Did some incidental birding on Pickwick Lake via boat on Saturday. Mississippi:
mouth of Yellow Creek to Scruggs Bridge (Hwy 25) on the Tenn-Tom Waterway, then
up the main TN river channel to Indian Creek and Eastport at the mouth of Bear
Creek. Also Tennessee: below the dam via automobile.
Cliff Swallows were numerous under all bridges, plus under tall sheds over
marinas.
Ospreys love nesting atop the channel markers which coincidentally happen to be
labeled with mile markers. 5 individuals and 2 nests in Tishomingo Co, MS; plus
3 individuals in Hardin Co, TN below the dam at the historic nest atop the
distribution center.
Many Great Blue Herons, 9 Double-crested Cormorants, and only 1 Great Egret.
Much waterfront and too little time to cover it; surely there are many more
Osprey.
Also in Hardin Co, TN we drove below the dam on Wharf Rd. to the 2 TVA
towers/boat ramp area and observed a happy Scissor-tailed Flycatcher couple
flycatching and, along with an Eastern Kingbird, mob one of the many Black
Vultures perched there. (Btw, 1990 was the first Pickwick Dam STFL entered
into eBird. 1964, Shelby County along Lakeview levee, was the first TN/MS line
STFL that I could locate in The Migrant.)
On the TVA campground under the pines was my personal first juvenile Pine
Warbler (earliest nesting warbler in TN, Nicholson.)
Ran out of time so couldn't search long enough for juvenile Brown-headed
Nuthatches.
Good birding to all and stay cool!
Gaynell Perry
Memphis
P.S. GPS tracking was indispensable over open water teetering on boundaries of
3 counties in 3 states.
