[TN-Bird] Gulls at Pickwick Dam
- From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 22:46:46 EST
Feb. 7-8, 2004
Pickwick Dam Area
Hardin Co. TN
On my first trip below the dam on Saturday morning, I found my 10th species
of gull on the Tennessee River for this season. A huge 1st winter Great
Black-backed Gull was wrestling a big fish away from a much smaller Herring. It
floated down the river with me tagging along trying to get photos. I finally
lost
the bird and started to the other side for a better view. I ran into Ron Hoff
from Knoxville and informed them of the bird. On the other side I caught
another look at the gull as it chased a Great Blue Heron down into the
turbulent
water and manhandled him for another fish. The bird would float down the river
and then would go back toward the locks and disappear.
I finally figured out where these birds were going when they would disappear.
There is an area where they rest that can't be seen except from the top of
the bridge and you can't stop there. This bird was very uncooperative until
late
that afternoon and then again on Sunday, when I was able to locate the bird
twice for Kevin Calhoon, Bonnie Johnson and Judy Newsome from Chattanooga. So
the bird had hung around and the gull numbers steadily increased over the
weekend. More gates were open on Sunday than Saturday so there is a lot of
water
plunging down and serving up fresh fish.
I went north around midday on Saturday and found the bottoms flooded to the
brim. The wet hole that had been holding all the gulls was a small sea spread
over many acres. I did pick up Canvasback, Mallard, Lesser Scaup, Green-winged
Teal, Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Pintail, Shoveler, Redhead, Canada Geese and one
Snow Goose in the area north of hwy. 64. Ducks and Geese were generally slim
pickings but I did end up with 14 species for the weekend.
I watched gulls heading south from 64 toward the dam and decided it warranted
another visit south. I no more than pulled into the dam area at 3:30 PM, than
there was a nice 1st winter Thayer's making the rounds below the dam and a
Lesser Black-backed, 1st winter was also there plus another bird I picked up
moving over the dam that looked interesting. Since the Thayer's was a little to
far for a flying shot, I decided to chase the unknown bird. Going out I ran
into Ron and crew and told them about the Thayer's. On the causeway I found not
one, not two, but three 1st Winter Lesser BB. I got a couple of photos and
returned below the dam and Ron told me they had found the Thayer's and it had
patrolled up and down right in front of them. They also thought they had had a
Lesser BB so there are possibly 4 there at this time. We watched the 3 LBB on
the
barge tie ups for a little while, then Ron and Frank decided they go look for
Short-eared Owls about 4:30. At 5:05 the Great BB came over the dam and
settled on the upper lake and most of the gull aggregation moved south to the
roost
area about a mile or two UP River although they have to fly south. The Great
BB bathed and splashed and then headed south.
That night Kevin and crew came in and the next morning we started a quest for
year birds for their lists plus maybe a few Lifers and TN-Birds. We had a
poor morning although the gulls had increased and we chased after a distant
bird
going down river that I was pretty sure was the GBB but no luck. Finally, I
said let's look for some birds on your list in the bottoms. We found Vesper
Sparrows at many places plus a Fox among the mix at one location. Then we found
4
Palm Warblers which nobody needed for the year but always nice in the winter
and finally, I saw a distant flock of birds get up and go back to ground, I
suspected Laps and in the scopes we could see they were Lapland Longspurs,
another checked off the list.
Back to the dam to set up for a long vigil and there we ran into Phillip
Casteel and Mary Zimmerman from Nashville. We knocked off a LBB Gull for a
TN-Bird
for some and I decided we would be better off watching from the west side to
get the sun off to one side and after a little while I spotted just a wing
diving behind the lock and shortly right in front of us, up came a Thayer's.
The
time 3:00 PM, so around 3 might be when this bird comes back into the area and
maybe the best time to look for it. The distance and lighting was perfect. It
was ooh and aaah time, Lifer and TN-Bird for some. While the girls rested in
the car Kevin and I found another LBB and suddenly a different and darker
Thayer's for a great comparative with all the details well studied. We tried to
locate Phillip but no luck.
We returned to the east side of the river, actually the north side there, and
started to search through the mob again. Kevin and I were talking when a big
bird on the other side caught my eye as it chased another gull. A quick check
and it was the white-headed, white-rumped, checker board back of the Greater.
Kevin immediately hung the name "BEAST" on the bird but it disappeared before
we could get the cool twins out of the truck. The cold wind was still nasty
today.
I decided we best go down river and we relocated the bird and everyone got
great looks as it chased a Herring Gull. It looked like a B-52 chasing a
fighter plane. TN-Bird for almost everyone. Later from the causeway at the
staging
area, where the gulls rest prior to heading south to roost, the GBB came in and
scattered the whole flock. That was exactly at 5:00 PM so there might be
another pattern to follow. The bird preened and bathed for a minute and then
headed south.
The most unbelievable statistic for the weekend was, it was only a 5 Gull
species outing, we could not find a single Bonaparte's Gull, NOT ONE.....
Good Birding!!!
Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA
Bartlett, TN
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