12/24/04 McKenzie area; Henry Co. I spent a couple of hours yesterday running backroads in the local area, just to see what the frigid conditions would turn up. I had a couple of nice Horned Lark flocks, but none of the Lapland Longspurs I was hoping for. Biggest surprise was a lone Vesper Sparrow feeding along a roadside in Henry Co., which let me ease up close enough to get some pretty nice shots, just through my camera. A Loggerhead Shrike was in the same area, a very local bird around here. Also, a cattle lot just outside of McKenzie had a large mixed-species Blackbird flock working the area, with both Brewer's and Rusty in the mix. There were at least 4 Brewer's and 1 Rusty, but many of the birds were out of sight as they fed behind a slight rise. If anyone happens to be interested in pix of a Vesper Sparrow, they are posted here: http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/37856019 ; I have three photos posted, just click "Next" from this 1st image to keep going. Good birding!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN Carroll Co. birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx www.pbase.com/mctodd =================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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================