FreeLists / tn-bird / [tn-bird] Western Grebe still at Norris

[James Brooks <comeback@xxxxxxxx>]

I made the journey to Norris Lake Saturday in the hope the Western Grebe 
might still be there.
In my mind's eye, as I drove to Knoxville, I thought that the bird was 
somewhere near Norris Dam and was planning to head that way when I 
thought I would scan the map for TN Highway 33 while heading down I-40 
at 70 mph and being passed on all sides. Something about driving with an 
atlas spread over the wheel tends to make the other drivers give you a 
bit more space.
Lo! The site was far to the east of the dam and Route 33 is in fact 
North Broadway heading out of Ktown up into Union County through 
Maynardsville. From there it was nothing more difficult than watching 
for the BP station, which is actually the third BP north of Knoxville, 
the actual site is about 20 miles north of Halls Crossroads. The 
roadsign before the BP is heavily overgrown with kudzu and pointed so 
you can't read it until you are and the road. From there it was a 
breeze. The next right turn is a T-intersection, and Black Fox Road is 
only about a mile past there.
It's best to cross the iron bridge and view upstream from the point.
Just as I was setting up the scope to zero in on that white sliver 
sticking out of the water, a guy jumped off the bridge. His family were 
in a boat below. In spite of all this, the bird was still there, 
floating majestically among the pleasure craft of a Labor Day weekend.
I called over the diver and asked if they'd like to see something 
special and gave the whole family scope looks at the bird, showed it to 
them in the field guide, pointed out the range map, which really 
impressed them, and said folks were coming here from all over the state 
to see that bird.
"I thought you were going to turn me in for diving off the bridge," he 
said.
"Is it illegal?" I asked.
"Yep."
"Well, not to worry, I'm not a cop, but a newspaper reporter and I would 
in no way stop anyone from breaking his neck in front of his wife and 
three kids on a Labor Day weekend. I just wish you'd told me what you 
were going to do so I could have been ready with my camera. It would 
have made the AP wire. What did you say your name was, and where are you 
from?"
Amazingly enough, perhaps he thought he'd get his name in the paper, he 
gave me his name and said he lived about 10 miles away.
I cautioned T.J. to steer wide of that bird so he didn't scare it off, 
as people were coming a long way to see it, and he did. Otherwise I 
would have turned him in.
I set up the scope to take pictures and through the camera saw another 
bird with the grebe, about the same size. Thinking he might have found a 
mate, I switched back to the scope eyepiece and clearly saw the yellow, 
upraised bill of a DC Cormorant. Well, they had similar interests, and 
when I left both were happily diving for fish.
On the way I stopped off at Mossy Creek in Jefferson City, where the 
city has now completed blind No. 2 and installed an Osprey platform out 
in the marsh, dead in front of it. There must be bird lovers on the 
Jefferson City Commission, God love them, I hope the birds respond and 
show up.
At Rankin Bottoms the shore birds were all the way past the gate on the 
old road bed headed back the other way from the entrance road. Don 
Miller, Linda Northrup and a group from Greene County showed up and 
among the Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpipers, Killdeers and a solitary 
Solitary (they must have bad breath, they're always alone), were a pair 
of American Golden-Plovers, perfect last birds to see for a drive off 
into the sunset - even if I did have to enjoy it in my rear view mirror 
while eastbound to Jonesborough.
The Western Grebe was an interesting addition to my state list, not 
because it was No. 314, but because I've now seen all six species of 
Grebe seen in North America in Tennessee.
Brooks' Rule No. 2 (No. 1 has nothing to do with this discussion) Your 
state list should be almost exactly 50% of your U.S. list. If it is 
substantially more, it is time to help out the airline industry with a 
birding trip to someplace new and wonderful. If your U.S. (ABA area 
actually) is substantially more than double, you need to spend more time 
burning up I-40 to Memphis or vice versa.
It would do the environment a lot of good if Kentucky and Tennessee 
would get together and divide their two states down the middle and 
recombine the result, creating Kenessee and Tenntucky, two states of 
roughly equal proportions so birders would not have to burn all that 
gasoline running from Bristol to Memphis.
Write your legislator. They need a break from tax raising discussions, 
those few that got re-elected.
James Brooks
Jonesborough, TN


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