[TN-Bird] West TN Weekend
- From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 20:02:29 EDT
May 17 - 18, 2003
Dyer & Lake Co. TN
After a wet but fantastic start at Ensley on Saturday, I headed north to see
what the weather had set down. They were setting up Road Closed signs at
Highway 88 just as I completed my transit in Lauderdale Co. From the bluff at
Porter's Gap to the Obion River Bridge, some 7 or 8 miles, there was nothing
but
water as far as you could see. Another 6 or 8 inches and all of this road would
have been under water. Water was coming over the highway in 8 places and the
last one was up to the middle of my tires. Highway 104, in Dyer Co, had already
been closed. Both of these roads were reopened by the time I returned at dusk
on Sunday.
I saw very little in Lauderdale Co. just a few Mallards, Woodies and a single
hen Hooded Duck. Along the Great River Road, again there was too much water
for any shorebirds but I found quite a few Least Terns and a couple of Black
Terns. Great Blue and Great Egrets were seen hunting in good number with a few
Snowy Egrets but again a dearth of Little Blue Herons. Since the drought these
birds have been almost nonexistent. Over the weekend I saw less than a dozen
Little Blues, when I would normally expect to see hundreds. It has been that
way for the last few seasons.
At the Great River Road and 79 Highway were 19 American White Pelicans,
synchronous feeding in line, a true slow motion ballet. Along this road, I
found
good numbers of Blue Grosbeaks traveling in groups of 6 to 10 and a few female
dominated flocks of Bobolinks. Dickcissel were calling from every perch along
the way. A single Olive-sided Flycatcher was a nice find in the evening near
Mud Lake. Just west of Ridgley I found a pair of Black-necked Stilts and we
were
to see more in that location on Sunday. Only a few Least and White-rumped
Sandpipers could be found in the rice fields at Black Bayou.
Sunday, I hooked up with Ken Allen from Florida and the Clendenens from
Chattanooga to search for a few birds for their TN lists. An early morning
visit
with Ken, to see if the Connecticut Warbler might still be hanging out off the
Island 13 Road, failed to produce one and only a few warblers were found. The
habitat was still marvelous but the birds had moved on. There was an invasion
of Yellow-billed Cuckoos with 5 in view and 3 others calling at the river. One
suspected Yellow-bellied Flycatcher got away before we could get sufficient
details. My new ears paid off again on many species and Grasshopper Sparrows
were located at the end of Is 13 Road. Eastern Kingbirds were hunting in good
numbers all along the river. A group of 129 Cattle Egrets were found feeding
along the Island 13 Road and more Bobolink flocks consisting again of mostly
females. The time to enjoy these bird is quickly drawing to a close for this
season.
On the levee road, I lucked up on another Olive-sided Flycatcher, a bird the
Clendenens needed for their TN List. We were rewarded with exceptional looks
from all sides as the bird caught insects from a perch inside the canopy. A 2
PM look for the Bell's Vireo, another bird for TN lists, was limitedly
successful with brief glances and the bird only sporadically spitting out short
snatches of song.
After lunch we checked a few places to the south. We met with Glenn Criswell
at the Black-necked Stilt area, west of Ridgley at Robinson Bayou and Hampton
Road. There were now 11 birds and we watched a pair copulate and another pair
collecting nesting material. I don't hold much hope for these birds to be
successful in this nesting adventure at this location. It will dry out too soon
and the area will be plowed.
While standing around enjoying these black and white beauties I heard a
distant Black-bellied Plover calling. Criswell left to go home but stopped
about
1/4 mile down the road and started waving at us. Soon 7 Black-bellied Plovers
took flight and flew over our group giving their lovely calls.
Criswell had told us he had had good numbers of shorebirds at the same
location he had found the BB Whistling Ducks last week, off Parker Road, so off
we
went. Here we found Killdeer, 39 Semipalmated Plovers, 2 Black-necked Stilts, 7
flyover Greater Yellowlegs, 50+ Least Sandpipers, 20+ Semipalmated SP, 100+
White-rumped Sandpipers, 2 Pectoral SP, and 60+ bright Red-backed SP (aka
Dunlin).
Dusk found Ken and I at Tenn-Mo Levee, enjoying the sunset with a teed up
Yellow-throated Warbler singing along with the songs of many other species
trying
to get in the last word before the sun set in the Mississippi River. A great
way to end a fine weekend.
Good Birding!!!
Jeff R. Wilson
OL' COOT / TLBA
Bartlett Tenn.
=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
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.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958
=========================================================
Other related posts:
