At Tremont (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Blount County) the Juncos showed up late, and are still low in numbers, compared to the last 3 falls. Most places I've been the White-throated sparrows seem down a bit, but not dramatically. I think the birds just have plenty of other sources of food right now. We'll see what January holds. Maryland is experiencing a good irruption of Pine Siskins and Purple Finches. It look almost as good for them (and this is VERY early to say...) as 1996, which was a banner year that included both species of Redpolls. They have not yet got Snow Buntings in most of their usual haunts, so I think some birds have just not moved all the way to wintering grounds. Charlie ===== ************************************************** Charlie Muise, Senior Naturalist Now living in Maryville, TN Still working in Great Smoky Mountains National Park "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm" Ralph Waldo Emerson __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ =================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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================