13 January 2003 Lick Creek Bottoms Wildlife Management Area Greene Co., TN Ponds were still frozen today, so I took the hint and opted for field birding instead. After failing to find much of interest at various sites on and around North Mohawk Road in the western part of Greene County, I chose to spend some time farther south at the Lick Creek Bottoms WMA property located at Skinner Crossroads (intersection of Highway 348, North Mohawk Road, and South Mohawk Road). The choice turned out to be a good one, as I stumped up two Vesper Sparrows and a Merlin--a couple of species that are quite uncommon in winter in our area. In checking my Greene County records, I discovered that this was my first winter observation for Vesper Sparrow and only my second for Merlin. Also present in and around this LCBWMA unit were Savannah Sparrow (36) and numerous flocks of icterids. Most of the latter flew by at considerable distance, so I was unable to scan them effectively. Nonetheless, I did find grackles, red-wings (large number), and at least one cowbird. Don Miller Greeneville, 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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================