FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Greene Co. Brewer's Blackbirds

[dnldhlt@xxxxxxx]

SUN 02 APR 2006
western Greene Co., TN
D. Holt
 
Reece Jamerson, Brookie Potter, Jean Potter, and I birded western Greene Co 
Sunday afternoon on our way to get a look at Short-eared Owls that evening.  We 
saw a lot of the same things Don Miller has been recently posting from the 
area.  One notable addition was a flock of around 15 Brewer's Blackbirds, about 
half females, half males, and not many other bird species mixed in with them, 
in a small plowed section of the field near Turner's Lane along Hwy 340 (Fish 
Hatchery Rd.)  There were lots of other blackbird spp. around, just not in the 
plowed section with the Brewer's.
 
We also managed to get good looks at a Short-eared Owl, and a glimpse of a 
second just before leaving.  Surprisingly, we only saw one or two Northern 
Harriers there, where I had been seeing 6 or 8 each evening I've been there.  I 
wonder if anyone else has noticed a sudden drop in numbers of Harriers in the 
area.  Could they have migrated on out?
 
Oh yeah, I nearly forgot to mention the two Black Swans we saw on the way down 
in Limestone, TN, right next to the Emu and the Ostrich.  Honest.
 
Don Holt
Johnson City, TN