Dean and Amber, Nice find! This makes two consecutive years that Ruff has been sighted at Rankin. Last September 23, Linda Northrop, Alice Loftin, and I found two juveniles on a distant flat across the water from the tipple. Like you, we were forced to view the birds from a considerable distance, but the field marks were unmistakable: prominent buff on the head, neck, and breast; dark eye line; dark-centered feathers on the upper parts; greenish-yellow legs; Pectoral Sandpiper-like bill. Linda and I are planning to join Leslie Gibbens and Michael Sledjeski at Rankin for a canoe trip this afternoon. We'll definitely look hard for the Ruff. Thanks for the post. Don Miller, Greeneville, TN K Dean EDWARDS wrote: > Sorry for the delay in posting but other commitments kept me > from getting online last night. > > Sunday afternoon/evening (18 August 2002) several birders > observed a juvenile Ruff at Rankin WMA in Cocke Co., TN. > If the differences in size between the sexes translates to > the juvenile birds as well, the bird was probably a female > (and thus properly referred to as a Reeve, not Ruff). > > After having panned through the herds of shorebirds a few > times already, I was scanning back through and this bird > jumped out at me. It had not been there before or had been > hiding behind a tree that snookered our view. > > It was hanging around the shore a little ways into the water. > We observed it for 10-15 min during which time it mostly > bathed and preened but did some feeding. Not a good sign > if I interpret Ol'Coot's lessons properly. > > The whole mass of birds was spooked by a Red-shouldered Hawk > and flushed. After much searching, I'm pretty sure we relocated > the bird but it was over a mile away so viewing wasn't the > best. We packed up and headed out to the point near the > coal tipple for a better view. Unfortunately, something > again flushed the birds while we were in transit. They > flew about TWO miles away this time. Despite several hours > searching, we never saw the bird again. > > Birds were coming and going all evening. Three Black Terns > and two Common Terns also disappeared about the same time > as the Ruff. > > Here are some details. > > Observers: Dean Edwards, Amber Edwards, Boyd Sharp, > Jean Alexander, David Johnson, June Welch. The Routledges > from Greenville were also in the area but I'm not sure if > they saw the bird; Larry may have. > > Superficially, she looked like a great big Buff-breasted > Sandpiper. The mantle and scapulars had solid, dark centers > surrounded by a fringe of buff giving the bird a very neatly > patterned look. The underparts were washed bright buffy > all the way down, gradually fading toward white near the butt. > The bird was in the water the whole time so leg length was > hard to judge. The legs were dull yellow -- not the bright > yellow of a yellowlegs but definitely yellow. Bill was long > (definitely and readily noticeably longer and more "stout" > than for a Buff-breasted, more in the proportions of a Pectoral) > and appeared completely dark; there could have been some color > at the base but I didn't see any. The bird was seen close > to Killdeer, a Pectoral Sandpiper and a peep or two. In > direct comparison with those species, overall size was between > the Killdeer and Pectoral -- closer to the Killdeer than the > Pectoral -- much too large for a Buff-breasted. The bird > appeared plump and pot-bellied. Head looked smallish proportionally. > > Those of you are familiar with the quest Allan Trently has > set some of us upon in rewriting songs to be about birds > (e.g., There's no bunting like Snow Bunting) and remember > McGruff the Crime Dog (Take a Bite Outta Crime) will appreciate > Amber's contribution to the effort given below. > > Ruff, McGruff > Rankin Bottoms, TN 37713 > > Dean and Amber Edwards > 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. > ----------------------------------------------------- > 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 > ========================================================= =================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 =========================================================