Cove Lake State Park, Campbell County , TN 2-17-2003 Cloudy-windy with temps dropping Cove Lake HAS RETURNED! With the draining of Cove Lake in January to kill algae, my birding hot spot was ruined for the winter- or so I thought. There was very little water, and I imagined even if the ducks returned, all the food would be gone leaving me with a bleak outlook for this winters birding expectations. With the recent snow and especially the rain the last several days, Cove Lake has returned , along with several "ponds" as extras in the low areas near the road. I spent a couple hours there yesterday sorting through all the ducks that seemed to be in every little puddle, cove and open water. About once every winter for the past 4 years I have had one outstanding day with rafts of ducks coming in after certain type fronts, and this seemed to be the day. Though not as many different species as past times, it was exciting to see this many ducks anywhere in my neck of the woods.(N of Knoxville- Cumberland Mts) There was a lot of other activity as well. I was standing on the pier counting ducks in the scope and God Bless those Crows-calling and calling in that menacing tone. Better stop counting and take a look at why they are screaming. Nice! Immature Bald Eagle (3rd yr) coming straight over the lake at me, deciding to soar in a circle or 2 as he passed by no more than 100 ft in the air. If I hadn't stopped and looked for the screaming crow attackers, he most certainly would have passed overhead and I would never had seen him. This makes 3 different Eagles at Cove this winter. 2 Adults were present in January. The REDHEAD and RING-NECKED ducks were tightly packed together with heads resting on their back making them hard to count, but totals were finally decided upon after 4-5 counts . REDHEADS 53 Gorgeous, and mostly males RING-NECKED DUCK 102 LESSER SCAUP 5 GADWALL 37 AM.BLACK DUCKS came flying in 6 I am starting to see Wood Ducks (12) again for the first time since last fall. Even Mallards had been scarce, and many of these seemed very wild and spooky. (29) GREEN WINGED TEAL 1 male There were only 3 HOODED MERGANSERS today, and these were in the beaver pond behind the campground. These are usually the most numerous this time of year at Cove. The Beaver pond behind the campground is always worth checking. There have been quite a few ducks in there all winter, as this is where the lake levels were not affected. 2 BLUE MORPH SNOW GEESE were in the fields with the 65+ Canada Geese. These have been around longer than Snow Geese usually stay. That menacing MUTE SWAN has returned, and is back to his annoying self -chasing all the ducks incessantly and setting up his territory. However, I think he has created an unhealthy relationship with a "mixed" mallard. She/he? is allowed to follow him around constantly and they seem to be buddies now, but no one else is tolerated.. Hummm.. Swan"cliques"? I was hoping he had left for good. Many of the other expected "Winter species" were seen- (37 total ) with a highlight being an excellent up close look at a little WINTER WREN on the first portion of the back trail very close to the parking area. I had forgotten how dark these guys can look, and how round and sassy they are. Lots of Yellow-Rump Warblers were around today, especially in the cedars. A pair of Red-Shoulder Hawks were in the back corner near the observation deck as well behaving in a "courting" fashion. I never tire of seeing all the familiar "faces" and after being cooped up with a back injury since Christmas seem to appreciate them that much more. I wanted to make another note RE: Cove Lake. I have been entering all data I have for the last 4 years into Cornell's ebird data base. I have 1 year completed, and working on the others. It will soon be designated as a "Hot Spot" and anyone who birds there can enter data. You may also go back and enter data for your birding there for past dates. For more info you may email me privately. Good Spring Birding! Nell Moore jimimoore@xxxxxxxx Caryville, TN N. of Knoxville =================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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================