[tn-bird] RUFF at Rankin!
- From: K Dean EDWARDS <kde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Tennessee Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 09:27:58 -0400 (EDT)
Sorry for the delay in posting but other commitments kept me
from getting online last night.
Sunday afternoon/evening (18 August 2002) several birders
observed a juvenile Ruff at Rankin WMA in Cocke Co., TN.
If the differences in size between the sexes translates to
the juvenile birds as well, the bird was probably a female
(and thus properly referred to as a Reeve, not Ruff).
After having panned through the herds of shorebirds a few
times already, I was scanning back through and this bird
jumped out at me. It had not been there before or had been
hiding behind a tree that snookered our view.
It was hanging around the shore a little ways into the water.
We observed it for 10-15 min during which time it mostly
bathed and preened but did some feeding. Not a good sign
if I interpret Ol'Coot's lessons properly.
The whole mass of birds was spooked by a Red-shouldered Hawk
and flushed. After much searching, I'm pretty sure we relocated
the bird but it was over a mile away so viewing wasn't the
best. We packed up and headed out to the point near the
coal tipple for a better view. Unfortunately, something
again flushed the birds while we were in transit. They
flew about TWO miles away this time. Despite several hours
searching, we never saw the bird again.
Birds were coming and going all evening. Three Black Terns
and two Common Terns also disappeared about the same time
as the Ruff.
Here are some details.
Observers: Dean Edwards, Amber Edwards, Boyd Sharp,
Jean Alexander, David Johnson, June Welch. The Routledges
from Greenville were also in the area but I'm not sure if
they saw the bird; Larry may have.
Superficially, she looked like a great big Buff-breasted
Sandpiper. The mantle and scapulars had solid, dark centers
surrounded by a fringe of buff giving the bird a very neatly
patterned look. The underparts were washed bright buffy
all the way down, gradually fading toward white near the butt.
The bird was in the water the whole time so leg length was
hard to judge. The legs were dull yellow -- not the bright
yellow of a yellowlegs but definitely yellow. Bill was long
(definitely and readily noticeably longer and more "stout"
than for a Buff-breasted, more in the proportions of a Pectoral)
and appeared completely dark; there could have been some color
at the base but I didn't see any. The bird was seen close
to Killdeer, a Pectoral Sandpiper and a peep or two. In
direct comparison with those species, overall size was between
the Killdeer and Pectoral -- closer to the Killdeer than the
Pectoral -- much too large for a Buff-breasted. The bird
appeared plump and pot-bellied. Head looked smallish proportionally.
Those of you are familiar with the quest Allan Trently has
set some of us upon in rewriting songs to be about birds
(e.g., There's no bunting like Snow Bunting) and remember
McGruff the Crime Dog (Take a Bite Outta Crime) will appreciate
Amber's contribution to the effort given below.
Ruff, McGruff
Rankin Bottoms, TN 37713
Dean and Amber Edwards
Knoxville, TN
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