4/1/08 Gibson Co (Ed Davis Fish Farm) Carroll Co (Wingo Loop Rd west of McKenzie off Hwy 79) I did a little birding on my way home from work this morning, with a gorgeous breeding-plumage Harris's Sparrow being the highlight. I initially went by the Ed Davis Fish Farm, outside of Milan in Gibson Co, where I found a number of ponds drained down. One of these ponds had over 200 Least Sandpipers, as well as a very pale and long-billed Dunlin that initially had me VERY excited; unfortunately it flew a few feet and blew my Curlew Sandpiper hopes out of the water! Other shorebirds here were a few Snipe, a Greater Yellowlegs and my 1st Solitary Sandpiper of the year. A single Caspian Tern was also a year bird for me. Also on the mud were about 50 Rusty Blackbirds, one of which was an asymmetric partial albino, with white primaries on one side. I didn't have my cameras with me, would have loved a shot of that bird. I made a pass down Wingo Loop, which is about halfway between McKenzie and Trezevant off Hwy 79 in Carroll Co. I made this loop to search the fields for Upland Sandpipers, which I had no luck with, but the sparrows more than made up for it. It rained off and on the entire time, but that didn't damped the enthusiasm of the Vesper Sparrows any; I saw at least 10, with 4 nice singing birds. This isn't normally a bird I hear a lot of. Savannah Sparrows were very much in evidence as well. I had already gone through one nice mixed group of Zonotrichia Sparrows, when I came upon another group just before getting back on the highway. Several White-crowns were feeding in some clover in a yard right by the road, with only their heads above the clover. About the 3rd bird I got a glimpse of had the black face and bib of an adult Harris's Sparrow. I watched this bird for a few minutes, then headed home to get my camera. I was back within 20 minutes, and after a few minutes found the bird again. This time, a number of White-crowns were feeding on buds in the top of some trees in the same yard, and the Harris's was with them; I even saw it sing a couple of times. It was active enough that I could easily follow it in the scope, but never could get a shot. After a few minutes it flew over the house to the field behind, and despite another hour of looking, I never saw it again. There are easily 20 White-crowns in this area. It has been several years since I've seen a Harris's in TN, and this is the 1st really colorful adult bird I've seen period. I will look for the bird again in the morning. It was late this morning when I found the bird, hopefully it will be a little easier to track down earlier in the morning. If anybody happened to want more specific directions, just let me know. I have added a couple of photos of Vesper Sparrows from this morning to a new gallery, Spring 2008. They are here: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/95020374 Good Birding!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx www.pbase.com/mctodd =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ 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 ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________