The flight from Memphis to Tri-City Airport arrived at noon today, bringing one of the South's best known and most active birders to be the after-dinner speaker at the Bristol Bird Club's annual banquet. A brisk reservation period, handled by our able treasurer, has seen a heavy turnout for the evening which will begin Friday (9/13) at the Greenway Haven in Abingdon, Va at 7 p.m. Birders across a nearly 300-mile area are head to Bristol to hear Jeff Wilson, the long-time Memphis birder who is known throughout the South for his wonderful contributions to birding, birders and an agressive and busy birder. His posts on the old Valley Birds Net and the Tennessee state birding network (TN-Birders) has long made him the favorite of all subscribers. Ol' Coot, as he is affectionately known, will be staying at the Garden Plazza Hotel in Johnson City. He is in Johnson City at his friends' new house at this moment and I have talked with him by phone. He will visit with them this evening. His annual list for Tennessee birds is sitting on a hefty 284 for the year. Since this might be his only chance to get the birds from the mountains of East Tennessee, he is spreading himself thin and will be running hard for year birds. He would love to get six new year birds in this area and go home with 300 annual species. Friday morning he plans to go to Steele Creek Park where Kevin Hamed will help him search for a Ruffed Grouse. If he gets that species, he will move on to South Holston Lake, go brinding with our 13th of the Month fieldtrip and try for the Eared Grebe and birding around South Holston Lake. Friday evening he'll be the speaker for a great crowd at the Bristol Bird Club annual banquet. Saturday, he will probably start at Roan Mountaint. It looks like he'll probably then head south into the Smokies on Sunday and then Monday. He drive back to Tri-City Airport Monday evening for a late flight home to Memphis.. We are heading into a BBC Super Friday. Wallace Coffey Bristol ************************************************* BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST 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. It serves the Russell County Bird Club, Herndon Chapter TOS, Greeneville TOS Chapter, Blue Ridge Birders Club, Butternut Nature Club, Buchanan County Bird Club, Bristol Bird Club, Clinch Valley Bird Club and Cumberland Nature Club. -------------------------------------------------- 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 jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423)764-3958