[TN-Bird] ChangingTimes / West TN
- From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 23:51:15 EDT
Sept. 17-18-19, 2004
Ensley to Reelfoot and Back.
I was thinking about chasing a few storm birds Friday but work reared its
ugly head, so I settled for a late trip to the pits. Ten species of shorebirds
were seen on a quick run around. Black-necked Stilts were down to about a half
dozen birds in two family groups. On Saturday they were down to 3 and by Sunday
afternoon there were none. The first hint that ducks were moving was four
that dropped in from on high. In their swirling decent, I recognized three but
the smaller fourth was a surprise, an immature plumaged female Wigeon, hanging
with the big boys. At TVA Lake was the Osprey that has hung in the sky with
such grace in recent weeks. It has a favored perch that is almost hidden where
it
sits when resting or feeding on the days catch.
A Snowy Egret decided to go to roost in the reeds and settled down where a
few Red-winged Blackbirds had tucked themselves in. While watching the Snowy,
it
was joined at 5 minute intervals by 3 Least Bitterns that flew in and crawled
down into the vegetation with in a few feet of the hunkered Snowy Egret. By
the time I left at 7 PM, there were 165 Mallards, 2 Wood Ducks, 10 Shoveler and
a single Pintail, fall was in the air in more ways than one.
Saturday, I started at the River and the Mississippi is again hauling trash,
indicating it is still rising. It had dropped 11 feet in 7 days and now it has
risen 13 in the same period of time. It has snatched the sandbars back after
it tantalizingly exposed these possible rarity havens for the umpteenth time
this year. The pits at Ensley were still changing, the North wind that had
blown Ivan from our doors here in Memphis, continued to bring in and sweep out
birds. The horde of Least Sandpipers are still a pleasure to look through and
the
seen and unseen raptors kept them and the others in the air in tight
undulating flocks that at a distance looked more like frantic amoebas rather
than
birds.
Some species are represented by singles now, Solitary, Spotted and Baird's
made that list. Western Sandpipers finally out number the Semipalmated but one
adult Semi was looking rough and is late. After waiting for the wind birds to
settle until noon, which they didn't, I headed north.
At Eagle Lake, I found 9 Killdeer and 12 Least Sandpipers but made up for the
disappointment with 12 species of warblers and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in
a little hollow in the trees, the exact place I had one this time last year.
Flycatchers were everywhere but only the YB, Least, Phoebe and Peewee revealed
their identity.
I looked for all my old sandy places along the river and finally found the
Hatchie Bar with head still raised and there I added 2 immature Sanderling and
a
Spotted Sandpiper. From the Hatchie north to the Obion River, I had "Nada" on
the river.
On Sunday, I continued along the river seeing nothing; White Lake, Loop Road
at 103, Black Bayou were all dry, I know it sure sounds funny to you guys in
the East but we need rain over this way. The Ibis Hole finally produced with 23
Killdeer, 33 Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, 8 Least Sandpipers, 3
Pectoral 13 Stilt, 3 immature Short-billed Dowitchers and a Wilson's Snipe
bringing the weekend total of Wind Birds to 16 species. On the way back south,
a
sliver of sand at Tiptonville Landing produced 1 Caspian Tern and 1 Ring-billed
Gull. Reelfoot Lake did not have ONE tern of any kind but DC Cormorants were
everywhere.
Back to the Ensley pits late Sunday only to find that the shorebird numbers
had been whittled to one-third over night!! Hopefully this wind will bring in
replacements in the next couple of days. Two immature Caspian Terns were seen
at TVA Lake along with 132 Mallards, 16 Shovels and 27 DC Cormorants. The
Osprey still hangs...........
Good Birding!!!
Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA
Bartlett, TN
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