Hey all you brainy, binocular-toting nature lovers, bring your keen powers of observation to Roan Mountain, TN/NC. Saturday, July 20 for a fun day of butterfly-watching. The event is open to the public. Beginners and children are welcome. We will meet at the big green waterwheel beside the old visitors' center in Roan Mtn. State Park (TN) at 10:00 am. We will carpool to count butterflies in the park and at Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area until lunchtime. You can bring your lunch, or stop at the country store to purchase something to take up to Twin Springs Recreation Area where we will meet for lunch (and a few more butterflies!). After lunch we will proceed up the mountain with maybe a few stops, ending up at the Rhododendron Gardens (there will be a small US Forest Service fee for each car). There we will walk around the loop, hopefully finding a few (dozens? hundreds?) of Aphrodite Fritillaries. Come on out to join the fun, and bring a friend or young person to introduce to the joys of nature observation. Any experienced butterfliers who wish to independently count butterflies in areas not previously mentioned should contact me so I can coordinate our efforts. The center of our 7.5 mile-radius count-circle is the state line on the road at Carver's Gap. Anyone interested in counting butterflies in their garden (within the count circle) should contact me also, as special instructions are necessary. This event is sponsored by the North American Butterfly Association, which is involved in many worthwhile conservation and education efforts. They request a small ($3) donation from each adult participant to cover administrative costs, and produce useful and interesting statistics from all the counts across the continent. Articles highlighting some interesting results from these statistical analyses are a regular feature of NABA's magazine, American Butterflies. I will bring some back issues for your perusal, as well as the published compilations of previous NABA Butterfly Counts. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. Don Holt 910 Smalling Rd. Johnson City, TN 37601 Dnldhlt@xxxxxxx (423) 926-0865 ************************************************* 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