FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] BBC joins ET bird clubs to present TOS Winter Meeting

["Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>]

One of the most diverse and interesting Tennessee Ornithological Society Annual 
Winter Meetings ever offered is just around the corner. 
Bristol Area Birders, TN-Birders and TOS members should quickly make 
reservations and plan to attend the meeting which will be held at Dayton, TN.  
Members of East Tennessee bird clubs have teamed to produced this exciting 
weekend. 
You have to be there ! Everyone is invited. You need not be a member of the 
society to participate.

The TOS Annual Winter Meeting is set for January 28-30, 2005 at Dayton. The 
meeting is being jointly coordinated by members of the Knoxville, Chattanooga, 
and Bristol chapters of TOS.

We welcome college students, researchers, young birders, families, beginning 
birders, backyard birders, skilled and experienced birders and persons who have 
a conservation interest in Tennessee birds. 

You do not have to be a member of the Tennessee Ornithological Society in order 
to attend. No fee is required. No advance sign up.  Just walk in the door and 
say hi. You will be on your way to one of your most exciting weekends of the 
winter.

Here is your chance to get the most out of your birding enjoyment. You do not 
need to own a bird book or a pair of binoculars. Just come along and have a 
super January weekend for just the cost of the room and your meal. If you are 
within driving distance you will not even need a hotel room. Everyone is truly 
welcome. We are a warm and caring group of birders! 

Field Trips: Field trips will be held Saturday and Sunday morning. Destinations 
include Yuchi and Hiwasee wildlife refuges. 

Field trip leaders will be Daniel Moss of Clarksville, TN who is a biologist at 
Fort Campbell in Montgomery Co.,TN and Charlie Muise, senior teacher
naturalist at Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, in the foothills of 
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

It is believed that at least 10,000 Sandhill Cranes are in the 10-mile area 
over which our field trip leaders will be leading birders. The Tennessee 
Wildlife Resources Agency will be providing access to some key habitat, while 
also assuring that we are very careful not to create disturbance problems for 
the cranes.

Just within the last few days a single Whooping Crane has been in the area.

Wallace Coffey, of Bristol and moderator of TN-Birds, will provide a rock 
bottom field trip for the beginning birders who want to learn the basics about 
birding. There is plenty for everyone. This is our version of the "No Birder 
Left Behind" initiative. You will drive home with a smile on your face.

The opening speaker on Saturday evening will be Jeff Dixon, director of 
development, of the Canadian-based Operation Migration, a non-profit 
organization that, among other things, guides endangered Whooping Cranes from 
their summer home in Wisconsin to their winter home in Florida with the use of 
ultra-light planes. 

With Jeff will be Chris Mahoney, the Tennessee point person and contact person 
for our own state group of "Friends of the Cranes." Chris is from Chattanooga. 
She has been working with an effort to develop a Tennessee outlet for Operation 
Migration merchandising. Proceeds from merchandise sales help to fund the 
Operation Migration reintroduction work

A delegation of biologists from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency region 
field offices and the state headquarters at Nashville will be making 
presentations and participating in a round table discussion about the 
management of Tennessee birds on Saturday evening.

Richard Kirk, State Nongame Coordinator from Nashville, will present and 
overview of the state Wildlife Plan and then discuss more about the plan, in 
particular how birds are treated in the plan. Other questions may be posed to 
the group. 

Michael Roedel, TWRA State Ornithologist, will lead the round table discussion 
Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Others coming for the discussion will be Jim Harrington 
of TWRA Region 1 Jackson; Pandy English, TWRA Region 2 Nashville; Polly Rucker, 
TWRA Region 2 Nashville and Kirk Miles, TWRA Region 3 Crossville. No one is 
scheduled to attend from TWRA Region 4 Morristown.

Headquarters and Lodging: The meeting headquarters will be the Best Western 
Dayton Hotel. A special TOS rate has been established at $45.00 + tax for a 
Single, and $49.00 + tax for a Double. For reservations, call 1- 800-437-9604 
(Ask for TOS rate --you do not have to be a TOS member for the rate). The hotel 
address is Best Western Dayton 7835 Rhea Co. Hwy., U.S. 27 North Dayton, TN 
37321.

Directions: From I-75, Exit 40, TN State 30 West to US 27, then North on US 27 
to hotel on the left.

From I-40, Exit 347, U.S. Hwy 27 South to the hotel on the left

Don't miss visiting the TOS website at: 
http://www.tnbirds.org/Winter05-meeting.htm for more details and excellent maps 
of the areas.

President-elect Danny Gaddy has said that standing state committees are 
encouraged to meet face to face in public session during the Winter meeting. 

Members of the Conservation and Research Committee have been encouraged to 
attend by Charlie Muise, chairman.

Members of the Financial Committee, including Mac McWherter, Treasurer, George 
Payne, David Trently, and Danny Gaddy, TOS President Elect, plan to attend and 
meet on Saturday afternoon.

Stay tuned to this list for more detailed meeting announcements which will 
follow in the next few days.

Let's all go to Dayton. We have a tremendous effort invested and many wonderful 
presenters, leaders and more to come. We need everyone's support.

Let's go birding......

Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN




*************************************************
       BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at:
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5

This is a regional birding list sponsored by the
Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications 
between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia
and Northeast Tennessee.  
--------------------------------------------------
You are subscribed to Bristol-Birds.
To post to this mailing list, simply send an email
to: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send
an email to bristol-birds-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
the one word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
--------------------------------------------------
       Wallace Coffey, Moderator
         wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
           (423)764-****