[Bristol-Birds] Rankin/reddish egret info

Quite a few birders have been traveling to Rankin Bottoms to view the reddish egret there. I've posted more photos, 12 total, from last Sunday in an online gallery starting at http://www.pbase.com/image/ 100073739.
Coming from Knoxville, we usually approach Dutch and Rankin Bottoms from I-40 at exit 424, driving toward White Pine on Hwy 113, then turning right on Nina Rd, which passes Baneberry and ends on 25E. Dutch Bottoms is just down the road to the right. This route is shorter, and we usually stop at the TWRA area at Dry Gully Branch (poorly marked, it's a right fork off of 113). We also check for birds at Baneberry, driving past the country club, then turning right on McCorkle Rd. and viewing from the loop at the end - good spot for bald eagles, which nest across the lake.
Dutch Bottoms viewing - easiest access currently is at the boat launch next to the bridge, or the area in front of "Lighthouse Point" (don't look for a lighthouse) just before the turn onto Rankin Hill Rd. There's an osprey nest on the farther silo, and also on Walters Bridge.
Rankin viewing - At the foot of Rankin Hill and across the tracks, we park near the WMA sign, then follow trails out to the riverbank or parallel to the RR - the latter is the old RR bed and continues right to the tipple/coal chute at Rankin Bottoms. These trails are used by local fishermen, and tend to be overgrown. Good for Baltimore oriole, redheaded woodpecker, prothonotary warbler, & occasionally warbling vireo. I think this is a great hike, but it's not for the faint-of-heart. Rankin Bridge, just up the road after crossing the RR, has one of the biggest cliff swallow colonies in TN - there's an osprey nest on the old steel-truss Rankin Bridge. We park at the end of the bridge and walk along it, viewing up & down the river.
Rankin Bottoms - Drive along Hill Rd, then cross the tracks. We park immediately, and view across the Bottoms from points along the tracks. Green herons in close, shorebirds on the mudflats. >>> Parking near the coal chute/tipple (osprey nest on the tipple): walk under the tipple and along the road, or along the parallel trail, closer to the RR. Prothonotary warblers, orchard orioles, gnatcatchers, etc. >>> Close to sunset, black-crowned night-herons come woking in, and green herons hunt along the shoreline. Waders can be seen flying to roost, presently across the lake about a mile north of the mouth of the Nolichucky river, due east of the tipple area.
Best way to experience the area is from the water. Leslie and I been out in a canoe countless times; for waterbirding and escaping into the wetlands, there's nothing comparable in this area. 

Michael Sledjeski
Del Rio TN
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