Going to Jackson

I'm humming Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's duet Jackson, since that's where I flew to this morning. Jackson, Mississippi is a well wooded town, and I easily found 20 species driving around for a little bit, including an Anhinga on Lake Hico.

After grabbing a bite to eat at Wendy's, I drove north on the Natchez Trace Parkway. I was amazed to see a large flock of over 55 Canvasback. But the real highlight were several large flocks of Horned Grebes--diving in unison near the edge of Ross Barnett Reservoir. All in all I saw over 300 of these sharp-looking black and white divers.

I found three more new year birds at the Pearl River Wildlife Management area along the Pipeline Rd: Red-headed Woodpecker, Pine Warbler, and Brown-headed Nuthatch. Nice to see lots of ducks, including several pairs ofHooded Mergansers. I was a bit surprised to not see any Osprey or Bald Eagles on the reservoir, but a 45 Greater White-fronted Geese feeding on a dike at the management area were nice.

Day List: 64 species (320% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 274 species
BIGBY List: 53 species