Merry Christmas & happy holidays, TN-birders, In a 15 minute period of time I had two great species show up in my yard again here in Charlotte Park, West Nashville, Davidson County, a few blocks east of the Cumberland River across from Bell's Bend. First, a peregrine falcon began to descend like a speeding bullet from just over my yard to a destination in a neighbor's yard about 2 1/1 football field lengths away where it disappeared behind the tree line. I never saw it come back up. It probably continued out of the yard going the other way with or without its "meal." I see peregrines around here reasonably frequently. They do check out my "Smorgabird" every so often. As I sat down for lunch, I looked outside to see a male bluebird fly onto a low branch in a backyard hackberry tree. Before I could grab my camera, it disappeared. A few moments later, it appeared back on the same branch, and I got him on digital. It flew to the south side of the yard where it joined at least four more bluebirds. They began to check out one of the woodpecker holes in my dead ash tree flitting around, perching, looking inside, and, incidentally, posing for a few photos in the process. This is only the SECOND time I've seen a bluebird in my yard. The first was a female earlier this year. Soon, a third nice bird, a male yellow-bellied sapsucker lit just below the hole the bluebirds were checking. It left shortly for a live tree, and the bluebirds continued their survey. They are all gone now, and two starlings are perched on the top of the dead tree. Ugh! %*#@& starlings!!!!!! I sure do hope/wish the bluebirds return. It was wonderful while it lasted. At least one of my male cardinals is still acting like a peanut butter addict. Whoops! Now, there went one of the Cooper's hawks flying high over the deck! What a grand day---just birding from my dining room. What more could an old birdwatcher ask? Happy birding! Dee Thompson Nashville, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the count in which the birds you report were seen. The actual date of observation should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ 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 _____________________________________________________________