[TN-Bird] Little Gull at Reelfoot Lake still there Sunday, Dec. 4th.
- From: "Ron Hoff" <rondolly@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "TN-BIRD" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2005 23:18:23 -0500
Tn-birders,
Dollyann and I made a run for the Little Gull at Reelfoot Lake in Lake Co., TN
this weekend and just returned this afternoon. We got to Reelfoot late Friday
afternoon (Dec. 2nd), after ticking the Black-throated Sparrow in Lincoln Co.
(Thanks Morris!!!). We were able to look for the gull for about an hour before
it got too dark, but didn't find it. We spent most of Saturday looking for the
gull from the various vantage points (visitor center boardwalk, Keystone park
area, etc.). Mike Todd, Jeff Wilson and others have posted about how many gulls
there are at the lake right now but they have to be seen to be believed. There
must be 20,000+ gulls in the area. It looks like a blizzard when they are all
flying around.
On Saturday I did manage to find the first winter Little Gull briefly, only to
lose it in 15 seconds or so. Later, I was just looking through the scope at one
spot watching the birds filter past the scope and saw the adult fly by. I was
able to follow it for about 30 seconds before Iost it. Both of my sightings
were nearly all the way across the lake and I was just plain lucky to happen on
the birds. You really have to be persistant in looking. We never saw either of
the Little Gulls near the west side of the lake.
Saturday night we decided to stay at the Cypress Point resort which is right
across the road from the Lakeview restaurant. It was a nice room and only about
$50/night. The up side was that we were legally able to use their pier at
White's Landing (formerly Gooch's, I think) to get out into the lake more than
at the visitor center and Keystone. Since we had this option, we got out onto
the pier at first light on Sunday morning around 7 a.m. Mid 20's temps and 10
mph wind made the conditions brutal, but at least some of the Bonaparte's Gulls
(which the Little Gull is hanging with) were somewhat closer to look at. We
didn't find the Little Gulls at first and tried the visitor center and then
Keystone, but there weren't many birds around either spot. About 8 a.m. we
decided to try one more time at the White's landing pier. Dollyann set up the
scope and in about 10 minutes she spotted the adult Little Gull. Eventually it
flew to within about 250 yards of us for some great looks.
We asked the lady at Cypress Point Lodge if any birder could ask at the desk
and get permission to use the pier for short periods of time to look for birds
but they said no, so this remains private property and not usable for birders
unless you are staying at their hotel or resort.
We also spent a good deal of time looking for the Say's Phoebe, but were NOT
able to locate it.
Other birds of note for us were:
1 - a nice look at Short-eared Owl along Van Works Road (just north of the
correctional facility, north of Tiptonville - it's on the Gazetteer on page 47)
at dusk on Firday night.
2 - a group of about 50 snipe just north of Black Bayou in some standing water
in a field along with 4 dowitchers. This was about the only random water we
found, as it's been very dry in the area. The Mississippi was the lowest I've
ever seen it.
3 - we went to Long Point observation tower Sunday morning. This is at the very
north end of the Reelfoot refuge area and is actually in Kentucky. There must
have been 750-1000 Greater White-fronted Geese, along with a few Canada's and
about a dozen Snow Geese. There were loads of ducks there as well, but about
99.9% of them were Mallards, with some wigeon and 2 Pintails in with them.
4 - there were about 120+ White Pelicans on Reelfoot.
5 - no signs of the Black Scoter or the Red-necked Grebe mentioned in earlier
posts, but we were concentrating heavily on finding the Little Gull.
On the way back home today, we stopped at the Port Road overlook near Paris
Landing to look for Yellow-billed or Pacific Loons. No luck there, but we only
looked around the Port Road area and the lake access on Trailer Road. We had
about 8-10 Common Loons but no others. We did not have time to check Pace Point.
Great birding and happy holidays to all,
Ron Hoff and Dollyann Myers
Clinton, TN
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