5/5/08 Mississippi River area of Lauderdale, Dyer & Lake Co Reelfoot Lake (Keystone area) Lake Co I made a pretty unproductive trip birding along the Mississippi today. Highlight was an ultra-cooperative Common Moorhen at Chickasaw NWR. I seldom get this species anymore in TN, doing good to get one a year, and not always that. They were regular at Reelfoot not too many years ago. The Moorhen was 1st seen this morning, in the company of 6 Coots in a small vegetated pool alongside Dee Webb Rd, about a mile from the west end where it intersects Hales Point Barr Rd. The Moorhen and Coots quickly retreated this morning when I stopped, moving out of sight in the dry vegetation behind the pool. This pool is on the north side of the road, and there is a ditch running from the south side of the road, out into a fairly large flooded field. This is the only place like this on the west end of the road. Also here this morning was an immature Peregrine sitting in a large tree in one of the fields. I came back by this location later in the afternoon, and the Moorhen and Coots were back out in the open. I sat there in the car for about 30 minutes, and they paid me no attention this time, staying out in the open most of the time. At times the Moorhen was less than 10 yards from my car, at times out of sight because of the angle I was looking at. It finally decided to cross the gravel road in front of me, and got down in the ditch going out to the flooded stubble field. This is where it was heading when I left. Otherwise, not much going on today. I did get a few year birds though. Bobolinks (finally), Philadelphia Vireo, after hearing a couple of birds that were surely Phillies, but not being able to find them; this singing bird was more cooperative. Warblers were highlighted by Orange-crowned and Wilson's, both FOS for me. TN and Blackpoll, along with Yellow-rumped were by far the most common transient warblers today. Only other ones of any interest were Nashville, Cape May, and Chestnut-sided. Shorebirding was terrible. Either too much water in traditional good areas near the Obion River, or most other areas are about dry. I had only 10 species for the day, with only a handful of any of them. A nice breeding-plumage Black-bellied Plover near Ridgely was the only one of note. A look at the lake produced several Forster's Terns and Ring-bills, but nothing else. I have posted several photos of the Moorhen, as well as of a couple of warblers that were cooperative from today. If interested, the new images start here: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/96653758 , the 1st couple of shots of the Moorhen are a little farther off, then the closer shots. Good Birding!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxx www.pbse.com/mctodd =================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 _____________________________________________________________