[va-bird] South Holston Sooty Tern
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "VA-BIRD (E-mail)" <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2004 19:01:10 -0400
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Hoff" <rondolly@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "TN-BIRD" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 11, 2004 2:11 PM
Subject: [TN-Bird] Sooty Tern at Musick's Campground
TN-birders,
Dollyann and I saw the Sooty Tern this morning at 0720, 0820, 0920, and
1000. It was flying back and forth in front of the tree-covered hillside on
the far side of the lake (of course!). With a decent scope, you should be
able to get a good look at it. For as much as someone like me can predict
these things, the bird appeared healthy and was flying strongly. It made
several dives down to the surface of the lake, but we never saw it dive into
the lake (I don't know if this species feeds like that anyway - it may be
gleaming stuff off the water surface). The light is not optimal in the
morning, as the sun comes up behind aformentioned hillside (you're looking
east-ish), but despite this we got good looks at the bird.
My opinion is that if you want to see this bird, tomorrow (Sunday, Sept.
12th) would be a great shot at it. It seems to be comfortable with this area
of the lake and is hanging around.
Directions to Musick's campgroud:
***********************************************************
VIRGINIA BIRDERS: South on I-81 to Abingdon middle exit and then Va. Rt. 75
until you first seen waters of South Holston Lake on your left as you cross
the lake over a bridge (the only bridge on Va. Rt. 75). Then go to step #5
below but you will be making a left hand turn onto Va. Rt. 701 if coming
from Abingdon. Follow remainder of info in step #5. You have an excellent
opportunity to see this bird in Virginia waters from the campground. --
Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
************************************************************
1 - take interstate 81 north to exit 69 (this is the exit for Bristol and
the Motor Speedway - highway 394)
2 - go right on 394 until you go past the speedway and come to a light
with highway 421 - this is several miles
3 - go right on 421. This is a 4 lane highway for several miles. When it
go back to 2 lanes, you go about another mile or so and turn LEFT on highway
44. There's a store of some kind on the left of this corner.
4 - go a few miles until you come to the sign for the Virginia state line.
5 - just after the state line sign, turn right on road 701. You'll go
straight for about a mile (or less) until you come to where there is a road
coming in from the left. The road you're on will bear to the right. You want
NEITHER of these. You'll want to almost come to a stop here and look for the
sign for the campground, which is nearly straight ahead, but slighty to the
left. Go in slowly and you will come to a sign-in station with plastic over
it on the right. Please sign in here (or out as you leave). Drive straight
through the campground and it comes out at the lake. It will be obvious
where to park.
The campground is shown as the northernmost boat launch symbol in the
DeLorme Gazeteer on page 70. The lauch symbol is just below the "Su" in the
name Sullivan County, TN.
Good luck and great birding,
Ron Hoff and Dollyann Myers
Clinton, TN.
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