We need rain. That much was true. Berry and I drove to Riverport Road in Memphis, TN. The series of small ponds to the left, as you are driving in, were all empty of water or covered with scum. We decided to see what was here in the middle of summer in the middle of a mild drought. The US Drought Monitor says it will not last.
There were about five Bank Swallows (Riparia Riparia) hanging out on the phone wires above the road. We slowed down to watch them play. Further down the wire, we found a couple of Eastern Bluebirds. This bird leaves the wire to capture insects, then flys directly back to its perch on the wire, which is called “flycatching”. Bank Swallows come in groups of five or ten. Eastern Bluebirds come in pairs or come alone.
We found several Pied Billed Grebes (Podilymbus Podiceps) swimming in one of the ponds. Further down the road, there was a juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa Violacea), standing in another pond. This bird appears much different as an adult, but as a juvenile, to make the bird more difficult to see, it is a drab beige and gray and white.
Neither of these, nor the Red Tailed Hawk (Buteo Jamaicensis) perched on one of the tall, electrical pylons, were at all surprising. What did take us back was the paucity of birds at the Riverport Road area during summertime, during a serious drought.
At the tailing pond of the TVA power plant, we saw several Great Egrets (Ardea Alba) fishing at the edges of the open water. Another was perched on the concrete base of an electrical pylon.
The birds we saw on this trip include:
- Canada Goose
- Barn Swallow
- Common Ground Dove
- Great Egret
- Eastern Bluebird
- Pied Billed Grebe
- Yellow Crowned Night Heron
- Great Blue Heron
- Double Crested Cormorant
- Turkey Vulture
- Red Tailed Hawk
In a more pleasant year, with at least a moderate amount of rainfall, we would see many more birds and several species of duck, on Riverport Road.
Robert and Berry
Photo courtesy of wikipedia,cappeal
No comments:
Post a Comment