Rankin Bottoms, Cocke county, 7/29/08, 5:30-8:30, by canoe Douglas Lake elevation: 983.3 ft. David Kirschke (visiting from Nashville) and I found a nice assortment of shorebirds in the mudflats east of the access road. The phalarope was a lifer for David, and there were other first-of- season species. The solitary sandpiper count, 32 individuals, was extraordinary. Highlights: Snowy egret Bald eagle (1 adult) Semipalmated plover (FOS) Lesser yellowlegs (6) Solitary sandpiper (32) Spotted sandpiper (10) Sanderling (5) Semipalmated sandpiper (12) Least sandpiper (30) Pectoral sandpiper (40) Stilt sandpiper (3 - FOS) Short-billed dowitcher Wilson's phalarope (FOS) Ring-billed gull (25 - all took flight when the eagle appeared, but the rest of the birds stayed on the ground) Caspian tern
Wilson's Phalarope Michael Sledjeski Del Rio TN