Sat., 13 MAR 2004 Joachim Bible Refuge Unit of Lick Creek Bottoms WMA Greene Co., TN D. Holt I walked down toward the TWRA barn at the Bible Refuge at sundown in hopes of seeing a Barn Owl, having seen feathers and pellets there before. I was easing down the gravel road, peeking out from between red cedars across the fields, thinking one might be out early hunting from the tops of fenceposts. And there on a fencepost was, not an owl, but a juvenile Northern Harrier, less than fifty yards away. I watched it search the ground around it with its eyes, presumably for prey. It occasionally stretched and preened. Finally it flew across the field and met another juvenile Harrier in midair, following it across the field, scaring off a flock of five Wilsons Snipe before settling on the ground. I went on to the barn and saw a nest box designed for barn owls mounted in the barn, but neither saw nor heard any sign of one. I did, however, hear two Great Horned Owls in the distance. Walking back, I also heard a sound I vaguely recognized but could not place, a spooky sort of sound. I forgot about it for a while when an American Woodcock began beeping about ten yards away from me. Though very close, I couldn't see him because the road was a few feet below his spot and I was eye level with him in the grass which blocked my view until he flew. I watched him dance several times. Once it began its ascent by flying a few yards over my shoulder. I could see its short little wings whirring away, and the whistle they made I could only hear while it was close, maybe within about twenty yards. After watching him, and listening to others in the other fields, I again heard the spooky sound I had heard earlier, and suddenly remembered that it was the winnowing sound made by the wings of a displaying Wilsons Snipe. I had only heard it on tape before. One thing the tape didn't prepare me for was that I can't really tell for sure what direction the sound comes from whenever I hear it, so I didn't know where to look to see the displaying Snipe. It was too dark by then, anyway. Maybe next time... Don Holt Johnson City, TN ************************************************* BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at: http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5 This is a regional birding list sponsored by the Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. -------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed to Bristol-Birds. To post to this mailing list, simply send an email to: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send an email to bristol-birds-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the one word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. -------------------------------------------------- Wallace Coffey, Moderator wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (423)764-****