July 8, 2007 Ensley Bottoms Shelby Co, TN Some while back, I had over 20 active Black-necked Stilt nests at the "Pits", today there are only 8 active nests and the first young made their grand appearance this morning. The drought has kept most of the nesting areas dry allowing predators access out onto the flats but many nests were just abandoned with eggs still in the nest. Usually the eggs are gone or scattered if something disturbs the adults or raids the nest. It has been a long wait for the first young this year. I had been keeping my fingers crossed. I also found a couple more Killdeer nests, another with 3 eggs and yesterday I watched an adult making a scrape out in the middle of one of the gravel roads. Today, I found a fresh, clean egg. I hope she knows what she is doing. I've posted photos of today's finds, start at this address and go from there: _http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/image/81905185_ (http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/image/81905185) I added another species to the season Wind Bird List at the "PITS", 2 Spotted Sandpipers. The number of Least Sandpipers doubled to near 200, the Stilt Sandpiper left but the Lesser Yellowlegs stayed. 12 species and counting. Good Birding !!! Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA 6298 Memphis-Arlington Road Bartlett, TN 38135 http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/ What is this feathered thing that lifts my heart to the heavens. ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ 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 ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________