[TN-Bird] Red-throated & Pacific Loons, White-winged Scoter; KY Lake

From: <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 20:42:31 -0600
2/13/03
KY Lake
Paris Landing to Britton Ford
Henry Co.

As will soon be apparent when Jeff post's about his luck today, I should 
have done as I intended and headed over towards Reelfoot Lake, but had a 
pretty good afternoon around KY Lake anyway.

Paris Landing was pretty slow, the good gull island had 5 Bald Eagles 
sitting on it, so it wasn't too good for gulls! Nothing out of the ordinary, 
only the 3 expected Gull species, and no good ducks in the mix.

From here I headed towards Port Rd, but made a little side-trip into Big 
Eagle Campground to scan the Eagle Creek area. This has been a productive 
stop often. A quick scan through the 25-30 Loons in the distance rewarded me 
with a little pale Ghost of a Loon, a Red-throated. From this distance, this 
bird appeared to be an adult, but closer looks (1/4 mile) later revealed 
that it is a 1st-winter. While I was futilely trying to get some shots of 
the Red-throated, a quick call from Jeff cut off my photography (I'll let 
him post his Iceland Gull & etc. details !).

I decided to hold-off on going to Reelfoot, and instead went by Britton 
Ford. Now that Goose season is over, the geese were all using the former 
hunting fields, consequently they are out of view for the most part. I did 
have some White-fronts fly over, and there are lots of Canada's around if 
you happen to catch them out in the open. Duck numbers were down somewhat at 
the overlook, though there are still quite a few Redheads (25) mixed in 
among the Canvasbacks. One of the hybrid Mallard x American Black Ducks 
showed pretty well today.

After leaving Britton Ford, I decided to go back to Eagle Creek and the Port 
Rd area. When I got back to Big Eagle Campground, the Red-throated was 
closer than it had been before, and now apparent that it is a 1st-winter 
bird. This bird was very cooperative for a Red-throated, staying up most of 
the time and being pretty easy to observe, though still too far away for any 
good shots. They are typically seen a time or two and then seemingly 
disappear. While going through the 50 or so Loons in the area, I picked up a 
Pacific out of a small pod of Commons, out near where Eagle Creek hits the 
Big Sandy River. It was beyond any realistic hope of getting a shot of, but 
made for a nice 3 Loon species day.

Another surprise was a White-winged Scoter, which popped up from out of 
nowhere while I was scanning through the area. She was also cooperative, 
though distant. I could usually go back from the Scoter to the Red-throated 
Loon with no effort. I spent well over an hour enjoying these birds, as 
White-winged Scoter is one that I missed last year. A few Red-breasted 
Mergansers were in the area as well.

I have posted a few BAD shots of the Red-throated and Scoter, along with one 
of the Mallard X American Black Duck hybrid at:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/ky_lake_21305

Good Birding!!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
Carroll Co.
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbase.com/mctodd

=================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
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    ========================================================
[TN-Bird] Red-throated & Pacific Loons, White-winged Scoter; KY Lake

Other related posts:
