[TN-Bird] KY Lake area; 9/20/06

From: <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 12:29:19 -0500
9/20/06
KY Lake area (Pace Point area to Paris Landing area)
Henry & Benton Co.

Don Manning and I spent about several hours yesterday running some of the 
usual areas around KY Lake. The lake is still up more than normal for this 
time of the year, so that shorebird habitat isn't as extensive as usual. 
This being said, there was much more shorebird habitat than there were 
shorebirds. We could only find 8 species, and that was like pulling teeth. 
Best was my 1st Black-bellied Plover of the year, on the island at Paris 
Landing.

All birds mentioned were in Henry Co. unless otherwise noted.

Shorebirds seen:

Black-bellied Plover: above-mentioned bird at Paris Landing
Killdeer: very small numbers (max of 20 on the Big Sandy flats)
Greater Yellowlegs: 1 at Lick Creek (Benton Co.)
Lesser Yellowlegs: 7 at Britton Ford
Semipalmated Sandpiper: 1 at Eagle Creek
Least Sandpiper: app. 50 on the Big Sandy flats, and 28 at Eagle Creek
Pectoral Sandpiper: 22 at Little Eagle Creek and 1 at Big Sandy flats
Wilson's Snipe: 1 at Lick Creek (Benton Co.)

The birds on the Big Sandy flats were all practically digging holes to hide 
in; we didn't see a Peregrine but there was definitely one around.

Blue-winged Teal were everywhere, with several Shovelers around as well. 
Also in the duck mix were a few Green-winged Teal and Northern Pintail in 
addition to Mallards and Wood Ducks. I'd hoped to see a few Broad-winged 
Hawks, but the cloudless sky made seeing high-flying birds practically 
impossible. We only saw one Broad-winged. Great Egrets were everywhere, but 
only 3 Snowy and 2 Little Blues were to be found.

Gull and tern numbers were down a little from my last couple of visits. Pace 
Point had less than 100 birds on it, all Ringers except for a couple of 
Caspian Terns and one young Laughing Gull. The island at Paris Landing was 
again covered. Two young Laughing Gulls were the highlight here. Also around 
were several Caspian and Forster's Terns; 30+ Black Terns were working over 
several large weed beds in the Lake. I had hoped to pick up a Lesser 
Black-backed Gull, as they have arrived by now the last couple of years, but 
none today.

We had a nice passerine movement, though not a lot of species. Highlights 
below:

Least Flycatcher: 2 calling, one of which responded nicely to playback. 
These feisty little guys are always a treat.
Swainson's Thrush: 3
Vireo's: White-eyed, Red-eyed, Yellow-throated (2)
Warblers:
Tennessee: 6
Northern Parula: 3
Yellow: 1
Chestnut-sided: 2
Magnolia: 10+
Black-throated Green: 2
Yellow-throated: 2
Pine: 3
Prairie: 1
American Redstart: 1
Common Yellowthroat: 2
Summer and Scarlet Tanagers
Rose-breasted Grosbeak: several groups of 5-10 birds, 30+ total

I have posted a couple of Laughing Gull shots. One is a distant shot of the 
Laugher on Pace Point, surrounded by Ringers. The other is a neat shot of 
one of the Paris Landing birds as it flew directly overhead. I barely got my 
camera out in time and got one shot as it passed over. The 1st shot is at:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/67231804 , clicking next will take you to 
the flight shot.

Good birding!!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbase.com/mctodd


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[TN-Bird] KY Lake area; 9/20/06

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