7/23/2011 Granny Ruth’s Garden cemetery; Bledsoe Co I finally broke my east TN jinx when it comes to chasing state birds. I was relieved at about 10:00 o’clock (central) when Clyde Blum called to tell me the bird was currently being seen and I was only about 20 minutes away. It was distant when I first arrived, but over the course of the next couple of hours put on an amazing show for us, with different birders arriving from time to time to enjoy the bird. It would sometimes disappear for 15-20 minutes at a time, to suddenly reappear, sometime directly overhead. In the field I was thinking the bird was probably an adult, but after looking at my photos and seeing the very fresh and even state of the flight feathers and some very light buffy streaks to the head and chest think it is a young bird. This bird is feeding very well in this area, constantly munching on insects on the wing. Hopefully it will hang around a few more days anyway. After enjoying this bird I accompanied some of the others to some additional locations in the Sequatchie Valley for Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Dickcissel. Very enjoyable, if a little hot, day to spend with some old friends and to meet some new ones. This is my first 3 new bird year in TN since Katrina, with the Swallow-tailed on top of the Spotted Towhee that Mark found, and Jeff’s influx of Neotropic Cormorants. Maybe I can find one of my own at some point! I have posted several(10) photos of the Swallow-tailed Kite, as well as one of a female Scissor-tail at the nest in my summer/fall 2011 gallery. The first new photo is here: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/136648553/original The exact location is mapped on each photo, just click the ‘view map’ tab beside the location under any of the photos. Good Birding!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx www.pbase.com/mctodd