Two Common Ravens were putting on a show at Phipp's Bend in Hawkins County today. The two were actively engaged in an aerial courtship display, flying high and then diving and tumbling through the air for hundreds of feet. Both were seen to chase away an adult Red-tailed Hawk that mistakenly ventured into their territory. They seemed very attached to one of the gigantic old concrete structures and at one point both were observed exiting a large pipe structure embedded on the interior side. Never heard of ravens nesting in cavities, but these two are prime candidates in my opinion. The concrete structure (not the even larger old cooling tower structure where I saw them a couple of months ago) is behind a large fence with NO TRESSPASSING signs liberally placed around the perimeter of the area. One bird was actively moving around, calling loudly, and carrying food back to the structure, but I could never see a nest as the bird was flying through a large gap in the side to the interior which was behind the fence. The other bird was rarely visible. I'll try to visit again in a week or two to see if I can provide any further information. Rick Rick Phillips Kingsport, Tennessee =================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 _____________________________________________________________