Saturday 13 NOV 2004, the Herndon Chapter of TOS at Elizabethton held a field trip to Phipps Bend along the Holston River in Hawkins County. Participating were Gil Derouen, Dianne Draper, Don Holt, Rick Knight, and Larry McDaniel. Arriving at the site of the abandoned nuclear project, we were excited to see a Bald Eagle soaring over the river before we even got out of the vehicle. A hike around the large open field near us brought further raptor sightings including Northern Harrier, and some aerial interactions among three American Kestrels. After searching the field for sparrows, we were met by a very polite gentleman, the caretaker of the property for the Industrial Board, who informed us that the area was off limits. In our excitement over the Bald Eagle, we had failed to notice that we were parking directly behind a No Trespassing sign! The rest of the trip was spent on the public walking trail on the other side of the ponds, where we later came across Ron and Rose Lapp. The habitat there looks like it ought to be quite productive for birding throughout the year, and the thought was expressed without dissent that the area ought to be birded more often. The morning was concluded with an enjoyable meal at Wild Willy's Barbecue in Church Hill, which has a surprisingly large and varied menu for a small restaurant, including breakfast any time of day. Species seen were as follows: Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron American Black Duck Ring-necked duck Canada Goose Mallard Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Black Vulture Turkey Vulture American Coot Virginia Rail Common Snipe Ring-billed Gull Mourning Dove Rock Pigeon Belted Kingfisher Downy Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe American Crow Blue Jay Carolina Chickadee Eastern Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren Eastern Bluebird Northern Mockingbird American Pipit European starling Yellow-rumped Warbler Northern Cardinal Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Rusty Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark American Goldfinch submitted by Don Holt Johnson City, 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================