[TN-Bird] horned grebes at Concord Park

Late Saturday afternoon (around 5 p.m.) I saw 3 horned grebes at the Cove at 
Concord Park in west Knox County.  They were on the pond to the left just 
off the parking lot near the pavilion.  They hadn't been there when I 
arrived about a half hour earlier.  I watched them from pretty close range 
for about 15 minutes as they swam and took short dives in that pond; they 
were just close enough to photograph with a chance of getting back decent 
pictures.  They weren't at all spooked by me or other people in the area.  I 
watched them until they slowly swam away to the east.  Came back Sunday 
morning at 10:30 and one of them was at the same location but already 
leaving.  It was taking extended dives as it moved eastward toward the boats 
docked at the yacht club.  It never resurfaced after its last dive.

Other birds on the water were mallards, coots, ring billed gulls and a great 
blue heron.

I took 12 photos of the grebes Saturday but I fear they are cursed.  Sunday 
afternoon I went to Pellissippi State Campus (also in west Knox County) and 
finished off the roll of film so I could  see if I had any decent shot of 
the grebes.  Took some nice portrait shots of ring billed gulls in the 
parking lot and walked around the pond with the idea of filming the lesser 
scaup.  One was sleeping on the pond and the other two were sleeping on the 
bank.  One of the bank scaup actually let me get close and take what would 
have been some great photos, but then my luck took a nose dive.  The film 
didn't rewind (first time that's ever happened) so when I opened the camera 
to change rolls I exposed at least part of the roll, so I'm sure those great 
shots of the scaup are gone.  After desperately trying everything I could 
think of to get the film to rewind, including changing the camera batteries, 
I ended up rewinding it manually in a dark bathroom.

Dropped the film off at Walgreen's one hour photo around 5:10 . Half an hour 
later they called me, said their machine had malfunctioned and they'd call 
me in about an hour when it was fixed.  Well, Monday morning it's still not 
fixed, they're going to send it to another store to develop.  So, if I 
didn't destroy all the pictures on the roll in removing it from the camera, 
if Walgreen's doesn't lose it or malfunction it, if the grebes weren't too 
far away, etc.  I may have some photos of them.

Carole Gobert, Knox County, Tennessee


=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the count 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

_____________________________________________________________
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp

_____________________________________________________________

Other related posts: