Hey folks, Saturday afternoon, 20 AUG 2005, Dianne Draper and I went to Mendota, VA (after a quick stop at Musick's Campground on S. Holston Lake in Sullivan Co., TN where we saw a very friendly Semipalmated Plover that I believe chummer, I mean zenbirder Wallace Coffey had already tamed that morning :-) On the road near Mendota Firetower we were delighted with the abundance of wildflowers in bloom, including lots of Liatris aspera, Rough Blazing Star. (Does anyone know if that species has always been there, or did it get planted there along with the abundant Big Bluestem along the road. Is that National Forest there?) There was a lot of butterfly activity on the Liatris, and even more activity by hilltopping butterflies at the firetower. We ended up observing 27 species of butterflies there. (list at end) Other interesting critters included at least one, maybe two Bank Swallows, a Barn Swallow, several Chimney Swifts, and a flock of Turkey Vultures that had been resting on the tower and leaving lots of "butterfly bait" on the ground beneath it. A large Emerald dragonfly species foraged low over the trail near the tower awhile, and the rocks were full of young Eastern Fence Lizards. Butterfly species: Pipevine Swallowtail Zebra Swallowtail Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Spicebush Swallowtail Cabbage White Red-banded Hairstreak Eastern Tailed-Blue Summer Azure Pearl Crescent Silvery Checkerspot Eastern Comma Question Mark Mourning Cloak Red Admiral Painted Lady Red-spotted Purple Hackberry Emperor Common Wood Nymph Gemmed Satyr Northern Pearly Eye Monarch Silver-spotted Skipper Hoary Edge Northern Cloudywing Wild Indigo Duskywing Zabulon Skipper Common Roadside Skipper 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-****