It finally occurred to me that carrying my binocs in the car would be a good idea as I am out driving around all day with my new job. I constantly catch something flying over head or popping around the areas water ways. Hard to see with the naked eye. I noticed a heron rookery just down river from the Patrick Henry dam a few weeks ago. After all the rookery talk on the list I decided to check it out today. The rookery is easily visible from Ft. Henry Drive in Kingsport TN. If you are traveling from Johnson City heading toward Kingsport there is a road on the left called Wesley Rd or St. It is just after you cross the double bridges near the dam. It leads down to an access road that winds down under the double bridges. The rookery sits in the tree tops across the river from the access road along the top of the ridge. With all that said... I pulled in to have a look and see if there was any activity. One nest on the left side of the tallest tree presently houses a Great Horned Owl and what appears to be her down covered nestlings. I could not get a very good look as she was nothing but a silhouette against the grey sky. I did try several vantage points and did catch a lot of fluffy white under and next to mom. Mom was sitting up and moving around a lot as if perhaps things are a little crowded at Villa de Rookery. A spotting scope would certainly help as the nest are a good distance away. As one might imagine, there are no Great Blue Herons in this rookery. Have a fantabulous weekend! Michelle King Blountville 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 _____________________________________________________________