Wallace and Tom, Great bird for East TN. Pictures make it clear enough to identify the species. Congrats. Dev Joslin Oak Ridge, TN Wallace Coffey wrote: > Today (8/14/02), while birding at Rankin Bottom, Cocke Co., TN, we > had a female Yellow-headed Blackbird. > The brid was observed for about 40 minutes between the hours of 3 > p.m. and 4 p.m. by Wallace Coffey and Tom Horsch. > We are posting four of 19 digital photos taken thru my Kowa scope > with a zoom lens mostly between 40x and 60x. > The better photos may be seen on a web page at: > > http://www.adventuredamascus.com/adventure/adventurefolder/rankin.htm > > In good sun light with the sun to our back, we observed the bird > near the water's edge across the French Broad Embayment on the far shore. > It was walking and sometimes running about among shorebirds and often stood > near Killdeer. It was nearly the size of the killdeer. At one point it > perched about 24 inches above the ground in a small bush back from the > water's edge. When on the mudflats in a well-exposed area, it appeared to > be food gathering. > For those wanting to see it if it remains, look for a blackbird > walking around the shoreline which will, from time to time, fly a few yards > to another area and continue feeding. Remember that this is at great > distance and it appears just to be a small black shorebird when seen with > binoculars at that distance. > It has an upright posture, holds it tail nearly dragging the grown, > has black legs and feet and the feet seem rather large. It has what appears > to be a black back and we did not detect any white on the back or the wings. > The tail appears all black with no light markings. It is slightly rounded > tail with no notch. The bill is somewhat light and that can be seen with a > scope set at higher power. The yellow eye-stripe is evident. At times > there appears to be some yellow above the bill between the eye but that was > not a certainty. The throat appears to be the same color as the breast and > eye-stripe. There appears to be a dark patch either thru the eye but at > least around and slightly behind the eye. The distance is so great and it > is hard to see the details with extreme clarity. > There are few records of this rare bird in East Tennessee. > We had 15 Short-billed Dowitchers (white rump patch seen when flying > around after being alarmed). There were four Semipalmated Plover, Lesser > Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, cormorants, many > Great Egrets and possibly other birds I failed to note and don't now recall > while keying this message. > We spent so much time and energy on the Yellow-head Blackbird that > we were driven from the shore by the 99 degree heat and had to give it up > without a serious and careful study of all the possible shorebirds. > There are, as Boyd Sharp told us Sunday, "lots of shorebirds but not > a lot of different species of shorebirds." > > Wallace Coffey > Bristol, 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 =========================================================