[TN-Bird] Recent highlights; 4-20/4-21
- From: <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:59:41 -0500
4-20
Mississippi River area & Reelfoot Lake (Dyer & Lake Co)
4-21
McKenzie areas of Carroll & Henry Co
I joined Jeff Wilson for an afternoon of birding along the Great River Rd and
Reelfoot yesterday; a flat tire put me out of action for the morning. We had
some nice birds along the way, including 13 species of shorebirds. The
highlights were 5 Willets feeding in a flooded field off the Great River Rd, as
well as both species of dowitchers on the day. Shorebirds seen during the
afternoon were:
American Golden-Plover (about 60 feeding in a very reliable field for them)
Dyer Co
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt (at least 10 pairs seen, a good number for that far north)
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Willet Dyer Co
Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper (7 in a field west of Ridgely) Lake Co
Short-billed Dowitcher (1 amongst a nice bunch of Long-bills in the same field
as the Stilt Sands)
Long-billed Dowitcher (groups of 20+ in 2 locations) Lake & Dyer Co
Spotted Sandpiper
Most areas to the west of Great River Rd are inaccessible due to flood waters;
Hwy 79 is under water almost to the lower bridge. Other highlights along the
Great River Rd were:
Merganser sp which was too distant to be sure, but sure looked good for a
female Common instead of the expected Red-breasted Lake Co
Cattle Egret: a line of 15 flying low over a field was a nice sight Dyer Co
Northern Harrier: we flushed two up from a weedy field Dyer Co
Peregrine Falcon: a bird streaked in while we were looking at our best
shorebird spot out from Ridgely; cleared everything out then left
Sandhill Crane: we heard a bird call a couple of times to our west, but never
saw it. Lake Co
Caspian Tern: single bird sitting in a flooded field Dyer Co
Bank Swallow: a few Banks were seen at scattered locations, my FOS
lots of the expected breeding warblers singing (Parula, Yellow,
Yellow-throated, Prothonotary) as well as Warbling Vireos and both Orioles
Grasshopper Sparrow: one flew alongside Jeff's truck in Dyer Co
Reelfoot itself was pretty quiet, with mostly Bonaparte's and Ruddies on the
lake. There were a few Forster's Terns around as well, with several sitting
amongst the flock of Bonies on the water, not something you see too often.
Pelicans were scattered about all over the Lake. We went up to the Black Bayou
area (south unit), and nothing exciting here except a pumping American Bittern,
which Jeff actually caught a glimpse of. This bird was calling more often than
I have heard one in TN. The Phillipy area is totally inundated, but should be
good once it starts dropping.
4/21
I birded locally today to see if my Swainson's Warblers were in (yes), check on
the Harris's Sparrow (yes) and look for Lark Sparrows (no).
I had 18 species of warblers (including Chat), all but 3 local breeders:
Tennessee Warbler (1 singing) FOS
Nashville Warbler (1 singing)
N. Parula
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler FOS
American Redstart FOS
Prothonotary Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler FOS
Swainson's Warbler (2 traditional locations, 1 in Carroll and 1 in Henry Co)
FOS
La. Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler FOS
Hooded Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat FOS
Other highlights were 8 Solitary, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 3 Snipe in a grassy
pool; this is quite a shorebird concentration for me locally. A Great-crested
Flycatcher was my FOS, but I'm yet to hear a Pewee or Acadian. Fish Crows were
vocal today in two locations in Carroll Co. I also had my FOS Summer Tanager
singing today. Blue Grosbeak and Grasshopper Sparrow were new to me for the
year.
I looked in a couple of my spots for Lark Sparrows, including where I had one
Saturday, with no luck. I haven't seen any corn being planted in this area this
year, I'm interested to see what areas the birds use this year. I caught a
quick glimpse of the Harris's Sparrow this morning, but it was staying in the
back part of the yard, where you just really can't see. It sang a few times,
and did sit up in a tree for a moment. It has progressed nicely in plumage,
with the black of the face and crown more solid, and the head a nice silver
I have posted some shots from the last few days, mostly common stuff, but
including some pretty fair digiscoped shots of one of the Swainson's Warblers
from today, as well as another distant shot of that gorgeous Harris's Sparrow.
They are in my Spring 2008 gallery, and start here:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/95810217
Good Birding!!
Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbase.com/mctodd
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