[TN-Bird] Fwd: [missbird] Burrowing Owl (Tunica Co) + other Delta birds

From: van harris <shelbyforester1223@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: tn-birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 21:34:27 -0600
I thought that this would interest Tennessee birders.

Van Harris
Millington, TN
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: JR Rigby <jr.rigby@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 9:19 PM
Subject: [missbird] Burrowing Owl (Tunica Co) + other Delta birds
To: MISSBIRD <missbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>


Missbirders,

To cap a full day of birding around the north Delta I stopped at Buck
Island Rd. to check for the Short-eared Owls. I arrived at 4:30pm and
waited until about 5:15pm in the waning light and wintery conditions
without luck. As I made my way out at the north end of the road I noticed a
long-legged raptor-ish looking bird, larger than a kestrel but smaller than
a Short-eared Owl, standing on the fence. There was just enough light to
make out the bird through my binoculars at about 15m distance. When it
turned to face me, it was clearly an owl. It took a few beats before it hit
me that it was a BURROWING OWL!

The bird flew while I was fumbling for the camera. I decided to drive up
and down the road in hopes that I might see or here something more of the
owl. About 400m south of the fence a bird came into my headlights on the
road! What luck! But this was a chunkier bird with no indication of long
legs. When it turned to face me, I saw the round white face of a
SHORT-EARED OWL. Not where I expected to find that guy.
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/123863674@N04/15150389013/

Backing away from the SEOW in the road, I turned around and headed north
again. About 100m from the fence I again saw a bird in the road... a
smaller, leggier bird! The BURROWING OWL was standing facing me at the edge
of the road. As I stopped the car it flew west northwest over the
defoliated soybean field and I lost it in the darkness. Several more trips
up and down the road did not result in further encounters, though I did see
the terrestrial Short-eared a couple more times.

Other birds of note: Walls Slough had a nice selection of waterfowl
including several hundred GREEN-WINGED TEAL and GADWALL as well as good
representation of NORTHERN PINTAIL, RING-NECKED DUCK, and LESSER SCAUP and
two AMERICAN AVOCETS. Arkabutla Lake was challenging in the mist, but
RING-BILLED (100s), BONAPARTE'S (100s), HERRING (2), and FRANKLIN'S GULLS
(4) were present in the dam area (but only 1 FORSTER'S TERN??). Large rafts
of waterfowl were visible on the lake beyond range for ID, but numbering in
the thousands. Several stops at points around the lake did not result in
better views of the waterfowl.

I stopped at the Tunica Landfill to check the gull situation. There were a
couple of hundred gulls visible intermittently "on the hill" but the
surrounding fields were barren of Larus.

Good birding,

JR
Oxford
[TN-Bird] Fwd: [missbird] Burrowing Owl (Tunica Co) + other Delta birds

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