Douglas Lake (elevation: 957.5), 9/9/07, 5:30 - 8:00 PM, by canoe Cold front & rain moving in, so we took advantage of the late sunshine & went out to the muddiest flats to see who was stopping over. When we arrived at Dutch Bottoms, there were 100+ shorebirds present, but they all took flight as we were unloading. We went across the lake to Taylor's Bend and found a nice assortment of waterbirds. I was focussing on a greater yellowlegs when a killdeer called an alarm & a mass of shorebirds took flight. The yellowlegs proceeded to sink into the water down to its eyeballs, with a hunk of wing feathers showing behind. It slowly resumed feeding in a couple of minutes, while the peep flock dashed back & forth along the shore, then settled approximately where they'd begun. Fine example of energy conservation. Great egrets were still flying in to the shallows behind the long mudbar after sunset. It appears that they've moved their roost from Leadvale, 6 miles upriver, closer to the best fishing. Shorter commute, more energy conserved. Notable, and photographed, at Taylor's Bend today: Blue-winged teal (63) Great egret (212) Great blue heron (43) Semipalmated plover (12) Killdeer - many Greater yellowlegs (5) Lesser yellowlegs (14) Willet Spotted sandpiper (2) Ruddy turnstone (3) Solitary sandpiper (3) Semipalm. sandpiper Western sandpiper Least sandpiper >>>Peeps (80+, didn't pick through for a count, but looked for Baird's) Baird's sandpiper (1, then at least 4 at Dutch Bottoms in the growing darkness) Pectoral sandpiper (9) Stilt sandpiper (7) Short-billed dowitcher (2) Michael Sledjeski & Leslie Gibbens Del Rio 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. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ 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 ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________