[TN-Bird] A Third Ruff at Memphis! - Photo
- From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
- To: missbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, ARBIRD-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, albirds@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 23:48:50 EDT
May 4, 2005
Ensley Bottoms
Shelby Co. TN
I met Gail King at the pits early Wednesday and we quickly found a female
Ruff (Reeve) plus White-rumped and Baird's Sandpiper before the small male
Peregrine went to work. There were more shorebirds at the pits than I've ever
seen before in the spring and all were in the air in great convulsing clouds.
The birds were hell bent not to become breakfast. Before I had to leave we saw
the Peregrine make 4 different trips over the pits without scoring a hit. The
bird would hunt, then rest and have another go.
Jim Peters and Don Davidson came in from Manchester, TN, for a try for Jim's
lifer Ruff and spent 3 hours looking before the birds settled down and they
located the Reeve in the afternoon. Gail came back later with her mother and
they were joined by Linda Zemple. When Pete Peterson and I arrived at 4 PM,
they had nailed the Reeve down and it was feeding at the south end of the pits.
There were definitely fewer birds than Gail and I had that morning. The
Peregrine syndrome had taken effect and cut the numbers way down.
Coming down the levee, I had seen 6 adult female Wilson's Phalarope doing
their spinning thing and one male playing it safe in a location remote from the
whirling girlies. We had great looks at quite a few White-rumped Sandpipers
and distant but great looks at a handsome Baird's Sandpiper. A total of 20
species of Wind Birds were rooted out.
Gail and her mom left and Jim and company headed to get some Memphis
Bar-B-Q, before their 5 hour plus trip home. Believe me, the drive is shorter
when
you got your lifer than when you missed it.
Pete and I visited a few more pools and we found another Reeve, much
different in color and even size than my previous 2. The bird was much lighter
and
less colorfully marked than the bird we had been watching all day. We hurried
back to check on the other Ruff and found it preening at its regular haunt.
As we were leaving, I got a call from Gail, she wanted to know if we had
gone to the front pools before we left. She had found a bird there but it was
so
different from any Reeve she had seen before (her first was today;o) that she
was not sure the bird was a Reeve. I told her we had seen the bird also and
she was quite proud that they had ferreted out the odd bird in such a large
flock of look alike Legs.
I posted a head shot on my wed site that I got just before the bird flew
north and left Reeve Central. We later watched many groups of various numbers
fly overhead with much chittering about their trip north.
It has been a RUFF two days...........
Good Birding!!!
Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA
Bartlett, TN
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