5/2/07 Reelfoot Lake area (Obion & Lake Co.) Walnut Log (Obion Co.) over to Phillipy & Black Bayou area I spent all day at Reelfoot Lake yesterday, finally arriving early enough to enjoy a nice day on Walnut Log. Warbler variety was pretty good, though I didn't have near the numbers of birds that were seen at Radnor Lake yesterday. Otherwise, I finally go there early enough for Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, which I had missed my last couple of trips. Thrushes were in short supply, with none singing other than Wood Thrush; Swainson's was the only other one on the day. Another new addition for the year, finally, was Yellow-billed Cuckoo, with several singing. Warblers seen were: Blue-winged Warbler: 1 female Golden-winged Warbler: 1 male Tennessee Warbler: many Nashville Warbler: 6 Northern Parula Yellow Warbler: one on the Log, several more later in day Chestnut-sided Warbler: 3 Magnolia Warbler: 7 Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler: 1 heard Blackburnian Warbler: 2 heard Yellow-throated Warbler Palm Warbler Blackpoll Warbler: 2 Black-and-white Warbler: 1 American Redstart: 5 Prothonotary Warbler Swainson's Warbler: one in same location as last visit Ovenbird: 1 heard Northern Waterthrush: several over day LA Waterthrush: 1 heard Kentucky Warbler: many Common Yellowthroat Yellow-breasted Chat I left Walnut Log and went around the top end of the Lake to get to the Phillipy area. I stopped at the same spot just north of Long Point (in KY) where there was a shorebird concentration last week. Semipalmated Plover numbers have grown to a whopping 86, and I'm sure I missed some in the grass. Otherwise, a lot of Pec, Least, and Yellowlegs. I didn't even go into Long Point, as there is no shorebird habitat there. Also in KY I had a singing Marsh Wren, and a couple of Lincoln's Sparrows that popped-up for me. I spent most of the day in the general Phillipy and Black Bayou areas. I did not refind the Ruff, despite looking numerous times throughout the area. I arrived at Phillipy just as a heavy rain started. I was sitting there with my window cracked, when I heard the wonderful sound of Black-bellied Plovers. Six of these beauties dropped into the pit on the north side of the road, and two of them were in what looked to be full-alternate plumage. I had hoped for a photo of them, but literally within minutes of the rain moving on, these birds called and were gone. Lots of birds in the area still, with 15 White-rumped Sandpipers counted, nice for early-May. Pectorals are the dominant bird here now, with an easy 500 in the area. It took a lot of looking to finally pull a couple of Semipalmated Sandpipers out of the mix here. I checked the field a couple of times that Mark had the Ruff in on Tuesday, with no luck. Finally did get a couple of Black-necked Stilts there. Didn't see any Stilt Sandpipers all day. The Ibis Hole was pretty quiet with the exception of 5 nice Long-billed Dowitchers. I was able to get close enough to them to get some semi-decent shots, for ID purposes. When I returned to the Phillipy Pits again, after another shower, a pair of breeding-plumage Wilson's Phalaropes were in close. I called Nancy Moore and she was able to get there just as the rain started again, she got great looks at the Phalaropes and we looked at some White-rumps as well. I couldn't match the shorebird list Jeff had at Memphis, but 14 species in that little area wasn't bad, and I'd add a couple more at Black Bayou. I wanted to check on the Bell's Vireos at Black Bayou, and they don't seem to be in yet. On the way back though I flushed a Sora, and kicked up several more Lincoln's Sparrows, for a 9 Sparrow day. The shorebird pond at Black Bayou looks alright, though nothing of interest there except some Snipe. On the way out, I stopped and looked at the flooded field on the southwest side of the road on the Black Bayou loop, just before you get back out to the highway. This field had 11 more Wilson's Phalaropes (6 female, 5 male), and at least 30 Dowitchers. It started to rain again while I was on my way out there; most of the Dowitchers structurally looked like Long-billed, but a couple of the closer ones were nice bright Short-bills. The distant Dowitchers I didn't get to get any details on. Over the last few days, Dickcissels have really taken over. I heard Bobolinks overhead one time, but didn't see any. I had hoped to get to the Lake, but ran out of time. Still, with the limited areas I went to, I had 134 species on the day. 150 would have been very doable if I had been trying to run up a list. I've posted several shots from the day (Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Lincoln's Sparrow, Dowitchers, White-rumps, Phalaropes, etc) in my Spring 2007 gallery. If interested, the images start here: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/78158131 , or you can just go to the gallery at: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/spring_2007 , with new images being towards the bottom of the page. Good Birding!! 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. 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