DEC 31, 2004 Ensley Bottoms Shelby Co. TN Tunica Co. MS TVA Lake was plumb full of scaup the first time I looked it over and there were twice as many when I checked it the second time. Scanning the flock I had over 60 Greater Scaup the first time and no telling how many more the second time but I did not tarry. At the "Pits", I found SEVEN SANDERLING, looking like so many snowballs blowing around on the flats. These birds have now been present since November 19 and set records each day. Along with the Sanderling were 1 Western Sandpiper and 52 Least Sandpipers, a hardy bunch to have survived the recent extreme cold and ice. Horned Larks, Pipits and a couple of Lapland Longspurs also shared the flats. Down in Tunica Co, I found 3 different flocks of Sandhill Cranes but only 31 birds. I had Western Meadowlarks in 3 locations and tons of geese. A large concentration of geese were found near the landfill with 41 Ross's counted from one view point. One Snow had a yellow neck band and one had a red band; I'll send the numbers off and see where they came from in the north. There are lots of Ring-billed Gulls and a few Herring, in and around the landfill. I looked at a lot of hawks throughout the day and it paid off big time. Just as I was backing out of the field where I had photographed the Ferruginous Hawk I notice a birder and introduced myself to a Houston Ticker working on his MS list. He had seen the Ferruginous fly away but had IDed it as a Rough-legged Hawk a much more expected species. He was looking for a Short-eared Owl, so I took him west to the most productive location and we had 2 or 3 flying and barking before one flew straight at us and west toward the bright Casinos. I ended my West TN Year List at 283, with some mighty find birds in the mix................Next year I'm going to have to bird some in the East........... Happy New Year to All and to all a good night!! 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================