The following birders were named as winners of the Bristol Bird Club birding awards for 2003 as announced at the club's Saturday annual BBC Christmas Party in Johnson City, TN. BIRDER OF THE YEAR: Don Holt, Johnson City, TN Don stayed busy most of the later part of the year chasing good birds for his list. He birded heavily at Musick's Campground in Sullivan Co. and in Washington Co., TN and more intensely in Greene County, TN as the year advanced. He was often at Musick's Campground before daylight and frequently left there after dark. He attended the BBC Outer Banks field trip and the crane festivities at Chattanooga and Hiwassee Island. He went to the fall TOS State Meeting in Nashville and the state board of director meeting. He helped represent TOS at the historic audio taping session with Dr. George W. Mayfield, Jr. at his home in Columbia, TN. Don works to encourage an agreement for more habitat at the Joachim Bible Refuge near Greeneville. He attended the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Southern Blue Ridge Sapsucker Working Group fall session at Boone, NC. He surveyed for sapsuckers as part of that project by helping the U.S. Forest Service. He worked more nights and longer hours on the Saw-whet Owl banding station effort than any other assistant. He was a leader of several field trips for the BBC. He even attempted to drive 20 miles over snow-slicked roads to make a waterfowl field trip sponsored by BBC. JAMES & MAE MUSICK AWARD Ron Harrington, Bristol, VA Ron organized and conducted more than 50 hours of field surveys as part of the Cornell University and U.S. Forest Service's Birds in Forested Landscape project. He was a coordinator at the Mendota Hawkwatch on Clinch Mountain, collected and compiled data and made regular online reports of results. In addition he conducted a Cornell Project Feeder Watch. He was responsible for setting up the BBC display at the first annual Mendota Hawk Festivald and he walked in the festival parade to represent the BBC. He also took part in a live radio remote interview about the hawk migration. Ron is the organizer and compiler of the Glade Spring Christmas Bird Count. He organized and directed a cleanup of Beaver Dam Stream in Shady Valley, Johnson Co., TN. He assisted in the breeding bird survey of birds in the vicinity of Backbone Rock near Shady Valley. He assistged the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area of the Jefferson National Forest with sapsucker monitoring. MOST IMPROVED BIRDER OF THE YEAR 2003 Janice Martin, Bristol, VA Her bird identification skills are improved everytime you are in the field with her. She demonistrated remarkable dedication. Janice attended more BBC field trips and activities than probably anyone else in the club. She attended birding events from the cranes at Chattanooga to the Compton mountain warbler day in Buchanan Co., VA. She scrambled to get to Musick's Campgound near dark and in a rainfall to bring a digital video cameral for documentation of the Sabine's Gull. She worked tirelessly to make our Christmas party, picnic, banquets and other activites a constant success. She also regularly attended bird club meetings at the Russell County (VA) Bird Club. In addition she worked harder than ever to take care of the club's treasury. BEST NEWCOMER BIRDER OF THE YEAR 2003 Bill Grigsby, Kingsport, TN Bill has jumped in headfirst this year. He started in early January chasing down the Trumpter Swan found at Bristol. He birded regularly and often at Musick's Campground and mostly alone. He put up a tent and fixed coffee for all the birders attending the BBC Annual Bog Watch as part of the Shady Valley Annual Cranberry Festival in Johnson Co., TN. Bill also was a leader at one of BBC's birdwalks which we sponsored at the annula FunFest in Kingsport, TN. He went to the fall TOS State Meeting in Nashville and the state board of director meeting. He helped represent TOS at the historic audio taping session with Dr. George W. Mayfield, Jr. at his home in Columbia, TN. He participated in Christmas bird counts and made an impact on other birders. Annual BBC Eagle Service Pins were presented for: Kevin Hamed, Larry McDaniel, Diana Worley, Chris O'Bryan, Janet Brown, Mary Jane Erwin, Rack Cross, Richard Lewis, Rob Biller, Bert Hale and Dave Worley. Wallace Coffey reporting for Bristol Bird Club Bristol, 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. 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