2/19/05 Lauderdale Waterfowl Refuge (Lauderdale Co.) to Tiptonville area (Lake Co.) All, Following are the other highlights from our day yesterday, to go with the gull details I posted last night. Jeff and I met at about 08:30 at Lauderdale Waterfowl Refuge. Waterfowl numbers are way down here, with nothing out of the ordinary, though Redheads are a treat here. Shorebirds were the news here, with 10 Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Greater Yellowlegs (I had another Greater in Crocket Co. on the way over), and a Long-billed Dowitcher. We had another Long-billed Dowitcher later at Mud Lake in Lake Co. Not a bird you expect to find in TN if February, and these would have to be among the few, if any, records for this time of year. Still more likely than a Short-billed though! From Lauderdale we worked our way north along the Great River Rd. We had several interesting Red-tails along the way, including 3 adult dark-morph Westerns (I had an adult rufous-morph on the way over in Carroll Co. at a new location for me), and a gorgeous Krider's. Ducks were in every suitable wet spot, including Blue-winged Teal in 4 different locations, so the vanguard of their migration has arrived. We had thousands of Green-winged Teal to go through, with many American Wigeons as well, but neither a Common Teal or Eurasian Wigeon made an appearance. Another early bird was a single Tree Swallow in Dyer Co. We also had 4 Cackling Geese off of Hurd Loop Rd in Dyer Co. They were with the only large Snow/Ross's flock of the day, with a few Greater White-fronts thrown in. The remainder of the day was spent going through gulls on Van Works Rd, which was already covered. Jeff and Nancy are still there going through the birds, as she has posted it has already been another amazing day up there, in the face of miserable weather. I have created a gallery with a few shots from yesterday, none of which are very good. I have photos of Long-billed Dowitcher and Iceland, Thayer's, and California Gulls. I think Jeff will have some better shots to post, but if anyone is interested try: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/gulls_of_reelfoot , as usual, clicking on a thumbnail will bring up the full-size photo. 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================