I made a quick trip up to KY Lake again today, to check on the Mottled Ducks
and also check Paris Landing for any Rita birds.
When I arrived at the Eagle Creek flats at about 09:30 this morning, the two
Mottled Ducks were off to themselves, feeding on the upper area of the
grassy flats. More ducks are here now, with at least 200 Blue-winged Teal,
which have been joined by a few Green-wings. Pintail numbers are up to about
8, and there are a couple of Gadwall and Shovelers. The only Mallards are a
small group that the Mottled Ducks like to hang around with, when they
aren't off to themselves.
There was a Bald Eagle that was harassing the birds the whole time I was
there this morning, causing all of the ducks to get up and fly around
several times. All of the ducks wound up out in the water off of the flats,
but still back in this little bay. At times they get on the other side of
the island that is immediately in front of the observation area, so you may
have to walk down a bit to get a
clear shot. When I stopped back by, about 12:30, after going to Paris
Landing, the two Mottleds were feeding with the small group of Mallards,
upending constantly. They were near the far shore at this time.
Other birds here this morning included a juv. American Golden-Plover and
Baird's Sandpiper, as well as a couple of Wilson's Snipe. Otherwise just
Killdeer, a couple of dozen Pectorals, and a handful of Least.
Paris Landing had an interesting assortment of birds, nothing rare though.
There was much action and trading in and out on the island south of the
bridge. Among the horde of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, and Caspian Terns,
were the following:
adult Lesser Black-backed Gull
10+ Laughing Gulls (about evenly split between juv/1st-winter types and
2nd-winter/adult types)
2 Black Terns
4 Forster's Terns
7 Common Terns
I enjoyed close to two hours scanning the area, but nothing unusual was
seen.
I have posted one more distant photo of the Mottled Ducks, showing the two
birds together (and the dark tail of one of the birds that's tipped-up). It
is the last photo in the Mottled Duck gallery:
http://upload.pbase.com/mctodd/gallery/mottled_duck
I should be able to get back up there Thursday or Friday and see if the
birds are still there. If anyone is planning a long-distance trip to try for
the birds let me know, and I'll definitely try and get up there towards the
end of the week.
Good Birding!!
Mike Todd McKenzie, TN Carroll Co. birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx www.pbase.com/mctodd
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