[TN-Bird] West TN Weekend
- From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 00:56:54 EDT
May 29-30, 2004
Ensley to Reelfoot
Every chance I got this weekend, I looked for terns, other than the hundreds
of Least that have moved inland because of the rising Mississippi River (up 20
feet again in 2 weeks), I found one Black and one Caspian Tern out from Mud
Island at Memphis on Saturday. On Monday, over an eddy in Dyer Co, that is
always good for a tern or two when times are right, I found 3 more feeding
Black
Terns. So much for terns and gulls. The south wind was fighting with the
"Mighty Mississip" and it was a battle royal with angry white caps and huge
trees
rolling south. The River is just to big and determined for the wind to turn but
the wind did BLOW all day Saturday to the point that even when we went
indoors, we still tended to lean;o)
White Lake was an on again off again collection of birds, with a wonderful
Black-bellied Plover there on Saturday, not to be found on Sunday and back
again
on Monday. The Ruddy Turnstone was there Saturday and Sunday but I didn't
find it during a short visit on Monday and a single Stilt Sandpiper was seen
only
on Saturday. Two Least Sandpipers were seen Saturday only and other
shorebirds, seen in low numbers, were Black-necked Stilt, Semipalmated Plovers,
Spotted
Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, White-rumped, and one Dunlin. A flock of
27 White Pelicans was seen and photographed as they dropped in Monday morning.
Sunday at White Lake Refuge we had Mallards, Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergs, a male
Green-winged Teal, 1 Shoveler, 2 Blue-winged Teal and the injured Greater
Scaup that is staying off 103 highway is still there, coyote fodder for sure.
Due to the relentless wind Roly, Mary and I had to work hard for what we got
Saturday. The rain held off all day so we did pretty good looking for target
birds and ended at just over 100 species. After teasing a Least Bittern into
calling and having up close encounters with two Great Horned Owls, we ended up
eating at Boyette's in a bodacious rain storm. Triple treat, Good Birds, Good
Friends and Good Food!
One of the oddest encounters of the weekend was witnessed and photographed
off the Great River Road. I sat scanning a small puddle that held a pair of
Mallards and a single Grackle when a Cooper's Hawk wheeled in and nailed the
Grackle. The amazing thing is that the Mallards just looked up as the Cooper's
stood on its prey just a few feet away and the female went right back to
feeding
as the male stood by. The ducks had no fear at all of the hawk and I took
photos to document this strange gathering.
Good Birding!!!
Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA
Bartlett, 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
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
========================================================
Other related posts:
