11.15.02 SE Lewis County After seemingly endless days of No-great-bird-action, things changed yesterday afternoon on my way home from work. The mile between the main highway and my home in SE Lewis County is mostly pasture, birds of prey usually seen are American Kestrels perched on utility lines and Red-tailed Hawks (on occasion). As I approached an area with mixed grasses about a foot tall, a rather good sized flyer appeared. The bird coursed low over the fields, circling and searching. Fortunately for me, I had my binos with me. An adult male Northern Harrier (according to Sibley's-I got this book for 99 cents!). The bird continued coursing and was not disturbed by the Am Kestrel that flew across the same field and landed low and disappeared. The harrier continued onto the next field and eventually out of sight behind some woods. No sign of the bird today )-; Colder, rainy weather has brought the Dark-eyed Juncos around. This year's yard arrival in mid-Oct is quite early compared to the last two years. This afternoon's yard count was 17. Also, 5 E Bluebirds all feeding on Martha's Super Suet (~= Anna Varney Summertown, 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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================