[TN-Bird] WESTERN GREBE, RT Loon, Brewer's BB - Grainger/Jefferson
- From: kde@xxxxxxx
- To: Tennessee Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:44:08 -0500 (EST)
I had a very productive day of birding around the Jefferson City
and Cherokee Dam area in East TN Sunday afternoon (28 Dec 2008).
Sounds like one of my birding dreams but I still haven't woken up.
Short version:
WESTERN GREBE and 2 RED-THROATED LOONs on Cherokee Lake. Seen
from the boat ramp on Lakeshore Rd on the Grainger Co side of the
dam. Take Hwy 92 north past the dam and turn right at the next
intersection onto Lakeshore Dr (Hwy 375). Just past the gated
road to the dam, turn right onto a dirt road to the boat launch.
This turn is hard to see and drops off quickly from the road.
The birds were seen well out on the main channel of the lake.
A scope is certainly required.
BREWER'S BLACKBIRDs, 2 male, 4 female in a flock of Rusty Blackbirds
and Am Robins feeding in agricultural fields along Odyssey Rd in
Jefferson City. This road forms the intersection at Wal-mart
and Lowe's with US Hwy 11-E.
Longer version:
Birding started slow at Cherokee Dam (Jefferson/Grainger Co., TN)
with nothing of interest from the Jefferson Co side and only several
Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls and Black-crowned Night-Herons
on the Holston River below the dam. Things picked up a bit when
I moved to the boat launch on the Grainger Co side of the dam
with several Common Loons, Horned Grebe, and some ducks. I was
about to call it a day with the best birds being 3 HERRING GULLs
(2 1st-winter, 1 2nd-winter) when I spotted a RED-THROATED LOON
out in the main channel on my last scan of the lake. I watched
it dive and preen for a while then scanned some more and came
across another Red-throated Loon a little further downstream.
A quick check confirmed the other bird was still there and I
eventually had both birds swimming together just yards apart.
Later, I started to pack up again and made another 'last' scan.
This time I came across a group of 4 Common Loons closer in.
As I checked each bird in the line to make sure it was a Common,
I came to a 5th bird that dropped my jaw: a WESTERN GREBE! This
guy came in fairly close (about 1/4 mile) just to the other side
of the island at the bottom of the boat ramp (which was probably
a penninsula before the recent rains). I tried to get some
photos but they probably aren't any good. If they are, I'll
post them once I get them off the camera. The bird was seen
well and had a dull bill with dark cap extending to the eye.
Also the dark on the back of the neck was quite thick unlike on
Clark's Grebe. I've seen thousands of both Western and Clark's
in California; this is my 2nd Western Grebe in TN. The TBRC
lists Western Grebe as Accidental.
Finally did pack up (and, yes, I did make one more 'last' scan
but nothing else dropped out of the blue) and headed on toward
my parents' house (my original destination). As I drove up
Odyssey Rd, a large mixed flock of about 200+ birds flushed from
agricultural fields on the south side of the railroad tracks.
About 75 of them landed in the trees lining the road. These
were split about evenly between Am Robins and RUSTY BLACKBIRDs
with at least one female Red-winged Blackbird thrown in. Growing
up, I would often get a few Brewer's Blackbirds in flocks in
this area but haven't seen any here since the mid-1990s. So
I looked through them carefully and finally picked out 2 male
BREWER'S BLACKBIRDs then 4 dark-eyed, uniformly grey females.
Unfortunately, another car came by and flushed them all before
I could get a photo. The whole lot flew off to the west. Dad
said there have been flocks of 'blackbirds' here all winter so
chances are good for spotting them again.
Like I said, sounds like one of my birding dreams.
Highlights (at Cherokee Dam in Grainger Co unless noted):
Canada Goose, 30+
Gadwall, 4+
Am Wigeon, 2-3
Mallard, 50+
Bufflehead, 1
RED-THROATED LOON, 2 (seen in Grainger and Jefferson Co)
Common Loon, ~20
Horned Grebe, 50+
Pied-billed Grebe, 2
WESTERN GREBE, 1 (seen in Grainger and Jefferson Co)
Black-crowned Night-Heron, few below the dam
Bonaparte's Gull, 100+
Ring-billed Gull, 100+
HERRING GULL, 3 (2 1st-winter, 1 2nd-winter) uncommon here
Eurasian Collared-Dove, 1 in usual spot on 11-E in New Market (JCo)
American Pipit, 1
RUSTY BLACKBIRD, 30-40 (Odyssey Rd, Jefferson Co)
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD, 6 (2 male, 4 female), Odyssey Rd, Jefferson Co
Dean Edwards
Knoxville, TN
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