8 June 2004 Wallace Coffey wrote: > Today, 8 June, a Canada Warbler was heard singing at 2,260 feet elevation along Beaverdam Stream and TN Rt. 133 in Shady Valley, Johnson Co., TN. This is a very low elevation record for the species during the breeding season in > Tennessee. I know of none lower. TN-Birders, Out-of-season birds and out-of-habitat birds are favorite mysteries of mine, so I feel compelled to share a bit of info and conjecture on this one . . . . A few years ago (without considerable digging, I can't pinpoint exactly when), I observed a Canada Warbler in early June in our yard in Greeneville--at an elevation approximately equal to 2260 feet. Since our yard is totally unsuitable as a nesting site for this species, I assumed that the bird was a straggler that hadn't reached territory yet. However, its presence here in Greeneville indicates to me that elevational oddities do occur from time to time, so perhaps we shouldn't be overly surprised when we find a high elevation bird at a lower elevation after 31 May. Nonetheless, like Wallace, I am intrigued by the possibility that the Shady Valley bird might be attempting to nest at 2260 feet. After all, Shady Valley is a far more suitable habitat possibility than Greeneville. By the way, I have also, from time to time in late spring or early summer, found Red-breasted Nuthatch and Winter Wren at considerably lower elevations on Viking Mountain (in Greene County) than I would have expected, although both appear to breed regularly near the summit (elevation: approximately 4800 feet). Don Miller Greeneville, TN ************************************************* 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. -------------------------------------------------- Wallace Coffey, Moderator wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (423)764-****