[tn-bird] August Big Day
- From: "Desgrosellier, Jay" <jay.desgrosellier@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 10:37:44 -0500
Saturday August 31, 2002
Reelfoot Lake (Lake Co.) to Memphis (Shelby Co.), TN
5am - 8pm
276 miles
Still smarting from our near miss in July, Chris Sloan and myself took our best
stab at the August big day record only to come up even further behind. We ended
up a little short of the old record and way short of the new record that Jeff
and Mike set on Saturday by doing the same route backwards.
We began the day in the Reelfoot Area at 5 am. A little patience payed off when
the Tiptonville BARN OWL finally appeared like a ghost out of the darkness. Our
usual spot for EASTERN SCREECH-OWL was also productive, though we ended up
finding 4 more owls during the day, the last one as late as 10 am! Since we
both really wanted to find the BELL'S VIREO we decided to hold vigil along the
treeline just before sunrise figuring the bird would start singing around that
time. We were rewarded with the vireo, but not until about an hour after
sunrise! In the meantime we picked up a few good birds such as COOPER'S HAWK,
NORTHERN BOBWHITE, CEDAR WAXWING, DICKCISSEL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, RED-SHOULDERED
HAWK and our first of many migrating GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHERS.
A quick trip into the Phillipy Unit of Black Bayou NWR yielded our first flock
of migrant passerines. We quickly added YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, WARBLING
VIREO, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, WHITE-EYED VIREO, BALTIMORE ORIOLE and ACADIAN
FLYCATCHER.
The closure of Walnut Log Road hurt our route, but a quick trip in as far as
the "Road Closed" signs yielded some more migrant passerines including AMERICAN
REDSTART, PRAIRIE WARBLER, YELLOW-THROATED VIREO and NORTHERN PARULA.
The ridges along the east side of Reelfoot Lake were again productive. Here we
found OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, BELTED KINGFISHER, SUMMER TANAGER, ORCHARD
ORIOLE, BLUE-WINGED WARBLER and BLACK and WHITE WARBLER. Reelfoot Lake itself
was not very productive. The only tern found was a distant FORSTER'S TERN and
two OSPREY rounded out our additions from the lake. A quick check of
Tiptonville Bar found a single BLACK TERN and numerous LEAST TERN, as well as
good looks at a couple of BANK SWALLOWS.
Heading south from Reelfoot we were able to eke out a single EURASIAN COLLARED
DOVE flying over a field south of Ridgley. Whites Lake NWR continues to have
some shorebird habitat. A quick count found nearly 20 BLACK-NECKED STILTS here
as well as numerous LESSER YELLOWLEGS a single GREATER YELLOWLEGS, SOLITARY,
SPOTTED, PECTORAL, LEAST and STILT SANDPIPERS and a single juvenile
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. Everett's Lake was also productive. Again we found
about 100+ AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN'S in two groups on the lake. Also here was a
nice flock of about 50+ SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS and our only WOOD DUCKS on the
day.
From there it was off to Memphis at 2:30 pm, about an hour behind schedule. We
were disappointed by several misses that morning, but were heartened by a tally
of 103 species at that point in the day. Little did we know that when we
finally hit the pits at 4:30 pm that the place would be dead. This was really
surprising considering that the place had apparently just experienced a
thunderstorm. The mudflats looked bare compared to what I've witnessed there in
the past. The majority of the birds were LEAST SANDPIPERS, with relatively few
pecs compared to what I'm used to seeing here. However we still managed to find
a couple of WESTERN SANDPIPERS in the mix. Probably the best find of the day
was when I got on a largish looking shorebird off by itself. The bird looked
extremely disheveled and didn't move an inch, even when every other bird in its
vicinity took flight in response to some unknown threat. After some thorough
head scratching we identified the bird as a very worn RUFF. While observing
this bird we made the cardinal sin of taking our eyes off it for just a second.
That was all it took, as by the time we looked up the bird was gone! It was one
of the most amazing disappearing acts I've ever witnessed. A bird that wouldn't
even move just got up and left in an instant! That was the highlight of our
time in Memphis as few other birds were added. In fact we added only 5 birds
while in Memphis, so our total stood at a paultry 108 species by 5:30 pm.
Knowing that the record was a longshot we decided to try for the wood storks
and spoonbills seen earlier in the week. This proved to be a fatal mistake. The
long drive coupled with our unfamiliarity with the area led to quite an
adventure which ate up our remaining daylight. By the time we navigated the
roads to Mud Lake we had but a few minutes of daylight remaining. The trees
were full of GREAT EGRETS and GREAT BLUE HERONS, but nothing else could be
seen. We decided to walk down to the waters edge for an unobstructed view, only
to find ourselves in the middle of a torcherous brier patch. After adding no
new species and bleeding from our encounter with the thorns we called it a day
and began the long journey home to lick our wounds and plan for next month!
We ended the day at 108 species with 8 species of warblers and only 14 species
of shorebirds. Of course, the Bell's Vireo and the Ruff were nice consolation
prizes for a great day in the field!
Good Birding!
Jay Desgrosellier
Nashville, TN
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