[TN-Bird] Spoonbill Update & etc

From: Michael Todd <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: TN Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 23:50:38 -0700
9/18/2014
Wildcat Creek Rd; Stewart Co

Made an afternoon visit over to Stewart Co for the recently reported Roseate 
Spoonbill in the area. I arrived about 5:30, and immediately had the bird in 
view along with about 8 Great Egrets. Visibility isn't great here, and has been 
mentioned the road is quite narrow and curvy here. The Spoonbill never fed or 
slept during the 20 minutes or so I watched it; just preened a bit but 
otherwise stood there. No shorebirds here except a single vocal Spotted.

The other highlight of the day was a massive flight of Broad-winged Hawks (by 
the standards of the western end of the state), just a bit west of Clarksville. 
I noticed a nice kettle of Turkey Vultures quite low, about 75 birds, and a few 
smaller specks in the sky above them. I wasn't at a good place to stop, but 
managed to finally, and quickly realized what at a glance was a few Broad-wings 
was in fact a sky full. The main body took up maybe a 1/2 mile of sky, with 
numerous stragglers outside the main group. I counted a conservative 650, and I 
know the leading edge of the flight was out of view when I started counting. 
The cloudcover was broken, and they were high enough to be quite hard to pick 
out against the blue part of the sky with the naked eye. They had good lift, no 
circling, all just in a steady glide southwest. There have been numerous big 
counts of Broad-winged the last couple of days from both TN and KY.

Stopped briefly as I was crossing the causeway at Paris Landing, where the 
island is much more exposed than my last visit; among the horde of Ring-billed 
and Caspian were a few Herring and 2 adult aspect Lesser Black-backed Gulls. My 
first pass thru Cross Creeks in several years was a total bust, practically no 
shorebird habitat, but some promising sparrow fields are there if they are wet 
at all.

This morning as I was leaving work, an adult Peregrine was sitting up in a dead 
snag along I-40 just west of Jackson in the Forked Deer River bottom.

I've added 4 somewhat distant photos of the Roseate Spoonbill to my current 
gallery, the first image is here if interested: 


http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/157442916/original 

Good Birding!!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbase.com/mctodd
[TN-Bird] Spoonbill Update & etc

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