[TN-Bird] KY Lake area (Henry & Benton Co.); 11/16/05

  • From: "Todd, Michael C." <michael.c.todd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 14:08:36 -0600

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





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  • » [TN-Bird] KY Lake area (Henry & Benton Co.); 11/16/05