[TN-Bird] Cove Lake - Great Egret, Merlin, Rusty Blackbird - 3/31

From: <dawilliams@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:18:39 -0700
Today, 3/31 from ~12:30 - 2:30pm, I visited Cove Lake State Park (Campbell Co.) 
hoping for the Sandhill Crane. I didn't find it but in the swampy channel to 
the left of the path as you walk to the Indian mounds I found a GREAT EGRET 
hanging out near a Great Blue Heron. This is actually my 1st for Tennessee. In 
this same area I saw 2 blackbirds near each other - 1 being a male Red-Winged, 
the other being paler w/ a pale iris. I had to stop and pull out my Sibley to 
check, and it was gone when I looked up but it had to be a RUSTY BLACKBIRD. 
Then, high in a tall tree on the edge of this area was what looked like a 
falcon species. It flew a couple of times showing it's pointed falcon wings and 
ended up high in a tree near the highway. It looked just slightly larger than a 
Kestral and had a dark gray back. As far as I could tell the face-markings were 
not as bold as a Kestral or Peregrine and there were tail-bands but I couldn't 
see them well. It did not pump it's tail. It would be my 1st but I'm fairly 
certain it was a MERLIN. As I was leaving, the Great Egret flew across the main 
channel of the lake and landed. I also saw first-of-season Tree Swallows, a 
Pie-Billed Grebe, Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, and an unIDed Buteo. 
I then went to Eagle Bend Fish Hatchery (Anderson Co.). There were lots of Tree 
Swallows there but not much else other than Canada Geese, 2 Killdeer, and 2 
Eastern Meadowlarks. I went to check the bridge outside the hatchery for Cliff 
Swallow and as I was pulling up I noticed something brownish hovering just 
outside one of the nests. When I stopped and got out though I didn't see 
anything again.

Shane Williams - Knoxville,TN



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[TN-Bird] Cove Lake - Great Egret, Merlin, Rusty Blackbird - 3/31

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