August 27, 2006 [posting date: August 28, 2006] Rankin Bottoms and vicinity (Cocke Co., TN) A few members of Greeneville TOS were joined by several other regional birders at Rankin Bottoms yesterday afternoon. Present in one group were Rob Biller, Dianne Draper, Jim Faunce, Leslie Gibbens, Don Holt, Jim Holt, Ron Lapp, Rose Lapp, Don Miller, Michael Sledjeski, and Allan Trently. A Knoxville-area contingent included Boyd Sharp, Gail Clendenen, and Steve Clendenen. (There may have been others present as well. Please accept my apologies If I omitted anyone.) All observations were made from shore except for some made by Michael and Leslie from a canoe. I didn't get their numbers (except for Wilson's Snipe), so the figures below reflect my own notes. As is often the case at Rankin, viewing was difficult due to the great distance between the tipple area and the mudflats. Highlights included the following (conservatively counted): Double-crested Cormorant (27) Great Blue Heron (9) Great Egret (134) Little Blue Heron (22) Cattle Egret (12) Green Heron (2) Black-crowned Night-Heron (8) White Ibis (immature) Wood Stork (immature) Osprey Bald Eagle Semipalmated Plover (8) Killdeer (120+) Lesser Yellowlegs Willet (2) Spotted Sandpiper (3) Semipalmated Sandpiper (20) Western Sandpiper Least Sandpiper (10+) Pectoral Sandpiper (43) Stilt Sandpiper (6) Buff-breasted Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher (3) Wilson's Snipe (seen by Leslie and Michael from canoe) Eastern Kingbird (8) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Also seen were dozens of small sandpipers at a distance too great to allow for identification. Don Miller Greeneville, Greene Co., TN pandion@xxxxxxxxxxxxx