On Friday 2-10 I took some time to bird in Russell County. I did not start out looking for Golden Eagles but I certainly found them. I sighted 8 Golden Eagles in about 4 hours of traveling around the county. The first was at the end of Loop Road in Corn Valley. It was an adult and I had a very good but brief view. The next encounter was on Elk Garden Road near the Forty Foot Bridge. I saw 3 circling at quite a distance but 2 of them came closed and perched in a tree at the opposite end of the field I was watching. Both were 2nd year birds. I have seen this pair in that area 3 times in the last 2 weeks. There was a significant size difference between the two birds. The next area I birded was the Clifton Farms Church Road. I saw one eagle at a distance above House and Barn Mountain. About 1/2 hour later I spotted 3 more near Kents Ridge. One of these could have been the earlier sighting on House and Barn. I feel certain that there were at least 7 individual Golden Eagles. The Pileated Woodpecker encounter happened yesterday 2-11. It was still snowing but my son's Labrador Retriever still insisted on her daily walk. We were walking in the woods behind our house when I saw a Pileated fly across the path in front of us. I heard it call a couple of times and when we came around the next turn in the path I saw it on a snag. I kept walking closer and closer. The Pileated was intent on whatever it had found. It would turn it's head first one way then the other and start attacking the snag. I was able to get within 5 feet of the snag and the bird was no more than 15 feet above the ground. It was the closest I have been able to get to a Pileated for any length of time. It was an awesome encounter. Tom Hunter Russell County Bird Club __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ************************************************* 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-****