[TN-Bird] Saterday Sortie - Shelby Co.

March 29, 2003
Shelby Co. TN

Mark Greene, Mike Todd and I got together on Saturday for what we had planned 
to be a Big Day attempt but the cold front stopped that notion on Friday 
night. The first day after a cold front is a death sentence, the second day 
after is much better but we could not put it off another day. Mike still 
wanted the Surf Scoter for his year list and Mark will take any day out now 
before it gets too close to the expected date for a new addition to the 
family. We decided just to see what we could come up with in Shelby Co.

We ate a big breakfast to stoke the fires and didn't get to Shelby Farms 
until 7, way after dawns early light. The conditions were a 180 degree turn 
from Fridays 70's and the wind was cutting.

We started off with a bang, getting quite a few unexpected first for the 
season birds including a beautiful bright Green Heron with a truly green back 
and bright reddish legs. It was dressed fit to kill. We found Golden Plovers 
(5), Killdeer, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpipers (3), Least 
Sandpipers and gobs of Pectoral Sandpipers and Wilson's Snipe. We could not 
relocate the Upland Sandpipers that I had seen the day before but there were 
cars and lots of activity near the area where expected.

Two LeConte's Sparrows were a nice addition along with 3 Brewer's Blackbird 
females and a glossy male. We were able to locate a flock of Rusty Blackbirds 
later in the day. A Vesper Sparrow also showed itself along a roadside. 

At Ensley, we all came upon the Surf Scoter at the same instant, just a 
minute after getting out of the car. It was sleeping in among the throng of 
Greater and Lesser Scaup. We got both the vultures and both crows plus added 
the Black-necked Stilts that numbered an even dozen. Nothing was singing in 
the cold wind but it still was a good morning with the Bald Eagle sitting on 
the nest and another Red-tailed Hawk hunkered in on her high stick palace.

At Eagle Lake Refuge there was nothing except Killdeer as the habitat still 
is not managed for any spring migration. It seems drying out everything for 
farming is still more important. Kids are still riding their bicycles up the 
observation platform and more truck tracks have been added. A simple, upright 
steel pole located at the base would at least keep out the trucks and small 
cars and not limit wheelchair access.

High migrating raptors kept us straining our eyes at distant dots all day. It 
paid off with 3 Broad-winged Hawks, Osprey and a Sharp-shinned among the many 
Red-tailed Hawks. Chimney Swifts are still feeding very high in the air at 
most places. None, that I've seen yet, are feeding where you can see them 
without field glasses.

At 10 AM we had 70 species and 86 by noon but it took the rest of the 
afternoon to get to 96. The last bird was a Cliff Swallow at dusk, it gave us 
all of that clan except Bank. The misses were too numerous to count.......One 
funny turn in numbers was that we saw 8 Kingfishers; they can be amazingly 
hard to come by (in fact sometimes missed) during breeding season Big Days.

Good Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL' COOT / TLBA
Bartlett Tenn.


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