Glen Criswell and I birded a couple of days this week in this area. We had no unusual finds. White Lake is fairly dry due to the loss of the main pump there a few weeks ago. TWRA is getting bids on repairing or replacing it. They are afraid it will not be back in service this fall. (However, I am sure they will get it fixed before the duck season.) Highway 103 and Great River Road is still good habit but this area is drying up and will be gone in a few weeks. We had 13 Black-necked Stilts, 14 Stilt Sandpipers, 15 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Solitary, 1 Semi-palmated Plover, 1 Spotted. 1 Lesser Yellowlegs and 2 Least there on Wednesday. Highway 79 and Great River Road has become an excellent habitat for shorebirds with the water dropping. We had a good number there Wednesday including 11 Black-necked Stilts and 6 Solitary Sandpipers. The water is down enough so one can easily walk into this area. Island 13 is in good shape with numerous pools and the sand is firmer than in the past. We had 2 Caspian Terns, 3 White Pelicans and six species of shorebirds there Wednesday. A hunting club (a different one than had it before) has chained the main entrance to the Island and the only way to drive in requires a four-wheel drive vehicle There is some good habitat in Black Bayou Handicapped unit on the right (south) side of the road before reaching the main entrance. TWRA has pumped water into this area especially for shorebirds. They also have put some water back into the area of Black Bayou WMA near the Bell's Vireo nesting spot but there is a lot of grass in there which they are trying to eradicate. Phillippy Pitts is just about dry but the Ibis Hole still has water and does not seem to be losing it very rapidly. Except for an occasional duck and some Egrets and Herons, the Ibis Hole has been bare most of the year. Black Bayou Phillippy still has water but the grass there extends to the edge of the water leaving very little shorebird habitat. In Kentucky, Lake # 9 is now good for shorebirds. It has been higher all of this year than in the past but now has dropped with mud flats primary at the south end. Open Pond is just about gone but there is still some habitat left at Willow Pond. Ken Leggett Dyersburg, TN Dyer County =================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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================