Location: TN 2 Mem, Maxson Wastewater Lagoons(The Pits)/Earth Complex Observation date: 5/18/08, 1045am-415pm Notes: Originally reported on our Local Rare Bird Reported Hotline as Blk-bellied Whistling Ducks. Good close looks with scopes revealed Fulvous Whistling-Ducks. See pictures at: http://www.pbase.com/jwalko/may18 <http://www.pbase.com/jwalko/may18&page=all> &page=all Ran into several other birders on "The Pits" today. Jeff Wilson and Robert Gooch, Virginia Reynolds and Caroline Bullock. I introduced Photographer Curt Hart to the Bottoms today and he was amazed at the diversity surrounding him. (And today was a slow day) Early birding revealed alot of bird movement since yesterday. While watching today shorebirds were moving in and out like it was grand central station. One moment there are loads of birds the next the E Train has left the station. 10 minutes later the next wave of migrants hit the beach. Blk-necked Stilts still spreadout over the Earth complex many sitting on nests and the rest off feeding in one of the many ponds. Dust is up and pollen count is up higher for you allergy sufferers. Wind is down a little from yesterday but still coming out of the SW. Hotspot these last few days has been the newly dug(this past year)holding basin just west of the main settling ponds along the limestone gravel roads. Holding mostly rainwater and has good hard sand/clay bottom. Best viewing is from atop the E-W levee. Counts for most shorebird species are probably way low birds were coming and going all day and I could have missed some birds while guiding/driving. Number of species: 45 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 17 Bird of the Day Mallard 15 Blue-winged Teal 9 Northern Bobwhite 6 Great Blue Heron 1 Great Egret 1 Green Heron 1 Turkey Vulture 3 Mississippi Kite 3 Broad-winged Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 3 American Coot 7 Killdeer 30 Black-necked Stilt 80+ Spotted Sandpiper 3 Lesser Yellowlegs 25+ Least Sandpiper 30+ Semipalmated Sandpiper 50+ White-rumped Sandpiper 6 Pectoral Sandpiper 7 Dunlin 19 Stilt Sandpiper 25 Short-billed Dowitcher 23+ Black Tern 2 Rock Pigeon 5 Mourning Dove X Eastern Kingbird 6 White-eyed Vireo 2 Red-eyed Vireo 1 American Crow 1 Tree Swallow 10 Barn Swallow 10 Carolina Wren 1 Eastern Bluebird 7 American Robin 3 Northern Mockingbird 2 European Starling X Song Sparrow 3 Northern Cardinal 2 Indigo Bunting 4 Dickcissel 7 Red-winged Blackbird X Eastern Meadowlark 5 Common Grackle X Brown-headed Cowbird X John "Jay" Walko Collierville, Tn http://www.pbase.com/jwalko =================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 _____________________________________________________________