March 17th 2020
I spent a good day birding in Dyer and Lake Counties today with Andrew
Lydeard and Daniel Redwine. (It was their second day of a West TN birding
blitz they were doing in which they had 120+ species).
We had good numbers of shorebirds around throughout the day, but the vast
majority were Yellowlegs of both species and Pectoral Sandpipers. I think
we had well over a thousand all told. With these numbers coming in and all
the great habitat around it’s just a matter of time until there’s a Ruff or
something else good found. Highlight today were AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS
with small numbers seen at three different locations in Lake County.
Dabbling ducks were prevalent throughout all the flooded fields with
Green-winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, Gadwalls, Blue-winged Teals and
American Wigeons being the most numerous. But one particular spot in Dyer
County (near Jct. 104 and Great River Road) had huge numbers of waterfowl
including Ring-necked Ducks, Mallards and Northern Pintails. I think there
must have been five thousand ducks here. The highlight was a drake EURASIAN
WIGEON that Andrew spotted with the American Wigeons, but unfortunately
most of the waterfowl flushed before he could get us on it, and a large
part of the flock never returned.
Three LONG-EARED OWLS continue at their known roost in Dyer County.
Nothing has changed there.
At the Phillipy Unit of the Black Bayou Refuge we tried a different Marsh
that recently opened that has habitat similar to the wheelchair area where
all the Marsh Wrens and Common Yellowthroats wintered and no surprises, it
was full of Marsh Wrens and Common Yellowthroats.
At the Reelfoot Airpark we had an Orange-crowned Warbler (Winter
resident) and a continuing singing White-eyed Vireo that we first had here
on March 10th.
We didn’t make it over to the lake until mid-evening, and the excellent
viewing conditions there made me wish I had gone sooner. We barely had time
left to properly glass everything. We did see a lot of Bonaparte’s Gulls
and Horned Grebes scattered around, half a dozen Forster’s Terns on the
snags, three Common Loons in breeding plumage and a RED-NECKED GREBE out
from Champey Pocket.
On the way back through Dyer County just before dark Andrew missed a turn
and we ended up out on some random farm road where we’d never been before.
There were 700-some Yellowlegs and Pecs scattered all over, trading in and
out and flying all around. You just gotta love Spring migration in West
Tennessee, there’s just no other place like it and you never know what
you’re gonna find.
Good birding! Ruben Stoll, Centerville, TN
