April 1, 2007 Ensley Bottoms Shelby Co. TN The Hudsonian Godwit was found again early Sunday morning and photographed. The storm front moving up from the Texas coast evidently swept this super bird along and dropped it at the pits. This is an early arrival for TN by just over 2 weeks but there are records in this time frame from states to our west which fall in the migration patterns for this bird. Storm events are responsible for most of our records of large shorebirds because they normally over fly our area after leaving the coast due to their fast flight and long-distant capabilities. Recent telemetry studies show 3-4,000+ mile non-stop flights by some of the trans-ocean godwits in the Pacific. Even with better looks at the plumage in good light, I could not be sure as to the sex but I felt the bird's feathering suited female more than first year male. After being pushed down by Saturday's bad weather, it nervously moved around occasionally giving a call that the Black-necked Stilts reacted to again and again. Single birds calling do not usually stick around. It was first found in the rear and then twice more up in the small pools in the tailing piles. Other birds were on the move and for about 45 minutes there were 10 Long-billed Dowitchers trading around the pits but they never settled to feed but just to stand, preen and rest for a few minutes; "zugunruhe" had their engines revved and soon they were heading north over the steam plant. A few other pods of Wind Birds came and left over the next few hours and sometime in all the hustling about, the godwit disappeared. Five and a half hours, searching the pools and fields, plus sitting and watching the birds' movements yielded: Eleven WIND BIRD species with many Killdeer at scrapes, one with a single egg, NO Golden-Plovers, 26 Solitary Sandpipers, 8 Greater Yellowlegs, 48 Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 HUDSONIAN GODWIT, 7 Black-necked Stilts (3 pair and a bachelor) 156+ Least Sandpipers, 32 Pectoral Sandpipers, 10 Long-billed Dowitcher, 8 Wilson's Snipe and a single Baird's Sandpiper left over from Saturday. Three resident Red-tailed Hawks, 2 high Red-tail travelers, 4 Kestrel and 2 pair of displaying Red-shouldered Hawks were all the raptors seen Sunday. A few Turkey Vultures and a trio of Black Vultures lolled about in the breeze plus the Great Horned Owl sat in a tree next to the youngsters in the nest and enjoyed the morning sun. A photo of the Hudsonian and a couple of Great Horned Owls at nests can be viewed at: _http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/new_2007_ (http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/new_2007) Good Birding !!! Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA 6298 Memphis-Arlington Road Bartlett, TN 38135 ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. =================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 _____________________________________________________________