During the last two weeks I have received about 20 inquiries through the TOS web site about rose-breasted grosbeaks. This is a much greater inquiry rate than I have ever received about any bird in all the years that the TOS web site has been online. Virtually all of the inquiring folks have grosbeaks at their feeders and they either don't know what they are seeing or have identified them but note that they have never seen them before and want more information about them. I find this interesting for at least a couple reasons. First, it suggests that more rose-breasted grosbeaks are showing up at feeders right now than is normal in the spring. Many of you have also posted messages to this list-serve about observing grosbeaks at your feeders. This increased presence at feeders could be due to the effects of the Easter freeze, with the reduced availability of foliage-feeding insects, fleshy buds, parts of flowers like those of the tulip poplar, and other "natural" foods eaten by migrating grosbeaks making the grosbeaks more likely to visit feeders. Unfortunately, this hypothesis is difficult to test. Secondly, it is nice to know that a lot of folks across the state are turning to the TOS for answers to their bird questions after presumably finding www.tnbirds.org <http://www.tnbirds.org/> through a web search. Chuck Nicholson Norris, 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 _____________________________________________________________