The Black-throated Sparrow was seen again on Saturday, December 3 by Jon Dunn, Brainard Palmer-Ball and several other birders early in the morning and again by Steve McConnell of Alabama and myself later in the day, around 10:00-10:45. The bird seems to have spent most of the day in a loose group of Field Sparrows flying between the brush pile on which it was originally seen (the one with Morris William's helpful sign, "Here"), another smaller brush pile between the original one and the area of smashed pumpkins (next to where you park--don't drive past the small ditch), the latter area, and the wooded area immediately adjacent to the access road for about 1/4 of a mile back toward the Dennison house. When in the woods the group seems to stay close to the road flying back and forth along this margin and stopping at the brush piles and pumpkin area. Today, the small wooded area behind the brush piles and smashed pumpkins was quite active with B. Creeper, Y-b Sapsucker, W-b Nuthatch, T. Titmouse, C. Chickadee, Y-r Warbler, W. Thrush, Bluebird, Mockingbird, B. Jay, B. Kingfisher (along the stream that cuts through the woods), G-c Kinglet, Winter Wren (in the pile of tree limbs next to the smashed pumpkins), C. Wren, E. Phoebe, Downy & R-b Woodpecker, Goldfinch, Towhee, White-throated, Field, Swamp, Song, an unusual winter Lincoln's Sparrow and a surprising, no surprised, Am. Woodcock. Savannah Sparrows were ubiquitous in the adjacent fields but not seen with the Black-throated group although they were seen to frequent the brush piles. The best strategy for the Black-throated Sp is to keep an eye on the two brush piles mentioned above and the area of smashed pumpkins, listen for a rambunctious group of Field Sparrows, and yes, don't give up! For a bird so common in the West and Southwest that you hardly pay it any attention, it took me four hours today and I had previously missed it on Thursday. Note that when I left, the road to the parking area was getting quite muddy--drive carefully and boots would help. Kevin Breault Brentwood, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the count in which the birds you report were seen. The actual date of observation should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp _____________________________________________________________