11/23/07 Henry Co Paris Landing, Port Rd area, Britton Ford I had a few hours today in-between commitments, so decided to try and get some better shots of that interesting Long-tailed Duck. It was still in basically the same area, though much closer to the causeway going out to the bridge, at times probably within 100-150 yards of me. I did get some much better shots, and at times, with better views, she pretty much looked like a (dingy) Long-tailed Duck. Still the darkest by far that I have seen. I appreciate the numerous comments I got on those poor images, with the general opinion that there was nothing else it could be, though most also said it was a darker bird than they had seen. While at Paris Landing, usually waiting for the duck to surface, I would keep an eye on the island. There weren't any really interesting gulls sitting out there, but a 1st-cycle Great Black-backed made a couple of passes over the island, scattering lesser gulls, but never sat down. It finally lumbered off towards Pace Point, and sat on the water in the distance with a number of other gulls. This makes the 10th species of gull seen in the Paris Landing/Pace Point area so far this season, and it's not even December yet! Gulls so far this fall/winter are: Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Bonaparte's Gull Franklin's Gull Laughing Gull Sabine's Gull Thayer's Gull California Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Great Black-backed Gull ( I would trade several of these for a Kittiwake though :") Otherwise, not much happening. Paris Landing was very rough, with few ducks around except Buffleheads. Port and Trailer Rd loon numbers were way down from yesterday (down to around 150 combined), nothing but Commons again today. The Trailer Rd area had only a handful, so they may have just changed locations a bit. The birds in this huge area are definitely hit or miss, as there are several Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the area, but I didn't see one either of the last two days. Britton Ford had many more ducks than yesterday, though most were out well past where I could do anything with them. Did finally have some Canvasbacks though. I had the Snow and Ross's group up flying briefly, and a sleeping Cackling Goose just happened to be where I could see it, though it took a while for it to raise it's bill so I could be sure of the ID. I saw one Greater White-front head pop up over the same hill, so hopefully most of the geese are still there, just out of sight today. I will get some better shots up tonight of that Long-tailed Duck, if anyone is interested. That little duck has been quite a learning experience for me, you just never know what you are going to come across; even if it's just a different look to something you are familiar with. Good Birding and Happy Holidays!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx www.pbase.com/mctodd =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY 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 ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________