Area Birders, Bob Riggs of the Russell County Bird Club is always telling me that any species of bird might show up where I am, that I'm a lucky birder. In the past those unusual birds have been Kirtland's Warbler, Swainson's Warbler, Short-eared Owl, Peregrine Falcon, etc. Well, yesterday the most unusual bird of all showed up near our house. Lynda and I were heading out to photograph the Red-necked Grebes in Russell County. I had my digital camera, scope and video camera in the Blazer. We had gone only a short distance around the mountain when our mouths dropped open at the sight of an Ostrich walking down this country road. Of course I had to jump out and get video and still photos. It's one thing to see an Ostrich in a zoo or even on a farm, but it's a bit disconcerting when you are expecting to see Eastern Bluebirds or Northern Cardinals and suddenly you are confronted with this giant bird. This particular one just meandered along and passed by us, as if it were out for a spring day stroll. If you would like to see this very "rare" bird for Buchanan County click here http://www.bcplnet.org/birdclub/gallery/Ostrich.htm I wonder if I should submit the video to the VSO for confirmation. :) I'm trying to convince Ed Talbott, Vice President of the Buchanan County Bird Club, that I should be able to add it to my lifelist since it was not in a pen and therefore must be a wild bird. Although I haven't heard of an irruption of Ostriches from Africa to the U. S. this year. Maybe I'll check the records just to be sure. Enjoy the birds, no matter what size they are, Roger Mayhorn Grundy, VA Buchanan County mayhorn@xxxxxxxxxxxx ************************************************* 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, 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