I spent the first part of this week at my sister's cabin in Townsend (Blount County). I filled her bird feeders when I arrived Sunday evening, and spent Monday morning enjoying 30+ Pine Siskins and 3 Purple Finches, among other feeder visitors. My wife and I took a picnic lunch to The Chimneys picnic area (Sevier County) later that day. The clouds were hanging low and the picnic area was completely enveloped. There were two crows patrolling the area, looking for lunch scraps. Before we left, my wife noticed a large bird flying through the picnic area. She (a non-birder) asked why that crow was so much bigger then the others. I immediately noticed the bird and enjoyed close views of a Common Raven. It landed in a tree near our picnic site, then flew away, up the river (and up the mountain). I was clearly able to see the large, thick bill and wedge-shaped tail, in addition to its massive size. I have had ravens in the park around Newfound Gap, Alum Cave Bluff, and along the Appalachian Trail from Clingman's Dome to Mt. Leconte, but this is easily the lowest elevation I have ever seen one. before we left the picnic area, two Blue-headed Vireos also made an appearance. Before we left the cabin yesterday, the feeders were still covered with siskins and I saw one Purple Finch on the feeder as we pulled out of the driveway. Damien Simbeck Killen, AL =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY 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 ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA -------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Chris O'Bryan Clarksville, TN __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________