Friday, February 8, 2013

Day Trip to Reelfoot

  Berry and I would like to say we jumped out of bed, but it was more like a cringing crawl at first. We packed the car with our birding stuff, binoculars, spotting scope, field guide and a pad to make our list of birds. We drove 200 miles north to Reelfoot Lake, making only one stop to purchase cold weather gear that Robert had forgotten to bring.

Eastern Phoebe

   We went to Reelfoot to monitor the comeback of the Bald Eagles. But as experienced birders, we quickly focused in on the less newsworthy birds. One of my favorites is the Eastern Phoebe(Sayornis phoebe), the only flycatcher which winters in the southeastern United States. This is a drab gray and olive flycatcher with a slightly darker head. If you were not looking, you would not have noticed it.

   The Eastern Phoebe feeds on insects while there are insects in the summer, but eats berries in the wintertime. I noticed this bird when it dipped its tail and started making quick circles with it. This phenomenon is diagnostic, as no other bird does this, drawing circles with its tail.

  We stopped around 1pm to eat lunch. I had catfish steaks, onion rings and cinnamon apples. Berry had the potato soup to warm up from the blustery winter winds. At one point, I pulled out my work computer to answer email, but mainly we chatted about birding hot spots and our exceeding good fortune. When it was time to go home, both of us agreed that our Nikon spotting scope is invaluable. And hot coffee does warm you up.

Robert

photo courtesy of 910mmman

Posted by the Author at 7:32 PM

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