[TN-Bird]
- From: Bill Pulliam <littlezz@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx bird" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 22:46:06 -0500
Spent a good portion of today (8/30/2014) in and near the Duck River
Unit of Tennessee NWR in Humphreys County. No rarities found, no
sign of a Wood Stork but I was not there at roost time so this does
not mean much. Birds on Pond 1 were mostly distant, with a large
aggregation of American White Pelicans visible far off to the east
from the levee. A single Sedge Wren was heard to call once from the
Refuge drive. There was some shorebird habitat and a few shorebirds
of common species (Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Solitary, Least,
and Semipalmated Sandpipers). Passerine migrants were thin other
than swallows (see below), with a single Magnolia Warbler as the only
boreal nester found.
The high point of the day was probably the hundreds and hundreds of
Bank Swallows lined up along the power lines along Hickman Road just
north of the Refuge (the road that connects Refuge Road and Pump
Station Road). My tally came out to 508 birds, which certainly gives
a false impression of precision! Many of these birds were seen at
very close range, when they were not swarming in fluttering buzzing
clouds over the fields. Other swallow totals for the day were 367
Northern Rough-winged, 47 Barn, 2 Tree, and zeros for Cliff and
Purple Martin. The Bank Swallows were certainly fun to watch, but
they also felt a little bit like a cosmic smackdown for my having
pestered Ruben Stoll for details on his eBird report of a total 150
in the same area the previous week.
Bill Pulliam
Hohenwald TN
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