11/16/05 KY Lake from Pace Point area back to Paris Landing Area Henry & Benton Co. Jon Mann was doing a little scouting for an upcoming field trip, so we spent a very cold and windy day scouring KY Lake. The lake was extremely rough yesterday, making waterbird observations pretty tough. Highlights on the day included a split-second look at a winter adult Red-throated Loon that literally popped up into my scope view on the east side of Pace Point. I only had the bird for a few seconds before it dove, not be seen again. We spent a good 10-15 minutes scanning the area and couldn't relocate the bird. This trait should be listed as a field mark for Red-throated! But, there was a Common nearby as well, and it would disappear in the chop for minutes on end, before we could pick it back up. Loons were more scarce than they were before this front moved through. We had only a handful of loons over the course of the day, and late in the day from Port Rd and Trailer Rd, there were only around a hundred. Other than the brief run-in with the Red-throated, everything else looked Common. Other highlight were 5 Franklin's Gulls on the Lick Creek flats, as well as White Pelicans in this area. No other gulls on the day other than Ring-billed, Herring, and increasing numbers of Bonaparte's. We had hoped for the big boy Jeff had up there, but no luck. Lots of gulls scattered around though. Forster's Terns were at Eagle Creek, as usual. Shorebirds were represented by a nice juv. American Golden-Plover, along with 2 Pectoral and 2 Least Sandpipers at Lick Creek. A flock of 40 Dunlin dropped in briefly at Britton Ford, before continuing their travels. Wilson's Snipe and of course Killdeer, rounded out the shorebirds. I don't have my records here in front of me, but this is probably the latest that I've had either Pectoral or Golden-Plover on KY Lake. We didn't have any luck with the Red-necked Grebe at Britton Ford. Many birds were so far away though that they were just disappearing dots in the waves. If the bird had been sleeping I doubt I would have picked it up. Lots of Horned Grebes in the area, I was hoping to pick up the Red-necked by working through the groups of Horned Grebes, but no luck. Waterfowl wise, we had a half-dozen Snows, along with a single Greater White-fronted, mixed with the Canada's at Britton Ford. A couple of White-fronts also dropped in on the Big Sandy flats while we were there. We had large numbers of mostly distant Scaup on the day, but no luck with Scoters. A nice sprinkling of Redheads are still in the area. Hooded Merganser numbers are starting to build as well. Not much in the way of raptors on the day, especially so with Eagles, only 1 Bald Eagle at Pace Point. No passerines of note, though I think I may have seen the most Juncos yesterday that I have seen in a day. There were flocks of 30-40 scattered around everywhere. Good Birding!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN Michael.c.todd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (work) birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (home) www.pbase.com/mctodd The information contained in this communication and its attachment(s) is intended only for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, or exempt from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify postmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and delete the communication without retaining any copies. Thank you. Translations available: http://www.owenscorning.com/emailfooter.html =================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 _____________________________________________________________