Sightings Report 1 & 3 May, 07 Wastewater Plants Shorebirds, Memphis, Shelby County After returning from 5 days of Galveston Tx beaches and 2 visits to High Island it was back to our local migration viewing. Stopped by our local treatment plants (the Pits) at lunch time Tues and Thurs. Not as many birds as expected but improved by Thursday, Blk-necked Stilts have paired up and several nest sites are visible on Pit 5 and up at Stiles Plant a lot more. Location: TN 2 Mem, Maxson Wastewater Lagoons(The Pits)/Earth Complex Observation date: 5/1/07,1150am-105pm Notes: Birded most of my time in #5 lagoon, C Geese goslings here and there in the tailings puddles. #4 virtually empty. #5 was looking pretty good as I spied two lg groups of scattered birds half way down the levee. However before I could start looking at them closely they all of a sudden became a fleeting blur. I looked up and saw Jeff Wilsons reported Perigrin Falcon coming out of an aborted dive, chasing all the birds from the main part of the lagoon to who know's where. He circled high for about 10 minutes and headed back to the tree perch. Birds left were the Group and pairs of Blk-necked Stilts, and the few birds around the edges along the levee's. The back corner proved to be a safe haven as a bunch of birds were back there. Spotted Sandpiper doing his tipsy turvy walk. Alot of Solitary's all along the levee's and especially in the back corner as well as the BW Teal. Bird of the day was the Spotted and a Northern Waterthrush also found feeding shoreside in the back corner. LBJ's all over the levee's Savannahs and Wht Throats. Number of species: 20 Canada Goose 21 Mallard 6 Blue-winged Teal 104 Peregrine Falcon 1 Killdeer 11 Black-necked Stilt 28 Lesser Yellowlegs X Solitary Sandpiper 21 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Least Sandpiper 17 Pectoral Sandpiper 19 Wilson's Snipe 1 Mourning Dove 9 Northern Mockingbird 1 European Starling 25 Northern Waterthrush 1 Savannah Sparrow 6 White-throated Sparrow 5 Red-winged Blackbird 30 Eastern Meadowlark 2 Location: TN, Stiles Wastewater Treatment Plant Observation date: 5/1/07, 225-245pm Notes: Quick stop to see whats present. No in depth count but for the stilts. A few Teal still hanging in the open water. More than 3/4 of the Blk-Necked Stilts were paired up and sitting on nests. Number of species: 12 Mallard 3 Blue-winged Teal 9 Killdeer X Black-necked Stilt 32 Lesser Yellowlegs X Solitary Sandpiper X Least Sandpiper X Pectoral Sandpiper X Rock Pigeon X Mourning Dove X European Starling X Red-winged Blackbird X Location: TN 2 Mem, Maxson Wastewater Lagoons(The Pits)/Earth Complex Observation date: 5/3/07, 1120am-1245pm Notes: Once again good number of Blk-necked Stilts. Lg flock at the end of Pit #5 had hundreds each of Pects and L Yellow legs. Solitarys everywhere along the levee's and in back corner . Spotted still there also. Bird of the Day were the two Willet seen mid lagoon on the far side. These big birds were hard to miss as they stood next to L yel Legs and Pects. @pair of Quail flushed on separate levee's, one pair just wouldn't fly off until they reached the end of the levee as I drove behind them. Todays late storm may bring more in for tomorrow. Met Ed Conrad on levee #5 who was in search of the White Rumps reported here yesterday by Jeff Wilson. Number of species: 21 Mallard 3 Blue-winged Teal X Northern Bobwhite 4 Great Blue Heron 1 Killdeer 11 Black-necked Stilt 27 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 400 Solitary Sandpiper 23 Willet 2 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Least Sandpiper 200 Pectoral Sandpiper 400 Wilson's Snipe 1 Mourning Dove 7 Northern Mockingbird 2 European Starling X Savannah Sparrow X White-throated Sparrow X Red-winged Blackbird X Eastern Meadowlark 1 John "Jay" Walko Collierville, Tn =================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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