[Bristol-Birds] Re: heads up, eyes up, down low, for raven's nests

Wallace,
I am unaware of the altitude record for common raven nests in VA.  I do know 
from my work at Natural Tunnel State Park that has been a nest of ravens over 
the mouth of the Natural Tunnel at least 6 years out of the last 13.  I have 
seen many nestling/fledglings in the nest.  After the "visitor"  season begins 
in earnest in May, the Raven pair often move down Stock Creek less than a mile 
to the abandoned Natural Tunnel Stone quarry found just off of Rte 871.
Natural Tunnel State Park is having a birding weekend at the Cove Ridge Center 
on the weekend of May 14-15, 2005.  All are welcome.  We had fantastic 
representation from the BBC in the fall.  THe BBC reps led the hikes and amazed 
the park staff with their knowledge interest and enthusiasm. See 
www.naturaltunnel.info or call the Cove Ridge Center at 276/940-2696 for more 
info.
Thanks,
Bill Cawood
PS I shared supper tonight with a group of friends on the patio of one of the 
group.  We shared our space with chickadees, towhees, tufted titmice, finches & 
robins.  Also heard were; crows, pileated woodpecker, flicker and a couple of 
peacocks.
Wallace Coffey <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Area Birders:
Ken Ranck, who lives just east of Bridgewater, VA in Rockingham County, says 
that eggs are beginning to hatch in a Common Raven nest on a railroad bridge 
near his house in the vicinity of Mt. Crawford. This is along I-81, about 250 
miles northeast of the Virginia-Tennessee border.

We should keep our eyes open for any Common Raven seen in our region. Do not be 
thinking only about nests on cliff faces. Be thinking the possibility of a 
raven's nest anywhere. Raven's nests have been found on other structures. 

Be thinking nesting at any elevation in our region. Fifteen years ago we were 
mainly thinking high elevation cliffs. Years before that we mainly thought 5000 
feet.

Don't forget that raven's nests were found in trees on Burns Creek in the 
Jefferson National Forest at Coeburn in Wise County in 1986 and 1987. So think 
about finding a nest in a tree near your house.

Ravens have been found nesting as low as 1320 feet elevation in Sullivan County 
not far from Boone Dam. That is the lowest elevation site on record in 
Tennessee. 

Raven's nests, throughout the region, have had eggs since about March 16 so 
many should have hatched or be hatching. This means any adults could be flying 
to and from nesting locations. Maybe very near a nest. I have watched a raven 
gather food from a bog in Shady Valley and fly off a mile or two into the 
mountains. So they can forage for nestling food over a long distance (I think).

So let's be thinking more outside the box and on a wider regional scale. You 
have a much better chance of finding a good bird record when you are looking 
for it ;-)

Let's go birding......

Wallace Coffey
Bristol 





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*************************************************
       BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at:
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5

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.  
--------------------------------------------------
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.
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       Wallace Coffey, Moderator
         wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
           (423)764-****

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