[TN-Bird] Red-throated Loons & Black Scoter; Henry Co. 2/26/05

2/26/05
Paris Landing to Pace Point
Henry & Benton Co.

All in all, yesterday was a pretty slow day on KY Lake. The water level is 
up again, so there are practically no loafing spots for gulls, or shorebird 
habitat.

I started at Paris Landing, with nothing to report. The Marina roof was 
covered in gulls, with several Herrings in the mix, but nothing else. There 
are lots of Scaup out from Paris Landing State Park, but no Scoters or etc. 
amongst them. Port Rd and Trailer Rd also had nothing of interest.

The 1st interesting bird of the day was at Big Eagle Campground, where I had 
both Red-throated and Pacific Loons and White-winged Scoter a couple of 
weeks ago. There were a couple of dozen loons in the area, including what 
appeared to be the same immature Red-throated from my last visit. This time 
it was staying out near the confluence of Eagle Creek and the Big Sandy 
River. No sign of the Scoter or Pacific though.

Britton Ford was also very slow, with only a fraction of the waterfowl that 
had been present recently. Canvasback numbers were way down, but with a few 
Redheads still present. Canada Geese were numerous, but no other geese were 
seen.

One thing of note, on the way into Pace Point, the old maintenance sheds 
have been torn down in the last couple of weeks. All that is there now is 
the slab. The bay out from this area was full of displaying Red-breasted and 
Hooded Merg's, but no lingering Common Mergansers. The Red-breasted's were 
really putting on a show.

Loon numbers in the area are still low, I might have seen 50 Common Loons on 
the day. The 2nd Red-throated was a very actively diving adult bird, with 
the stunningly white face of this plumage. This bird was seen out from the 
bay just southeast of Pace Point, on the TN River side, at the last place 
the road goes by the water on the way into Pace Point. Pace Point itself had 
a few gulls literally sitting up at the base of the trees, since the water 
is so high. The year of the Scoter continues, as a female Black Scoter was 
loosely associating with a mixed flock of Scaup on the TN River side of Pace 
Point. This bird worked its way towards Paris Landing while I watched it, so 
could of course be anywhere in the area.

The Big Sandy side of Pace Point, including the Rocky Point area, had very 
few birds. A quick trip to Granny's Branch, a few miles farther down on the 
TN River side, produced several loons in this area, but all Commons. A 
distant bar that was still somewhat out of the water was covered in gulls, 
and a couple of American White Pelicans.

I have added a couple of shots of the Black Scoter to my KY Lake 2/05 
gallery. For anyone interested, this gallery is at:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/ky_lake_205  , the Black Scoter shots are the 
last 3. Clicking on any thumbnail will bring up the full-size photo. These 
photos are distant, but decent ID images.

On another note, Jeff and I spent today back in the Reelfoot area. We had at 
least one Iceland and two Thayer's, but not much else. A ton of birds to go 
through in the area though. Early morning and late afternoon are definitely 
the times to try for the rarities at Van Works Rd.

Good Birding!!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
Carroll Co.
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbase.com/mctodd



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