Driving on West Harpeth Rd in Williamson County early this beautiful frosty morning proved to be a raptorous experience. In the space of about three miles I saw four Red-tailed Hawks (most likely resident pairs), a Red-shouldered Hawk, five Am. Kestrels (2 males, three females), a female Northern Harrier that cruised across the road about 15 feet in front of the car, a Cooper's Hawk, a Barred Owl sitting in an oak right by the road, and a bird I'd lay money on to be a Merlin, sitting on a wire at the edge of some woods. Unfortunately I couldn't stop and didn't have my binocs with me anyway, but it looked like the other Merlins I've IDed -- right size (having just seen a couple of Kestrels emphasized this), bulk, general coloration and body attitude. For some reason I've seen more Merlins sitting on phone wires than in any other setting, although I've gotten them in flight and in trees, too. Marty DeHart Bon Aqua, Hickman County =================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 __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________