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Gray's Landing

Birding Seasons:

Spring A

Summer C

Fall A

Winter A+

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Site Description and Habitats

The landing provides wooded edges and a large waterfront for scanning. In winter, the lake is lowered and shallow waters to the north provide for roosting birds. This small access area is a great place to start a morning of birding on Kentucky Lake.

Bird species of interest:

Spring and Fall Migration: American White Pelicans can be found on occasion. Gulls, terns, loons, and waterfowl are all possible.

Summer: Resident woodland birds are regular. Double-crested Cormorants and Canada Geese are the summer waterbirds other than Great Blue Heron and an occasional Great Egret.

Winter: Common Loon, Ring-billed, Bonaparte's, and Herring Gulls, Gadwall, Double-crested Cormorant, among other waterbirds including Pied-billed Grebes and a wide variety of waterfowl including Gadwall, Mallard, American Wigeon, and Canvasback.

Year-Round: Bald Eagle

Rarities Seen at this Site: Lesser Black-backed Gulls are rare but regular on this part of the lake in winter.

Species list via eBird Hotspot Explorer

Submit your data to eBird here

Detailed directions for birding Gray's Landing Boat Ramp
Gray's Landing is a boat ramp with good access to view Kentucky Lake. The landing is on the east side of the Hwy 79 bridge over Kentucky Lake, just across the river from Paris Landing State Park. The road is on the north side of Hwy 79 about 100 yards from the bridge. The gravel road goes down to the lake edge, where there is parking. Scan the lake from the shoreline, but also look for passerines in the woods and along the road. During migration, especially fall, the woods can be hopping with migrants, including Yellow-throated Vireo, Black-throated Green Warbler, among many others. One fall day, over 450 Blue Jays passed by going south within 90 minutes!

Lat-Long (GPS) coordinates
Entrance to the boat ramp: 36.448274, -88.043887

Fees and Hours
No fees are required to access these areas. The areas are accessible during daylight hours year round.

Facilities
There are no restroom facilities.

Contact

Info for other sites
Tennessee's Watchable Wildlife web site