FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Good Yard Birds Today

["Tommy Curtis" <tcbirdwatch@xxxxxxxxxx>]

It was another good day on the hill for migrants.  Our first ever in the yard 
Prairie Warbler popped up in one of our Cypress trees 15 feet away at eye level 
and gave us great looks at its brilliant yellow and bold stripes - it was 
number 135 for the yard.  Other warblers were Tennessee and Northern Parula.  A 
gorgeous Yellow-throated Vireo excited us as it foraged about 30 feet away.  A 
second-in-our-yard House Wren worked in and around one of the brush piles this 
morning after coming in late yesterday afternoon.  Female Scarlet and Summer 
Tanagers appeared briefly.  A mature Cooper's Hawk caused bedlam when it 
swooped through the feeders. And we still have the four Ruby-throated 
Hummingbirds that somehow didn't get the same migration signal the other 150 or 
so received last week.  
But the birds of the day were two Red-breasted Nuthatches that fed from 10:00 
until dark.  One came in at first and an hour later the second joined it and 
they stayed together all day.  

We still have at least a couple of dozen Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  They are 
feeding on the Pokeberries and we now have Pokeberry Pink water in our bird 
baths as they come to drink and what washes off their beaks colors the water.  
At least in our yard there is no lack of food for these migrants.  When they 
came through in large numbers in the spring they were so hungry they ate all 
the green cherries off the wild cherry tree that is their normal fall supply.  
But during the summer the area where the power company cut down the trees under 
their lines last fall grew up in all kinds of weeds, many of which have good 
seeds for birds.  And the Pokeberry bushes sprang up all through the weeds - 
dozens and dozens of them in an area about 50 yards long and 15 yards wide.  So 
far they've supplied all these Grosbeaks for almost a month and many of our 
yard birds in addition to a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds that have been here 
for over a week.  It's almost like a Creator was providing for the birds He 
made.  

Tommy & Virginia Curtis
Smithville, TN
DeKalb County
=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen.  The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
      To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
                    tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________ 
                To unsubscribe, send email to:
                 tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
            with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                ------------------------------
                Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
                         Cleveland, OH
                -------------------------------
               Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
                          Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________
         
          Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
              web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                          ARCHIVES
 TN-Bird Net Archives at http://www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/

                  EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com

_____________________________________________________________