May 8, 2008 Ensley Bottoms Shelby Co. TN I got a call from Robert Gooch about a small flock of Sandhill Cranes seen flying northwest down in the southwest corner of Memphis, just after the rain this AM. This is the 3rd occurrence of Sandhills in May that I know about in west TN. Anyhow, I told him I was going to try to get down to the pits this afternoon and he said he would meet me around 4:30 or 5. As I was pulling in, I got a call from him about 2 Godwits that had flush and headed northward but staying low and he had found a flock of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks on one of the levees. I scanned the new flooded ponds to the north and flushed two MARBLED GODWITS from the central pond. They flew back to a weeded area but could be seen from the north gravel road. I hurried back to the back ponds and joined Robert, who had 16 LIFER BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS perch on a distant levee. We scoped these beauties and I started to see groups of shorebirds returning to the marsh areas. It appeared that a Peregrine was around (confirmed later). We spent a couple of hours getting good looks at two more lifers for him and I started counting numbers and species. 18 Species of WIND BIRDS (*many hidden in weeds) consisting of the following: Semipalmated Plover - 3, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilts (GOBS), Greater Yellowlegs - 1, Lesser Yellowlegs - 167+, Solitary Sandpiper - 5, Spotted Sandpiper -2, MARBLED GODWIT -2, Semipalmated Sandpiper - 78+, Western Sandpiper -1, Least Sandpiper - 235+, White-rumped Sandpiper - 26, Pectoral Sandpiper - 60+, Dunlin - 8, Stilt Sandpiper 264+, Short-billed Dowitcher 8, Long-billed Dowitcher - 1, WILSON'S PHALAROPE - 22 (14 Female - 8 male). The Peregrine returned and stirred everybody, including the Whistling Ducks, these flew back to the rear of the southeast pit and settled in and I left them dozing. Hopefully they will hang for a while..................... Good Birding !!! Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA 6300 Memphis-Arlington Road Bartlett, TN 38135 http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/ What is this feathered thing that lifts my heart to the heavens. **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) =================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/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________