[TN-Bird] Early Windbird
- From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 07:52:07 EST
March 15, 2003
Shelby-Tipton Co. TN
I started in a dense fog on Saturday (of course I start in a dense fog most
days) at Ensley Bottoms. I could not see the ducks on the lake until after
9:30. The numbers are still high with thousands of Lesser Scaup. The Greater
Scaup numbers are down and I could only find a few Ring-necked and a single
Redhead in the masses. There were about 100 Ring-billed Gulls resting with a
few filtering in and out from McKellar Lake. I did photograph the very
smallest Ring-billed Gull I've ever seen. I'm always looking for a good gull
and thought I might have had it, but it was nothing but a runt RB. There is a
big range in size of these birds but this was a really small bird. Something
new every time out of the box.
Green-winged Teal were present at the pits in big numbers along with a few
Blue-winged and Shovelers. Gadwall, Mallard, Woodies and 2 Wigeon plus the
resident Canada Geese filled out the bill.
I had a Harlan's and 2 Krider's that allowed a few photos and the resident
Kestrels and Shrikes are in romantic moods. A few Pipits were found in the
fields but no Laps.
Even the dense fog could not deter the territorial calls of the Red-winged
Blackbirds and the Eastern Meadowlarks were adding their notes to the
melange.
The best find for me of the day was at Eagle Lake Refuge where there were few
shorebirds, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Lesser, 3 Pectoral and my earliest by
three weeks, a Semipalmated Plover. There are a couple of early March records
on the books but this was an unexpected surprise for me. I did get a few
distant shots as it rested and preened with the Pectorals.
I stopped at as many traditional sites as I could and located about 12 more
Greater YL and 7 Lesser, 44 Pectoral and 9 Least Sandpipers. Killdeer scrapes
are everywhere but I did not find any with eggs but I bet they are out there,
maybe today.
I did see quite a few Great Egrets scattered in the bottoms and a lot of
trading Great Blues going in and out of the rookery at Shelby Forest. I'll be
watching for an Anhinga display over the next few weeks. A single Bald Eagle
was seen in Tipton Co. and three more Red-tailed Hawks nests were found with
setting birds.
Good Birding!!!
Jeff R. Wilson
OL' COOT / TLBA
Bartlett Tenn.
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