Hey folks, I forgot to report a bird sighting made by Sammy Cross, Rack's son, on Aug. 03 at Quarry Bog, Shady Valley, TN. Sammy and his cousin, Codee Burton, were displaying their superior eyesight pointing out all the dragonflies and butterflies I was missing when Sammy saw a duck flying over and called my attention to it. I had a brief, but clear look at it with 8X binoculars from about 200 ft. It was dark brown, with contrasting white wing linings, and a clearly seen purple speculum with a posterior white edge. I recognized it as an American Black Duck. It settled into the stream hidden in the eastern corner of the marsh, between the pond and Quarry Rd. Rack missed seeing it, and was hoping to add it to his lifelist. Unfortunately, we failed to relocate the bird. In "The Birds of Northeast Tennessee" by Rick Knight, the earliest date shown for American Black Ducks is Aug. 25. I want to thank Sammy and Codee for showing me so much wildlife that I would have otherwise missed. Don Holt 910 Smalling Rd. Johnson City, TN 37601 (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