July 4, 2002 Ensley Bottoms Shelby Co. TN It was July 4, 1982, the temperature was near 100 degrees and I had been watching a pair of Black-necked Stilts working in and out of the dense cover. They had been seen for almost a month at the pits and had been real touchy that last week. There at the base of some weeds was a movement and suddenly a very tiny fuzzy chick came into focus. Tennessee had its first Black-necked chick. From there the story only grows and grows. I had told Ben Coffey that I believed the birds were nesting by the way they were acting and I was going to out sit them that hot day. I had started early in the morning and had thought about giving up more than once. I could hardly contain my elation as I hurried to call Ben and Lula with the news. This was only the beginning of many days over the next 20 years, that I would sweat puddles in July and August while watching the shorebird events at Ensley. I would not give up any of the long waits for the wondrous things I've been privileged to see over those years. It still calls and I still go. Today 20 years later, after casing the area, I set up my scope and in one 360 degree sweep counted 211 Black-necked Stilts and then added another 22 that could not be viewed from that point. I'm sure I missed even more small young and others hidden in the weeds. There were Black-necked Stilts of all sizes plus 29 nests with clutches of eggs and another 3 nests just under construction. At this rate, well over 300 Black-necked Stilts will grace the pits at some time over the next few weeks. Some of the early hatches may stray away before then but it will be interesting to watch. These numbers double and could come close to tripling the previous high numbers in Tennessee. I spent a lot of time today going back to watch one nest. I photographed the progress, at first there was one chick, then at 10:50 AM, two and at 2:58 PM, three and there is where it stood at 4:30 when I left. It will be interesting to see if the last egg hatches by tomorrow morning. Most stilt eggs hatch in the morning hours but I've seen a few clutches take all day and one pair hatched 3 eggs one morning and the last egg at 9 AM the next day. With the scope I was able to get up close and personal photos of my 20th year chicks even at a distance and with heat shimmers; needless to say these kids are the cutest yet! I've got a few pictures to show if you are interested drop me a line................. Proud on the Fourth of July :o) ;o) ;o) ;o) ;o) ;o) ;o) ;o) ;o) (o; (o; (o; (o; (o; (o; (o; (o; (o; (o; Good Birding!!! Jeff R. Wilson OL' COOT / TLBA Bartlett Tenn. =================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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================