on the opposite side of the last shoal. Like the sanderling we saw at Ten Islands, it was appreciably larger then the nearby peeps, and had a straight dark bill and bright white underparts. The black earpatch indicated red or red-necked phalarope, but this guy was scurrying along the ground on its stubby legs, rather than spinning on the water to feed. We got some fuzzy low-light photos and later Jeff Wilson and Mike Todd agreed via email that it was a molting juvenile red phalarope. To view the Dutch Bottoms mudbanks from shore, drive down the access road on the curve just past the biker beer joint next to the TWRA boat ramp. Partial list: Green-winged teal (4 TI) Bald eagle (1 imm, DB) Peregrine falcon (flying across Walters Bridge) Semipalmated plover (7 TI; 2 DB) Killdeer (45 TI; 50 DB) Sanderling (1 juv., TI) Semipalmated sandpiper (6 TI; 4 DB) Western sandpiper(2 DB) Least sandpiper (38 TI; 56 DB) White-rumped sandpiper (TI) Baird's sandpiper (DB) Pectoral sandpiper (10 juv. TI, 1 DB) Red phalarope (1 juv., DB) http://www.pbase.com/image/103672852/original Michael Sledjeski & Leslie Gibbens Del Rio TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ 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 ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________