[TN-Bird] Say's Phoebe still present plus Golden Eagle in Weakley Co
- From: Michael Todd <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: TN Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2013 10:44:37 -0800 (PST)
12/20/13
Weakley & Obion Co
Made a quick run after work to try for the Say's Phoebe Mark found yesterday.
On the way, had a surprise, and very brief, encounter with a juvenile Golden
Eagle in the Obion River bottom just south of Greenfield in Weakley Co. I
noticed a large dark raptor in the distance, which by sillouette had to be a
Golden; got stopped without killing myself and watched this young bird being
harassed by crows before quickly sailing out of sight. This was my first fairly
local Golden, and just goes to show they can turn up anywhere, not just the
refuges where I expect them at.
Ruben Stoll and his contingent of young birders had already seen and
photographed the Say's when I arrived (and Mark as well). Ruben had gotten
permission from the homeowner to be in the area, and we quickly had the bird on
a fence back behind the house. This bird is very active, and covered a wide
area in the 20 minutes or so we watched it, from behind the house, to fields on
both sides of the house, all the way down to pond right along the road. With
patience, if its keeps its current habits, it should be findable. It was
perching low most of the time today, on the ground in the short grass or on low
stobs, but did perch on poles and fences a good bit as well. It was quite
vocal, which I don't remember past Say's being, and its mournful call carried a
good distance. Hopefully it can avoid the male Harrier that was patrolling the
area regularly......
Ruben got some better photos before I arrived and will be posting I'm sure, but
I've places a few distant ones of it on various perches, as well as a couple of
the Golden in my winter 2013-2014 gallery. The first image is here:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/153850460/original
Great find Mark, you could drive by that area a 100 times without seeing that
bird! Thanks to Ruben & company for having the bird pretty well pinned down
when we got there. Ruben's group also had a quick look at a Spotted Towhee
along Pruitt Rd just before it hits Loyce Laster Rd. We couldn't relocate the
Spotted, or any of the group of birds it was with shortly afterwards.
Good Birding!!
Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbase.com/mctodd
Other related posts:
- » [TN-Bird] Say's Phoebe still present plus Golden Eagle in Weakley Co - Michael Todd
