east Tennessee, Sevier County, Great Smoky Mountains National Park During the Great Smoky Mountains Christmas Bird Count on Sunday, Jennifer Kasten, Mike Nelson and I were treated to quite a show by a pair of PEREGRINE FALCONs at Alum Cave Bluff. This is the site where falcons have nested the past few years. It is about 2.5 miles from the trailhead on Newfound Gap Road. We first heard one bird call and then saw it land in a spruce tree right above the center of the Cave. Mike literally risked his life to get better views of this, a life bird for him. Walking past the opening of the Alum Cave Bluff, one had to dodge falling icicles - ice that sometimes topped 100 pounds! The sunny day accelerated melting and so these projectiles were falling regularly. He made it safely to where he could view the falcon at eye level. Eventually the bird flew to another tree, calling several times on its RAPID, short-distance flight. It flew away and we thought we had seen the last of it that day, until we saw it below us, soaring upward...right over our heads!...joined by the second bird. Both returned to the original tree above the Bluff. It was a great day to be out in the Smokies. Not a lot of bird activity, but great weather and a good close flock of PINE SISKINs at Newfound Gap, plus COMMON RAVEN. I don't have a complete list yet from all participants. Get out and join in on this Christmas Bird Count season! David Trently, Knoxville, 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 _____________________________________________________________