[TN-Bird] Britton Ford Bonaza
- From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 23:17:47 EST
Nov. 16, 2003
Paris Landing Area
and Britton Ford
Henry Co. TN
After an unsuccessful but enjoyable run for the Sage Thrasher in Knoxville, I
decided to bird my favorite winter season area on Sunday. The morning brought
fog and more fog but the lake was perfect, as no wind ruffled its surface and
viewing got better and better as the day went along.
At Paris Landing, I found the 2nd year Lesser Black-backed Gull but never saw
the immature nor the adult at any time today. Gull numbers are climbing and
there are still a number of Forster's Terns around.
The mud flats were completely void of shorebirds (except Killdeer) at Britton
Ford, looks like the Red Phalarope was last seen on the 10 or the 11th.
Hordes of Pipits were seen at various locations and "tew" notes were heard from
an
overflying flock indicating the arrival of Lapland Longspurs.
The LeConte's habitat at Britton Ford was hard hit by the farming practices
again. Looking at what was there to combine, they made very little extra money
in planting in such marginal moist soil but let it be dry during planting
season and no one cares about the sparrow habitat it provides later. Farming
takes
precedence over habitat on a refuge?? I have suggested before that birders
and birding organizations should put up the money to mark such areas and if
need
be, pay what ever monies are lost (in this case a couple of acres that
produced almost nothing) to pay for crop loss revenue.
The Common Loon numbers for the day went slightly over 400 in the late
afternoon watch but try as I might no Pacific nor Red-throated could be found.
Grebes took a back seat to no one today; Pied-billed Grebes are in good but
rather low numbers for the season. Horned Grebes are grouped up in large
feeding flocks with the more unsocial birds dotted all over the lake. While
scanning
a large feeding flock of Horned from the viewing platform at Britton Ford, up
popped a RED-NECKED GREBE. The bird was an adult with a flush of color still
on its throat and the typical winter color and facial pattern. Most of the
birds I've seen in TN over the years have been immatures (8 of the 11 seen in
TN). This was my second record at Britton Ford and my 5th for the Pace Point
Area. The excitement did not stop there as shortly I discovered 2 very large
grebes sleeping; these two slept the whole time I was there but I kept checking
and
checking, finally one bird woke up, stretched and preened. It was a WESTERN
GREBE and I can only assume the other bird was also a Western considering its
dark coloration but it never stirred for the over 2 hours that I watched from
two locations.
Waterfowl were no less exciting with 25 SPECIES seen for the day including 4
species of geese, with small groups of Canada and 2 Greater White-fronted, 346
Snow and Blue with 14 ROSS'S. I got comparison photos of the immatures of
Ross's, Snow and Blue Geese. Better yet, I had all three SCOTERS for the day.
An
adult BLACK SCOTER was found in the morning from Paris Landing. It was in
among a huge flock of Lesser Scaup with Greater Scaup mixed in and 5 SURF
SCOTERS
were seen at Britton Ford along with 2 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS. My first Redheads
along with a single female Goldeneye were added. The Canvasback numbers
jumped as did all the other species.
Winter Birding is here BIG TIME................
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
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
========================================================
Other related posts:
- » [TN-Bird] Britton Ford Bonaza
