This is truly a great story. It reads like a good piece of fiction and it is made all the more interesting because it is a true story. It would be nice if we could have Elizabeth as our honored guest at our bird club meeting. Janice Martin ----- Original Message ----- From: Wallace Coffey To: Bristol-birds Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 12:09 AM Subject: [Bristol-Birds] Epic account of rare White Ibis at Bristol TN A fabulous success story for the Bristol Bird Club ! An immature White Ibis has been reported from Sutter Pond on Millwood Rd. in eastern Bristol Tennessee, Sullivan Co. This photo was taken 29 June 2009 by Ann Oakley, who said today that the bird had been there a few days before she made the picture and was there until about last weekend. She has been away for a few days and will try to get us a better end date. She does not know if the bird is still in the area. She believes it was moving between Sutter Pond and the little spring house in her family's yard along Millwood Road -- a distance of a few hundred feet. We've had only about a dozen records for the species in the five-county Northeast Tennessee birding area. A similar date range was from 21 June to 3 July 2000 when Frank Ward and Howard Langridge, along with many other birders, had nine of the species at Siam Valley in Carter Co., TN The Bristol report comes to us as the result of a most amazing set of birding circumstances -- proof of what bird study, record keeping and community outreach has produced due to the unexpected good effort and success of the Bristol Bird Club. It also underscores the impact of children programming at the Bristol Public Library. David Oakley, a retired chemist who lives in northwest Arkansas, e-mailed two images of this ibis to Wallace Coffey on Thursday evening. He suggested that this would be a Bristol area record that we would want to know about. David Oakley, brother to Sid Oakley who owns Oakley-Cook Funeral Home in Bristol, began to attract birds to his Arkansas home. That led to developing an interest and considerable skill with bird photography and then to birding as a serious hobby. David eventually found his way back to childhood friend and high school classmate Wallace Coffey, who David knew was a birder even back then, more than a half century ago. Wallace and Dave have, for several years, exchanged photos and worked on identification together. At the April meeting of the BBC, Michelle Page, Children's Librarian at the Bristol Public Library, was on hand and the BBC agreed to provide children's birding walks as part of the library's 8-12 year old program. Club member Michele Sparks volunteered to facilitate the bird walks for BBC and the first was scheduled for Monday, June 11, from 5 pm to 6 pm. One of the very talented and brilliant children who came to Michele's event that evening was 8-year-old Elizabeth Oakley who lives on Millwood Road. Elizabeth's grandfather David Oakley had, from time to time, sent Elizabeth photos he had taken and encouraged her interest in birds by asking her to ID the birds in his e-mails. Michele, a fifth grade teacher in the Sullivan County School System at Indian Springs Elementary, was the BBC's region "Birder of the Year" for 2008. She knew how to relate to the children and how to achieve the educational and entertainment goals for such an event. Michele gave each child a small notebook and explained the importance of keeping good records and writing down what birds look like and such. She also had on hand a copy of Rick Knight's The Birds of Northeast Tennessee -- Second Edition published by BBC in 2008. Ann Oakley purchased a family copy from BBC. The Bristol Bird Club / Bristol Public Library sponsored event for children excited Elizabeth. She began wanting to observe all of the birds she could and began to write notes. Would you believe, that along that tiny stream which runs in the Oakley front yard, Elizabeth and her mother, on a family yard bird walk, discovered one of the region's truly rare birds -- an immature White Ibis ? Two photos were e-mailed to David Oakley on the morning of 16 July 2009 and then forwarded to Wallace by David. Within moments, Wallace found a phone number for the Bristol Oakley family and left a message. Ann returned the called within an hour to Wallace's cell. When this story was relayed to Michele Sparks, she was ecstatic ! The fruits of labor for a teacher and a birder had paid off big time for the Oakley family, young Elizabeth, grandfather David, Wallace, the Bristol Bird Club, librarian Michelle Page and the Bristol Public Library. Elizabeth is the daughter of Ann and Greg Oakley of Bristol and the great granddaughter of Dot Oakley Bibee. Let's go birding . . . . Wallace Coffey Bristol, TN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.17/2242 - Release Date: 07/16/09 18:00:00