[TN-Bird] Rankin/reddish egret info

Quite a few birders have been traveling to Rankin Bottoms to view the  
reddish egret there.  I've posted more photos, 12 total, from last  
Sunday in an online gallery starting at http://www.pbase.com/image/ 
100073739.

Coming from Knoxville, we usually approach Dutch and Rankin Bottoms   
from I-40 at exit 424,  driving toward White Pine on Hwy 113, then  
turning right on Nina Rd, which passes Baneberry and ends on 25E.   
Dutch Bottoms is just down the road to the right.  This route is  
shorter, and we usually stop at the TWRA area at Dry Gully Branch  
(poorly marked, it's a  right fork off of 113).  We also check for  
birds at Baneberry, driving past the country club, then turning right  
on McCorkle Rd. and viewing from the loop at the end - good spot for  
bald eagles, which nest across the lake.

Dutch Bottoms viewing - easiest access currently is at the boat  
launch next to the bridge, or the area in front of "Lighthouse  
Point" (don't look for a lighthouse) just before the turn onto Rankin  
Hill Rd.  There's an osprey nest on the farther silo, and also on  
Walters Bridge.

Rankin viewing - At the foot of Rankin Hill and across the tracks, we  
park near the WMA sign, then follow trails out to the riverbank or  
parallel to the RR - the latter is the old RR bed and continues right  
to the tipple/coal chute at Rankin Bottoms.  These trails are used by  
local fishermen, and tend to be overgrown.  Good for Baltimore  
oriole, redheaded woodpecker, prothonotary warbler, & occasionally  
warbling vireo.  I think this is a great hike, but it's not for the  
faint-of-heart.  Rankin Bridge, just up the road after crossing the  
RR, has one of the biggest cliff swallow colonies in TN - there's an  
osprey nest on the old steel-truss Rankin Bridge. We park at the end  
of the bridge and walk along it, viewing up & down the river.

Rankin Bottoms - Drive along Hill Rd, then cross the tracks.  We park  
immediately, and view across the Bottoms from points along the  
tracks.  Green herons in close, shorebirds on the mudflats.  >>>  
Parking near the coal chute/tipple (osprey nest on the tipple): walk  
under the tipple and along the road, or along the parallel trail,  
closer to the RR.  Prothonotary warblers, orchard orioles,  
gnatcatchers, etc.  >>> Close to sunset, black-crowned night-herons  
come woking in, and green herons hunt along the shoreline.  Waders  
can be seen flying to roost, presently across the lake about a mile  
north of the mouth of the Nolichucky river, due east of the tipple area.

Best way to experience the area is from the water.  Leslie and I been  
out in a canoe countless times; for waterbirding and escaping into  
the wetlands, there's nothing comparable in this area.

Michael Sledjeski
Del Rio TN
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