Jerry Ledbetter, Mike Nelson and I were at Kyker Bottoms (http://tnbirds.org/birdfinding/KykerBottoms.htm) on Sunday, November 8, apparently at the same time the Robert Gofreed was there (see his report on TN-Birds), though we went to the "back side" entrance which is off of Lanier Road. This was the first time we had ever gone there early in the morning. Every previous time had been after birding for a few hours on the 'usual' side of the refuge off Garland Road. Going in the back side allows a much easier chance to carefully walk up to where many of the ducks are found. It is also a great place to search for sparrows, just like the other side. On cold mornings, there are places near the entrance that get the first light of the sun, so you can expect a lot more activity there, whereas the place near the viewing blind (off Big Gully Road) stays shaded a bit longer. From Kyker, we went to Whites Mill Refuge, also in Blount County. I had searched online for a while, trying to find out if this refuge was still open - but it was not. It was our first time there and we look forward to returning in February when it re-opens. Looks like some good birding potential. We ended up the day at the Laurel Lake area near Townsend, also in Blount County. I don't know what the plans are for this site, but a lot of the vegetation had been cut and some of the area was now bare ground. Still worth a birding stop, though we didn't find anything unsual in mid-afternoon. Here is our list from KYKER BOTOMS: Canada Goose Wood Duck Gadwall American Wigeon American Black Duck Mallard Blue-winged Teal Northern Shoveler Ring-necked Duck Hooded Merganser Northern Bobwhite - about a dozen of these flushed as I walked through a field, hoping for some rare sparrows American Bittern - at least one was seen very well as it flew around us out of the corner of one of the impoundments. Great Blue Heron Sharp-shinned Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Coot Eastern Screech-Owl Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Blue Jay American Crow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren House Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush American Robin Northern Mockingbird Yellow-rumped Warbler Eastern Towhee Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow - this was a bit late to see one of these birds. It was photographed. Fox Sparrow - some of these were even singing!! Song Sparrow - while there are many of these present, one stood out. Mike got some photos of a leucistic bird. When it first flushed, we hoped maybe it was a Snow Bunting, but not so :-) Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Rusty Blackbird - 3 American Goldfinch Number of Species: 51 David Trently Avian Pursuits Nature Tours ...come see the real world! Knoxville, TN http://avianpursuits.com/ =================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/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________