Sept. 5, 2004 Ensley Bottoms Shelby Co. TN I forgot to mention the 45 American White Pelicans that soared over Ensley going NORTH on Saturday. I saw no sign of them today but did have a Black Tern plus we watched an Osprey, Mississippi Kites, Red-tailed Hawks and multiple Cooper's heading south. There was a big turnover in shorebirds at the pits over night. We were down to only 14 species today with a big decrease in Stilt Sandpipers (only 1), Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers but a big jump from 1 Baird's Sandpiper to at least 8, we had 7 in view at one time. Saturday's Buff-breasted was searched for all day but to no avail. The immature Wilson's Phalarope was still a single and was found all over the pits at different times for different birders but it still only made the count as 1. After everything settled down this afternoon, I started to count and age the birds present. The numbers of immature Least Sandpipers grow from day to day but the percentage compared to other years is still low. Pectoral Sandpiper immatures today totaled only 2; this species has experience a devastating nesting season, now we can only hope that next year is better. We still have had a stellar year for Western Sandpipers and an about average year for Semipalmated Sandpipers, both adults and immatures. We detailed lots of Westerns in molting adult, full basic adult, juvenile and molting juvenile plumages; it was a great day to study the numerous variations in plumages and colors that can be seen in that species at this time of the year. All the Baird's Sandpipers except one were in stunning immature plumages and shone brightly in the sun. All but two Semipalmated Plovers were in immature plumage and the single Stilt Sandpiper was also a handsome juvenile. One of the most impressive counts of the day was the over 50 Mockingbirds seen almost at every turn with 22 counted at just one location. 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================