April 21-22, 2005 Ensley Bottoms, President's Island Shelby Co. TN DeSoto Co. MS Just a little after 7 this morning, I was watching a Killdeer nest that I had discovered yesterday on the levee at the Painted Bunting location. The female was in the process of laying its second egg. Later today, I photographed her shading the two eggs from the sun. This is the place I had the fly by Inca Dove the day before. I had searched the area for the dove and had stopped to watch the Killdeer. Farther up the road to the south and near the locked gate, I noticed a movement in the edge of the gravel road, with my glasses, I could make out a small dove. I put the scope on the truck window and there was the Inca Dove feeding or gritting. I always try for one distant shot in case the bird moves and I got off one shot in the overcast light that does show a poor but IDable image of an Inca Dove, Unfortunately, when I turned the truck to get a better angle with the scope, the bird flushed and flew south, down the levee toward the steel plant. It looks like this bird is an early bird, as yesterday, I searched the area 3 times for over an hour but no luck. The last check was at 4 PM. A pair of Western Kingbirds are now building a nest at Ensley but there is no evidence of any other pairs? There is another single bird that appears and disappears over a wide area that seems to be looking for company. I also photographed a single Western Kingbird at the nest location found last year in Mississippi just south of Memphis, it also appears not to have a mate as of Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed. The Scissor-tailed Flycatchers have returned to President's Island in Memphis and have a nest under construction, with the male calling and flying out to meet the female each time she returns with material. She is a little odd looking but he has a really long and graceful tail. I photographed her and the nest. Good Birding!!! Jeff R. Wilson OL'COOT / TLBA Bartlett, TN =================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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================