The Christmas Bird Count for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (near Gatlinburg, Sevier County, in east Tennessee and a portion of western NC) will take place on Sunday, December 16. Most of the birding in the circle is done by hiking trails, although there are a few territories which involve driving around Gatlinburg and/or Pigeon Forge. Some of the birds encountered during this event include Ruffed Grouse, Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadee (as well as chickadees unable to be placed to species), Pine Siskin, Red Crossbill - and hopefully Evening Grosbeak this year. If you would like to participate, you can be assigned your own territory(s) or join with others. Contact me in advance, or meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Sugarlands Visitor Center for assignment. Birders of all skill levels are welcome! If you just want to tag along and learn more about birds, that is fine. You can pre-register and pay the $5 CBC fee online for this Count. I highly recommend that you do this (and hope other compilers will allow this feature!) so I don't have to bother with getting your money and sending it in! Go to: http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/getinvolved.html In the last paragraph on that page, look for the link to pre-register and follow the preocedure. For those able to stay long enough, we will meet at the Smoky Mountain Brewery in Gatlinburg for dinner and a review of the day's birding. For directions and more info, see http://www.smoky-mtn-brewery.com/ I hope to see you in the Smokies on the 16th! David Trently Knoxville, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY 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 ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________