At about 2:45 p.m. today (Saturday, July 17) I was outside in my yard at home in Hampton, TN. David Thometz was with me, and he noticed a soaring bird and asked me if it was a hawk. I could tell with the naked eye the bird, soaring very high, was not a hawk or vulture. I thought it might possibly be a heron, so I went inside to get my binoculars. Back outside, I focused my binoculars on an unmistakable American White Pelican. The pelican continued to soar in wide circles. The huge size and black and white patterns were impossible to miss as well as the yellow-orange pelican bill. I also alerted my parents. My mother managed to get her own look through her binoculars, but my father never managed to get a look at the pelican in binoculars. After soaring for several minutes, the pelican veered off, heading east along the Simerly Creek valley. I have seen White Pelicans in Florida and Idaho and Dave Thometz has seen them in Utah and Idaho. I never imagined one would be a fly-over at my home. Bryan Stevens, Hampton, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================