11/2/05 KY Lake area from Paris Landing to Pace Point Henry & Benton Counties I met Barry Hart of TVA yesterday for a late season shorebird survey of the Paris Landing to Pace Point section of KY Lake. As expected, shorebirds weren't numerous, but we had a nice day nonetheless. Shorebirds on the day consisted of Killdeer, and a few Wilson's Snipe and Least Sandpipers at most stops. The Big Sandy flats also produced 1 Lesser and 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 5 Pectoral, and 3 Dunlin. I was surprised not to have more Dunlin on the day. American Pipits were seen on several flats as well. Gulls were interesting, with 5 species seen on the day. Bonaparte's are finally in, though in small numbers. We had an adult Lesser Black-back yesterday morning at Eagle Creek, and another (or the same one?) late in the day on an exposed sandbar just south of Pace Point on the TN River side. There were large numbers of gulls in this area, including several 1st-winter Herring Gulls. Also in this area were the only White Pelicans on the day, about two dozen. Britton Ford was pretty quiet, other than the 16 Franklin's Gulls that were resting on the flat near the north entrance. These were the only Franklin's on the day. Forster's Terns are still holding at Eagle Creek as well. Dabbling ducks were seen in good numbers, with all expected species seen, except Blue-winged Teal. Divers have finally showed up, with a small group of Ring-necks, and also the 1st raft of Scaup out from Pace Point. Unfortunately no Scoters though. We had a decent day with sparrows, though we didn't have any luck with LeConte's, Vespers and a late afternoon Lincoln's were nice. Lingering passerines included a Indigo Bunting and House Wren. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of loons present this early in the season. We were on the Pace Point side late in the day, and counted 78 loons from Rocky Point, and another 26 on the TN River side. The shimmer on the water was terrible, but none of the loons looked small enough to be too interesting. Port Rd would have been a better vantage point yesterday afternoon, as most of the loons were well back towards Paris Landing. We only saw a couple of Bald Eagles on the day, and none going to roost near dark. Good Birding!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx www.pbase.com/mctodd =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the count 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 _____________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp _____________________________________________________________