5/23/05 Shelby Co. I spent most of today birding around Ensley and the TVA Allen Steam Plant area, with a short trip to President's Island and Shelby Forrest and Eagle Lake. I made 5 different trips up to the area that Jeff had seen the Inca, for a total of over 4 hours of searching today. I arrived at 06:45 and stayed initially until 08:15, then returned at 09:45 for another hour, and repeated this a few more times, until I finally headed for home at about 3:30 this afternoon. Unfortunately no sign of the Dove, but it's really the needle in the haystack. Hopefully Jeff's luck will hold, and he can nail some kind of pattern with the bird. Maybe late afternoon will be the time? I spent my time up on the levee, and birding the Painted Bunting and dredge parking areas. Of interest this morning, were both Willow and Alder Flycatchers singing in the Painted Bunting area. This morning there were no Painteds to be found, but after lunch, and after the clouds cleared, 2 male Painteds were singing their hearts out. Shorebirds at the Pits were few and far between, with Semi Sands being far and away the most common birds. Others were a sprinkling of Least and only a handful of Pec's, with 1 Western, 2 White-rumped, and 3 Dunlin, along with 3 Stilt Sandpipers. Lesser Yellowlegs and Semi Plovers were also scattered about. I spent a little time enjoying the Western Kingbirds that are nesting in the area, hopefully another pair or two will show up yet this year. The Scissor-tails on President's Island also helped ease the disappointment of dipping on the Inca Dove, they are always a treat. The female is a striking bird, being very yellow on the flanks, with a shortish tail. A search on the web turned up similar birds, but a Western Kingbird x Scissor-tail cross comes to mind when looking at the bird. Who knows, Mr. Scissor-tail doesn't seem to mind. A quick trip up to Eagle Lake and Shelby Forrest produced nothing of note. Interesting day to be out, hope the Dove shows back up. I've posted a few shots from the day at: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/memphis_52305 . Clicking on any thumbnail will enlarge the picture. Good Birding!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN Carroll Co. birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx www.pbse.com/mctodd =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================