Thirty-seven birders from four clubs birded Burke's Garden in Tazwell County, VA today and it was a good day for all. The Bristol Bird Club's 15 Annual Golden Eagle Field Trip produced 3 Golden Eagles, a Rough-legged Hawk light morph and many other nice birds. Birders from the Lee & Lois Herndon Chapter of the TOS of Elizabethton, TN, the New River Bird Club at Blacksburg, VA, Buchanan County Bird Club and BBC birded during a beautiful, sunny day with strong winds. No snow was on the roads. It was wonderful. The Bristol / Herndon Chapter group had 20 birders. The New River Bird Club 10 and the Buchanan County Bird Club 7. Dave Worley was the leader for the BBC field trip. The Herndon Chapter of TOS provided most of the two-way FM radios which made complete communications possible. Don Holt compiled the trip list. The BBC-organized group included: Janice Martin, Fred Martin, Lois Cox, Wilma Boy, Rob Biller, Tom Hunter, Teressa Epperson, John Hay, Diana Worley, Dave Worley, Jacki Hinshaw, Nora Schubert, Diane Draper, Rick Knight, Mike Poe, Don Holt, Wallace Coffey, Louise Tilson, Dick Moose and Judy Moose. One Golden Eagle flew close over the trailing cars of the BBC group during mid-afternoon -- treetop level in bright sun, providing a sensational look. Two other birds flew along Garden Mountain and kited in the wind for long periods as we got our scopes on them for great studies. We may have had as many as five Golden Eagles but there was so much movement among Golden Eagles that we couldn't be sure when we were seeing the same birds twice. Of great fun were seven Red-headed Woodpeckers including one at a feeder in a roadside yard. The Rough-legged Hawk hunted from the crown of a tree far afield and once was driven from its perch by a Red-tailed Hawk. Ed Talbott of the Buchanan County Bird Club reported later that they saw one at very close range below the road in a draw. Our list included: American Black Duck 4 Mallard 25 Northern Shoveler 2 Green-winged Teal 16 Golden Eagle 3 Red-tailed Hawk 4 Rough-legged Hawk 1 American Kestrel 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Common Snipe 2 Mourning Dove 6 Rock Pigeon 17 Belted Kingfisher 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 Red-headed Woodpecker 7 Horned Lark 12 American Grow ~ 300 Blue Jay 1 Common Raven 6 Eastern Tufted Titmouse 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 4 Carolina Wren 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 Eastern Bluebird 7 American Robin 1 Loggerhead Shrike 2 (perched together along the edge of the woods) European Starling 16 Dark-eyed Junco 11 Song Sparrow 2 Eastern Meadowlark ~ 20 American Goldfinch 2 House Sparrow 4. We could smell the presences of a striped skunk and watched a 'Possum out "eagle hunting" in the middle of an open field. Oh my! A dozen birders enjoyed sending themselves a post card from the quaint U.S. Post Office and visiting with the woman postmaster. A photo was made of the Post Office tour group gathered on the front steps. Food was good all day and the fellowship really neat. It was another fine day for birders in every way. Let's go birding..... Wallace Coffey Bristol, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================