TENNESSEE & KENTUCKY 
Mottled Ducks continue to be reported occasionally in the Tennessee & Kentucky 
region, almost exclusively in the extreme western portion. This bird was present in 
western Fulton County, Kentucky 4-5 (here 4) September 2008. Photograph by 
Braimrd Palmer-Ball, Jr. 
As is true of the species in most of the interior eastern and central United States, 
Brown Pelican is an extremely rare vagrant to the Tennessee & Kentucky region. This 
one was photographed over McKellar Lake, Shelby County, Tennessee on the rather 
late date of 2 November 2008. Photograph by Jeff R. Wilson. 
Ducks were at Ensley 13 Sep (ph. JRW); an- 
other ad. with 12 imms. appeared there 4 Oct 
QRW). Cackling Geese were reported as fol- 
lows: 4 at Shelby Farms, Shelby, TN 26 Nov 
QRW); 3 at Lauderdale Waterfowl Refuge, 
Lauderdale, TN 28 Nov (JRW); and 4 at Brit- 
ton Ford 29 Nov QRW). A tally of ca. 3500 
Gadwalls in the Land Between the Lakes area, 
Trigg, KY 23 Nov (DR) was exceptional. A 
Mottled Duck present at Lake No. 9 on 4-5 
Sep (ph. DR et al.) will represent Kentucky’s 
2nd confirmed record; one was also at McKel- 
lar L., Shelby, TN 12 Nov QRW). Four sum- 
mering Ring-necked Ducks were in Union, KY 
through Sep (BP et al.). It was not a notewor- 
thy season for migrant scoters. Only one to 5 
Surf Scoters were reported at five Kentucky 
and seven Tennessee locales 21 Oct-30 Nov; 
in Tennessee, all but 3 were in the ne. part of 
the state. There were only four reports of 
Black Scoter: one on Barren River L. 29 Oct 
(DR), one on the Mississippi R., Shelby, TN 
14 Nov QRW), 2 on the Mississippi R., Shel- 
by, TN 21 Nov QR'^)! 3nd 5 on the Ohio R. 
at Louisville, KY 22 Nov (BY, MY et al.), with 
perhaps 4 of the same still there 25 Nov (EH). 
The only White-winged was 
one below Norris Dam, An- 
derson, TN 16-27 Nov (DT, 
m.ob.). The only Long- 
tailed Duck was one on 
Kentucky L., Marshall, KY 
23 Nov (DR, HC). 
Single juv. Red-throated 
Loons were seen on L. 
Cumberland, Russell, KY 11 
Nov (ph. RD), on Green 
River L., Adair, KY 17 Nov 
(ph. RD), and from Port 
Rd., Henry, TN 18 & 29 
Nov (MT). A Pacific Loon 
was also present at Port Rd. 
on the latter date (MT). A 
tally of 2161 Horned Grebes 
on Kentucky L., Marshall, 
KY 28 Nov (DR) represent- 
ed a new state high count. 
There were two Kentucky 
reports of Eared Grebe: one 
on Barren River L. 6 Sep 
(DR) and one on L. Barkley 
above the dam, Lyon 29 Nov 
(TDD). The first of the win- 
ter resident Eared Grebes at 
S. Holston L., Sullivan, TN 
arrived 18 Oct (RB, DH et 
al.); the most seen there 
through the season was 3, 
which is low. The only Red- 
necked Grebe was one on 
the Mississippi R., Shelby, 
TN 14 Nov ORW). 
Peak counts of American White Pelicans 
included ca. 1000 on L. Barkley, Trigg, KY 11 
Oct (ER), with at least 1600 in the same vicin- 
ity 26 Oct (DR, JRm), and more than 1000 at 
Reelfoot L., Lake, TN 11 Oct QRW). There 
were three reports of singles away from the w. 
part of the Region: at the Falls of the Ohio 29 
Oct (TB, CBe), on L. Cumberland, 
Pulaski, KY 11 Nov (ph. RD), and at 
Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge, Meigs, 
TN 12 Nov (DJS). A Brown Pelican 
over McKellar L., Shelby, TN 2 Nov 
(ph. JRW) was a vagrant. There 
were three reports of Anhinga in 
Tennessee: one in Gibson 6 Aug 
(MG), 2 at Ensley 31 Aug (DP, 
MTOS), and 2 at Mud L., Shelby 31 
Aug ORW). 
An American Bittern at Wal-Mart 
Distribution Center, Greene, TN 1 
Nov (DMi) was the only one report- 
ed. Least Bitterns apparently did 
breed at Standifer Gap, based on the 
observation of 2 juvs. there 18 Aug 
(CD, RS, KAC). A tally of 4000- 
5000 Great Egrets coming in to roost at Lake 
No. 9 on 5 Aug (DR) established a new high 
count for Kentucky. The latest Great Egrets to 
be reported were one in Hamilton, TN 6 Nov 
(KAC), 3 at the Falls of the Ohio 16 Nov (TB, 
CBe), and one in Pulaski, KY 20 Nov (RD). 
An ad. Tricolored Heron was seen on the 
Eddy Creek embayment of L. Barkley, Lyon, 
KY 30-31 Aug (ph. BY, MY, EH); a juv. was 
seen flying into a roost on President’s 1., Shel- 
by, TN 11 Sep ORW). 
There were three reports of juv. White Ibis: 
one in flight over the Mississippi R. at Wick- 
liffe, Ballard, KY 14 Sep (EH, MMo, tBP et 
al.), one at Rankin Bottoms, Cocke, TN 9-16 
Aug (MS et al.), and one in Hamilton, TN 13 
Oct (RH). Single juv. Plegadis ibis were at 
Standifer Gap 22 Aug (CD) and Cane Creek 
Park, Putnam, TN 7 Oct (GE, NL). A surpris- 
ing 7 Roseate Spoonbills were at Mud L., 
Shelby, TN 28 Sep QRW). At least 11 Wood 
Storks were seen at Lake No. 9 on 13 Sep 
(MY, ph. BY), with 7 still there 14 (RD, BP, 
EH, MMo) & 15 Sep (ph. RD). In Tennessee, 
Wood Storks were found at several locations 
in Shelby 31 Aug-13 Sep, with a high of 75 at 
President’s 1. 13 Sep (JRW). : 
RAPTORS THROUGH SHOREBIRDS ! 
A Swallow-tailed Kite was in Greene, TN 23 
Aug (fide DMi); another was observed on the 
Missouri side of the Mississippi R. from near 
Laketon, KY and was followed as it drifted ! 
southward until it was over Carlisle, KY 5 Sep 
(ph. MMo, ph. EH, ph. BP). Single Northern 
Harriers in w. Fulton, KY 5 & 21 Aug (DR, | 
HC; ME) may have been the same bird that ei- 
ther summered or was an early migrant. An 
ad. Northern Goshawk, always a vagrant in 
the Region, was reported in Shelby, TN 26 
Nov (tJRW). Rough-legged Hawks are rare in 
ne. Tennessee, so 3, possibly all different 
birds, reported in Sullivan, TN on three occa- 
Roseate Spoonbills only rarely stray into the Tennessee & Kentucky region, 
so a group of seven at Mud Lake, Shelby County, Tennessee 28 September 
2008 was remarkable. Photograph by Jeff R. Wilson. 
92 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
