Mark Greene, Nancy Moore, Ken Leggett, and myself covered the northwest TN area for the shorebird count this last Saturday. Numbers and habitat were both down considerably from the last time I was in the area, but we still had 18 species with some nice surprises. Island 13 was out first stop, and the habitat has mostly been lost since the last time I was there. The pool still should hold some water for a little while longer, but nothing like it was a couple of weeks ago. Island 13 held no surprises, with a heavily molted Western Sandpiper being the best of the few birds present. White Lake on the other hand should continue to have suitable habitat, as it is being managed. At White Lake we had 20+ Black-necked Stilts, and a very worn Short-billed Dowitcher among the horde of Killdeer, Solitary, Pectoral, and both Yellowlegs, with a sprinkling of Least Sandpiper thrown in. The south end of Everett Lake looks like it will have habitat for a while also, with a good number of birds present here, nothing out of the ordinary though. Tiptonville Bar produced the best birds of the day. It took a while to work the birds out due to the distance, but we eventually worked out a molting adult Black-bellied Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, and 2 Red Knots. The Knots were first picked-up by their distinctive short-legged, short-billed football shape and very methodical feeding habits, together with being clearly bulkier than all the nearby Killdeer. They were molting adults, with very dull red left on the breast, although this was hard to see due to the orientation of the Sun (slightly backlit). We looked long and hard but were unable to locate a Sanderling. The recently flooded area at Black Bayou produced a basic-plumage adult Wilson's Phalarope, swimming 90 to nothing the whole time we were there. The young Tricolored Heron also obliged us while we were there with good looks. We had hoped for Baird's and Buff-breasted Sandpipers along with Sanderling for the day, but no luck. Mark heard an Upland Sandpiper while we driving, but we were unable to get a look at the bird. Our final shorebird list for the day is as follows: Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Killdeer Black-necked Stilt Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Upland Sandpiper Ruddy Turnstone Red Knot Pectoral Sandpiper Western Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Wilson's Phalarope On a different note I had my 1st Olive-sided of the fall on the way home from work this morning. The bird was teed-up in the top of a dead snag between Trezevant and McKenzie, in Carroll Co. Good birding!!!!!!!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN Carroll Co mikectodd@xxxxxx =================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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================