[tn-bird] West TN Shorebirds
- From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 08:06:46 EDT
Aug 17-18, 2002
Along the Mississippi
At Ensley Saturday the Marbled Godwits had left but the Willet and 7 Wilson's
Phalarope remained. A couple of Black-bellied Plovers and a Baird's Sandpiper
were also located before I left for points north.
At Heloise and Everett's Lake I had 300 shorebirds of 9 species and 76
American White Pelicans.
At White Lake Refuge were just a sprinkling of birds with 16 Black-necked
Stilts squabbling and calling. Ten of these birds were adult males so that
might be the reason for the encounters. Even after much rain there is little
water to be had in the areas along the Great River Road. Again just a few
shorebirds at Black Bayou Refuge areas.
At Lake # 9 in Kentucky we ran across my first Common Snipe for the season
and had 10 species with hundreds of egrets and herons along with 5 DC
Cormorants.
At Island 13 we hit 15 species with a Golden-Plover added on Sunday. A large
group of 200 White Pelicans are bar hopping in the area. The best being the 6
Piping Plovers in view at one time (I believe this busts the state high
number handily my previous best being 3) along with my first Dunlin for the
season, 3 elegant Black-bellied Plovers, Sanderling and a Bairdâ??s Sandpiper.
The immature Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers were a joy with such close
encounters. There is only a small pool left at Island 13 and if the river
keeps going down it will not be worth the long walk but there is always one
encounter waiting there.
I went back early Sunday and crept up close and watched the birds for 2
hours. In studying the Piping Plovers (only 4 left) I found 3 immature and a
banded adult I have close up and personal shots of this bird plus a good
photo of the plastic bracelet it was wearing. In juggling my camera, lens,
scope and bins I dropped my camera in the sand but luckily the business side
was up. When I walked in on the upper end later I didn't think I was going
out far and left the camera in the truck and I'll kick myself from here to
Thursday because of the Great-tailed Grackle encounter. The magic of Island
13 even in its present diminished state always has something to offer.
Tiptonville Bar offered little in the way of shorebirds with Sanderling,
Least, Pectoral, Black-bellied Plover and Stilt Sandpiper but during the rain
on Sunday two adult Bald Eagles sat side by side on a log and waited for the
storm to pass.
Friday through Sunday produced 23 species of Wind Birds with no Upland nor
Buff-breasted seen. This brings my season total to 27 species and
looking............
Good Birding!!!
Jeff R. Wilson
OL' COOT / TLBA
Bartlett Tenn.
PS. Migration movement was very evident in swallows, Purple Martins and
Eastern Kingbirds with traveling groups encountered all along the way.
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