The finding of a possible state record for a Gull-billed Tern by Mike Todd near Highway 103 and Great River Road in Dyer County and Jeff Wilson seeing three Wimbrells land just north of 103 are the latest finds in our Reelfoot Lake region for the last two weeks. Thursday, May 20, Fred Alsop's TWRA group found a Wimbrell at White Lake along with Black-bellied Plover and a Wilson's Phalarope. The same day Glen Criswell and I had a Ruddy Turnstone, female Greater Scaup, 14 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 1 White-rumped Sandpiper along with Pectorals and both Yellowlegs at Highway 103 and Great River Road. Earlier this week we had Long-billed and Short-billed Dowitchers, Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers there. As posted previously we found a White-faced Ibis on Highway 103 just .7 east of Great River Road that was seen by a number of birders from May 9 until May 12. Nancy Moore found the Bell's Vireo in Black Bayou on May 6. A number of birders have seen it since then. This is the same location that this species had a nest in 2003. It was first discovered there in August of 2002. A Hooded Merganser raised 7 young in Black Bayou during May. A couple of immature Bald Eagles have been seen frequently in here (Black Bayou) during the last few months but no sign of any nesting yet. On the 16th of May Betty and I had 56 Dunlins in a field near Owlhoot. During the same week Glen and I had a number of small groups of Dunlin around White Lake. From May 9 through May 11 we found a number of groups of Semipalmated Sandpipers in the Highway 103 and White Lake area. They ranged from 35 to 23 individuals. Just north of the Tennessee line in Kentucky the Bald Eagle nest on the levee next to Lake Number 9 is active with possibly three young. Lake Number 9 has been very flooded all spring; much more so than in the past and up to now very few species have been seen there. With this much water now it may provide a good shorebirding habitat in the fall. A few pairs of Black-necked Stilts can be seen around White Lake, on Highway 79W and in a few other locations but because of the water level being much lower than last year this specie does not have the habitat it did for nesting last year. Each spring, as I bird this area, it hurts to see the land that has been cleared during the winter months and the increased drainage facilities that have been created by the farmers. It seems like there was more area cleared and ditches dug this last winter than in any year in the past. The individual farmers seem not to understand what the destruction of the fence rows and trees is doing to the soil and the environment. Ken Leggett Dyersburg, 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================