18 NOV 02 Warriors Path State Park Marina Area Sullivan County, TN Strange habitat is present at Warriors Path State Park due to repairs in progress to Ft. Patrick Henry Dam. Acre after acre of mudflat is exposed as a result of this severe drainage. Today around noon my attention was drawn to a Killdeer sized bird on this newly exposed mud that upon close examination I determined to be an American Golden Plover. The bird gave several Q - eeek calls and after about 15 minutes took off for a couple of laps around the marina area of the park before leaving my sight over the tree line. Unlike the Black-bellied Plover of similar looks this bird did not have the black "armpits" diagnostic of it's Black-bellied cousin. I learned while researching after this sighting that the Black-bellied Plover also has four toes, whereas, the American Golden Plover has only three toes. I did count this birds toes during my observation. Nearby in the marina's largest "puddle" was a sleeping shorebird in the shallow water. The bird never woke to expose it's beak but I strongly suspect it was Dunlin. This area my be worth keeping an eye on for next little while! 'Til we bird again Rack Cross Blountville, TN ************************************************* BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST This is a regional birding list sponsored by the Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. It serves the Russell County Bird Club, Herndon Chapter TOS, Chapter, Blue Ridge Birders Club, Butternut Nature Club, Buchanan County Bird Club, Bristol Bird Club, Clinch Valley Bird Club and Cumberland Nature Club. -------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed to Bristol-Birds. To post to this mailing list, simply send an email to: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send an email to bristol-birds-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the one word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. -------------------------------------------------- Wallace Coffey, Moderator jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423)764-3958