Sunday Don Carrier and I birded two areas of Buchanan County hoping to find sparrows. We were not disappointed. We found Vespers, a Lincoln's, a Savannah, Field, White-crowned, White-throated, Chipping and Song. We began by birding the mountaintop park of Poplar Gap near Grundy. There we found 5 Horned Larks and 18 Killdeer. We were surprised when the Killdeer suddenly flushed as two Merlins made a half-hearted pass at them, then continued on into the distance. That's a falcon that we don't see often in our area. Shortly after, we found the Vespers and Lincoln's Sparrow then a late Nashville Warbler feeding on insects among some dead goldenrod and Pokeberry plants. I later checked Peterson's Warbler Guide and found that some Nashvilles hang around into late October and even early November. We later moved to Enoch's Branch Park, where we found a Cooper's Hawk, an immature Red-tail, large flocks of Cedar Waxwings, a flock of 5 flickers and more Vesper sparrows and several Yellow-rumps. Photos can be found at http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/new_birds&page=3 Roger Mayhorn Compton Mt Buchanan County