[TN-Bird] Dyer & Lake County birds

From: "Daniel B. Estabrooks" <dbe2g@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2012 18:08:51 +0000

Thanks to those who responded to my plea for help. With all the traveling I've 
been doing in the last couple months, I've posted help requests to a lot of 
different state lists, and this group was the most helpful of all.

Not counting Killdeer, I saw exactly one shorebird over two days - a Spotted 
Sandpiper at White Lake Refuge. So that part of the birding experience was a 
resounding dud. There wasn't even anything on the sand across from the old 
Tiptonville ferry dock.

However, there were a few other things that caught my attention. I don't know 
the area well enough to know what's interesting there, but these were some 
things that got me excited:

WHITE LAKE REFUGE - Dyer County
The highlight was a pair of Nashville Warblers. Also saw a Dickcissel hiding in 
a large swarm of Indigo Buntings and a flock of several hundred Cliff Swallows.

PONDS AT 1-155 & GREAT RIVER RD. - Dyer County
Good diversity of herons, including a Cattle Egret.

OLD TIPTONVILLE FERRY DOCK - Lake County
Bald Eagle on the sandbar, and 4 Black Terns flew down the river. Swallows were 
absolutely everywhere, including a few Bank Swallows, which was a lifer for me.

I also ran into a large flock of passerines on some random dirt road in Lake 
County. (I'd give more detailed locality info if I had any idea where I was. 
Apparently they don't believe in road signs in Lake County.) Anyway, there was 
a Black-and-white Warbler singing a very strange song amongst a bunch of other 
common birds. The song started out with the typical "weesee weesee" and then 
went into a rather prolonged jumble. Also got a very brief look at an Empid 
that was very yellow, but I didn't feel like I saw it quite well enough to rule 
out Acadian. Are Yellow-bellied Flycatchers common migrants in this area?

Daniel Estabrooks

[TN-Bird] Dyer & Lake County birds

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