Nov. 8-9, 2003 Pace Point Area Henry and Benton Co. TN I thought I would have to travel to Musick Campground in east TN to get my year Eared Grebe but a close encounter that gave Dave Dugus (Indiana) and I great looks erased that trip from the books. The bird popped into view at Lick Creek right off the north boat ramp. After finding the Red Phalarope both Saturday and Sunday the rest of the time was spent looking through the waterfowl and gulls with good results. With ducks and geese just getting into gear, I was still able to locate 19 species of waterfowl. Greater White-fronted Geese were seen flying late Saturday at Britton Ford and then seen on the ground at the Big Sandy Flats with a group of Canada Geese on Sunday. The best of the ducks were probably 4 Surf Scoters seen out from Paris Landing that got up and flew north over the bridge and settled again. The last species added was Greater Scaup with a few sprinkled in with Lesser seen off Paris Landing late on Sunday. There were about 200 Common Loons present on Sunday but heat waves and choppy water made from poor viewing. White Pelicans were seen from large groups to single birds at every viewing area visited with the largest group at the Big Sandy Flats. Forster's Terns were seen in good numbers along with Ring-billed and Herring Gulls. The adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was seen by others Saturday but eluded me. I did get an immature at Gray's Landing at the east end of the bridge out from Paris and then Dave and I had a second year bird on the Island out from the State Park at Paris on Sunday afternoon. Bald Eagles were scattered with only 6 adults and 1 immature seen in the area. Sparrows were seen in abundance with Vesper probably the best found in the 8 species seen without walking the fields. While at Britton Ford, we had 4 Palm Warblers feeding undaunted at our feet and others were seen scattered about over the weekend. Good Birding!!! Jeff R. Wilson OL'COOT / TLBA Bartlett, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================