March 21st/22nd, 2020
Victor and I were camping and birding West TN (mostly Lake County) the
last two days. I think we managed to do so without actually meeting or
talking to anyone. We didn’t see anything exactly rare, but we had several
first of season (FOS) birds and tallied 11 species of shorebirds which is
nearly double the total from last weekend.
Here is a list of the best birds;
CATTLE EGRET, 1, Tiptonville FOS
AMERICAN BITTERN, 1, Hatchie FOS
BLACK NECKED STILT, 3 just South of Tiptonville FOS
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER, several Lake County locations.
LONG BILLED DOWITCHER, 15, Black Bayou, 5 at Robinson Bayou.
DUNLIN, 3, Black Bayou FOS
SOLITARY SANDPIPER, 1, Tiptonville, FOS, 1, Hatchie
EASTERN SCREECH OWL, 1, Tiptonville
GREAT HORNED OWL, 1, Reelfoot Airpark
BARRED OWL, 5 in a mile of levee at the Phillippy Pits, all in broad
daylight. (Catching something in the grass?)
LONG EARED OWL, 3 still present in Dyer
BARN OWL, 1, old barn near Ridgely
CHIMNEY SWIFT, 1, Memphis, FOS, 3, Hatchie VESPER SPARROW, several Lake
County locations
LECONTE’S SPARROW, 1, Black Bayou. (A second bird looked more like a
Nelson’s Sparrow in flight but we couldn’t pin it. This would be really
early for Nelson’s.)
ORANGE CROWNED WARBLER, 4, Reelfoot Airpark, 2, Phillippy Pits
Ruben Stoll, Centerville Tennessee
