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Photo by Ken Leggett

View of the south end of Everett's Lake and the Mississippi River.

Location:  Dyer County is bordered to the north by Lake and Obion counties, to the east by Gibson and Crockett counties, to the south by Lauderdale County, and to the west by Mississippi County, Arkansas and Pemiscot County, Missouri. Within the county, the Mississippi River travels 25 river miles (river miles 845.0 - 820.0).
Physiographic Area:  PIF 05 (Mississippi Alluvial Valley); BCR 26 (Mississippi Alluvial Valley)

Description:  The MAV in Dyer County along the eastern border with Obion County, goes south following the Obion River southwest until it roughly cross county road 182 and then south to the Lauderdale County line. This is all west of Dyersburg, the county seat of Dyer County. Public wildlife lands within the MAV in Dyer County total around 5,450 acres--Moss Island Wildlife Management Area (3,400) and White Lake (2,050). There are levees that run mainly parallel to the Mississippi River. Private areas mainly are used for agricultural crops. There are no significant sized towns within the MAV in Dyer County.

Ornithological Importance:  A number of criteria are documented in Dyer County of the MAV. These include the federally and Tennessee endangered Least Tern with  two major nesting colonies--Island No. 18 Towhead Dikes and  Island No. 21 (see Dyer County summary below and Least Tern Surveys in the Mississippi River for a state-wide summary); raptors including the In Need of Management in Tennessee Mississippi Kite; wading birds by the hundreds; shorebirds by the hundreds; waterfowl by the tens of thousands; and neotropical migrants and wintering species. Documentation is contained in White Lake Refuge and the Least Tern sites.
    Notable numbers of species and individuals within the county, not associated with a described site include:
        Northern Harrier: Bogata Wildlife Management Area, Northern Harrier, a Tennessee In Need of Management species, December 28, 2002 (22) at roost.
        American White Pelican: July 21, 2002 (100) Everett Lake.
        Shorebird Numbers: August 17, 2002 (300 shorebirds of 9 species) Heloise and Everett Lake. August 8, 2004 (383 shorebirds of 7 species) field near Chic. November 2, 2003, 9 species of shorebirds of 725 individuals including Killdeer (211), Greater Yellowlegs (31), Least Sandpiper (359), Dunlin (38), and Wilson's Snipe (67) Everett Lake. American Golden Plover--April 3, 2005 (400-500) total; and Least Sandpiper--September 7, 2003 (165) Great River Road. Greater Yellowlegs: March 27-28, 2003 (311) includes Lake County also. Lesser Yellowlegs: March 27-28, 2003 (315) includes Lake County also. White-rumped Sandpiper: May 18, 2003 (100+). Pectoral Sandpiper March 27-28, 2003 (773) includes Lake County also. Wilson's Snipe: March 27-28, 2003 (19) includes Lake County also.
        Lapland Longspur: December 28-29, 2002 (1400 + 900).

Approved under the umbrella IBA site Mississippi Alluvial Valley:  February 2006--Yes 7  No 0

This page was last updated on 02/18/06.