Rankin Bottoms, Thurs Sept 1, 2011 Drove from Greeneville, TN in from I-81 side vs 321 to Newport arriving before 6pm. Upon passing over the bridge, no siting in the "Nest" however several blue herons and one black-crowned night heron. Nice to see some pros with scopes who shared their close-ups. Two men from Henderson, NC and two men from Knoxville, TN, then another lady from Knoxville arrived. Cocke County after dusk best to stay in groups. There were two folkes in a canoe and heard they had spotted the Ruffs, but we didn't see any from our shore view, which was really my desire. A speedboat, couple in a balloon ride and a boy toting a gun?? got our attention in between sitings previously posted. 4 Green Heron together were a nice site, as was the 50 or so Gulls (black wing-tips) as they flew past. A perch and a 4-fly-by of Cormorants and several wild turkeys. In addition, one Belted Kingfisher getting his dinner. Butterflies diminishing, but did see a nice large yellow swallowtail, monarch, orange sulfur. This photo had a couple orange/white crawlers and those plant buds were pretty in the sunlight, but made it hard to focus on the swallowtail. In fact, the overall glare of the sun made it photo tough. Left before 8pm, but the others who had been there two hours before my arrival were staying. Nata Jackson Greene County
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