David and all, Osprey do come into Great Smoky Mountains National Park from time to time, following the LIttle River, the Pigeon River, the Little Pigeon River, and Chilogattee Branch. I assume they also come up Abrams Creek and Cataloochee, but I have not seen it myself. None of these are terribly big, but as they are shallow, Osprey can successfully fish them. By the way, Pigeon Forge is in Sevier County, though Blount County is south of this - it is unclear from your wording which county you were in. Charlie --- David & Gloria Patterson <dgpatterson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Osprey: April 29, walking in an isolated wooded retreat south of > Pigeon Forge, Blount County, we were surprised to see an Osprey > circling overhead. As far as I know there are no ponds larger than > say 100' diameter for miles (more than 12 miles to Douglas Lake. > This morning, walking in woods near Houston Lane, Hamilton County, > we saw an Osprey overhead; again there are no large ponds in this > area (Standifer Gap Marsh 6 miles away). > Red-winged Blackbird: At Standifer Gap Marsh we have found 15-20 > old Red-wing nests that have been covered over to make a resting or > nesting place for a small grey shrew-like critter which I call a > Water Shrew. The covering is of the same neat material and tight > construction as the inner liner of the nest, completely enclosing a > space the size and shape of a golf ball, with no opening. Often > when we probe into the nest a Shrew exits the bottom, dives into > the water and disappears. Yesterday we checked RW1 Redwing nest > which was complete with zero eggs April 15 and 16, 3 eggs April 23 > to May 2. May 3 it had a top; when I touched it the Shrew > squeaked, came out of the bottom of the nest, and disappeared into > the water. There were some shells but no eggs. Apparently the > Water Shrew is a predator rather than just an opportunistic nest > user. > > On today's wade with James and Sasha Peters we found a 4th Least > Bittern nest. > > David and Gloria Patterson > Standifer Gap Marsh > Chattanooga, Hamilton County > =================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 > > _____________________________________________________________ > > > ******************************************************************* Charlie Muise, Naturalist near Great Smoky Mountains National Park "To the dull mind all nature is leaden. To the illuminated mind the whole world sparkles with light." - Ralph Waldo Emerson __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.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/ 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 _____________________________________________________________