[tn-bird] Reelfoot area -7/2/02 (Common Moorhen & White Ibis)

  • From: Mikectodd@xxxxxx
  • To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2002 23:22:25 EDT

Highlights of a hot day spent along the river.

I struck out on shorebirds (other than Killdeer) with the exception of a pair 
of Black-necked Stilts at the Phillippy Pits. The hope of a returning 
shorebird or two, along with White Ibis for the year, was the main draw to 
the river today. The waders more than made up for the shorebirds eluding me 
(there's always next week!).

My 1st surprise for the day was a brief but good look at an adult Common 
Moorhen from the levee behind the pumphouse at Black Bayou. The bird was 
working the edge of the heavy cover, and was seen briefly several times as it 
appeared and then disappeared back into the cover. I walked the mud down to 
the water's edge hoping for a photo op, or maybe a glimpse of young, but to 
no avail. Mark Greene saw a Moorhen back in May within a 1/2 mile of the 
location I had the bird today, so it's probably been in the area the whole 
time. The amount of habitat in the area offers ample hiding places for this 
bird, even though there have been a lot of trips made back into this area. 
The Pied-billed Grebes at Black Bayou seem to have done well, I encountered 
several striped-headed youngsters today.

As Jeff mentioned in his post, the female Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is still 
sitting on the nest, and in the few minutes I was there never left. I didn't 
see the male, but I wasn't there long. 

Ken Leggett, Nancy Moore, and myself went in Ken's Gator out to Island 13 for 
a scouting trip. Habitat looks good if it holds up, all we need are the 
shorebirds. Least Terns are all over the area.

The highlight of the day was the waders. As previously mentioned by others, 
Whites Lake is covered with Little Blue Herons and Great Egrets, with large 
concentrations of Great Egrets seen all along the levee. The other expected 
waders were represented as well, by various numbers. I drove the road out at 
Whites Lake with Ken and Betty Leggett, searching for the White Ibis that 
were seen there both yesterday and earlier today (Ken and Nancy had 4 there 
this morning). At times it looked like a blizzard with so many white birds in 
the air, but no White Ibis. I finally decided late this afternoon to walk the 
woodland trail into the observation platform. After several minutes of going 
back and forth through the birds both in the trees and in the pools, I 
finally found a single juvenile White Ibis. The bird was feeding in the heavy 
cover in the back side of the pools across the levee road from the platform. 
I watched the bird for about 30 minutes before it disappeared into the tall 
cover. I have a decent shot of the bird if anyone's interested. Hopefully 
before long we'll have Wood Storks and maybe a Plegadis Ibis or two in the 
area!

On a local note, Eurasian Collared-Doves are now reliable at two spots in 
McKenzie that I know of, and I saw one for the 1st time today near Gleason in 
Weakley Co., the expansion continues.

Good birding!!!!!!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
Carroll Co.
mikectodd@xxxxxx
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  • » [tn-bird] Reelfoot area -7/2/02 (Common Moorhen & White Ibis)