[TN-Bird] West TN highlights (and lots of them), 24-26 May 2011
- From: "Scott Somershoe" <Scott.Somershoe@xxxxxx>
- To: "TN-birds" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 27 May 2011 15:24:22 -0500
I spent Tues-Thurs surveying waterbirds and other birds in west Tennessee and
had a lot of interesting findings. This is my best attempt at a short version,
honestly! I found plenty of goodies to make all the work worth it! Lots of
random partly flooded fields were covered in shorebirds. Too many places to
mention specifically, plus they are changing almost daily as water recedes.
Lots of Least and Black terns around, pectoral, semi sands, and white-rumped
sandpipers were common, plus a suite of other shorebirds species. Black-necked
Stilts were everywhere.
Tuesday:
Shelby Forest SP/WMA - the big rookery off Island 40 Rd, which is on Eagle
Lake, has been abandoned. There were no wading birds present. Plenty of old
nests and some that looked recent, but not a bird in sight. Rookeries will at
some point be abandoned for no apparent reason and I guess that is the case
here. I didn't get there in 2010 and don't if it was active then, but some
nests looked pretty fresh so my thought is it was active to some degree last
year. My consolation was a singing Swainson's Warbler and a few snakes for
good measure. Paddling in the mighty Mississippi was fun. There was a decent
current even within 50m of the bluff line.
The area of Parker Rd and Great River Rd (off Owl Hoot Rd in Lake Co.) was
hopping with shorebirds with a few highlights:
5 black-bellied plovers (stunning breeding plumage birds)
450 pectorals
200 semipalmated sandpipers
70 dunlin
30 white-rumped
15 Stilt Sandpipers
1 Solitary, 1 Spotted Sandpiper, 1 lesser yellowlegs
Many more birds in vegetation in the distance in low light were a hard to see.
13 blue-winged teal (12 males) lingered with 2 male shovelers
Several bobwhite were heard and seen, plus grasshopper sparrows
Lots of wading birds around too, including flocks of 20-45 Little Blue Herons
going every which way.
Wednesday:
A pair of ANHINGA were in the rookery at Rushing Pond on Reelfoot Lake, but I
couldn't pin them on a nest. The rookery here is >800 pairs, almost entirely
comprised of Great Egrets.
Black Bayou Refuge -
5 LEAST BITTERNS seen and/or heard. I found 3 COMMON MOORHEN nests! I only
heard a moorhen call twice and never saw one, but there were 3 active nests. I
had two other "empty nests" that are likely used for other moorhen activities,
one was about 15 ft from a nest with eggs.
Earl Trim Rd and Phillippy Pits area - Lots of water should be around into
summer, so maybe there will be some good habitat (here and in several other
places in Lake and Dyer Co) for south bound birds in a few weeks and hopefully
into late summer (fingers crossed). I flushed a flock of 30 indigo buntings
from the edge of the winter wheat along Earl Trim Rd. and another flock of 20
or so just up the road. Migratory flocks? It was mixed about half and half
male and female.
Near Ridgely, I found an breeding plumaged WHITE-FACED IBIS, plus nearly
uncountable Least Terns and several Black Terns roosting on the gravel roads.
Several shorebirds around, including a Greater and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, and the
usuals this time of year.
Thursday:
I kayaked the floating vegetation at Walnut Log Rd on Reelfoot NWR and found
nothing of note. No habitat for Least Bitterns. Maybe there is a moorhen or
purple gallinule around, but I didn't see or hear anything suspicious.
I went back to Black Bayou and found a 4TH COMMON MOORHEN nest and had at least
7 birds calling. I only briefly saw one of the birds. They are quite elusive,
even when right in your face. I saw (and photographed) one LEAST BITTERN and
heard 3 others calling simultaneously. One TRICOLORED HERON flew over at Black
Bayou as well!
Bob Ford just emailed and said he had a pair of Blue-winged Teal with 7 young
at Black Bayou today. That answers my question about the pair of birds I saw
at Black Bayou on Wednesday.
I relocated the WHITE-FACED IBIS on my way out of town. It was in the exact
same small pool of water off Bingham Rd where I left it just before the sever
storms pounded the area Wednesday night. Glen Criswell arrived and got good
looks at the bird. It disappeared after about 10 min, but is likely still in
the area. 21 white pelicans are working the flooded field here.
Parker Rd area again had ~800 shorebirds that I could see:
500 pectorals
150 semipalmated sandpipers
2 dunlin
100+ white-rumped (incl one with a broken wing that will be peregrine food
soon).
1 lesser yellowlegs
17 cattle egret (which were also scattered all over lake and dyer co) and 150+
great egrets in one flooded field by the Shaw Tract (Tumbleweed WMA).
Great Birding!
Scott Somershoe
State Ornithologist
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
P.O. Box 40747
Nashville, TN 37204
615-781-6653 (o)
www.tnwatchablewildlife.org
www.pbase.com/shoeman
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