After reading all the postings re the gulls seen at Pickwick recently by Jeff Wilson et al, I decided to try my luck today. I had tried there previously at least twice for the Thayer's and California as well. The weather was great for January, sun all day and moderate temperatures. I started at the gull roost west of the Tn River off US 64 at about 9 AM. The water was mostly frozen and there were only about 50 gulls present, one first year Herring with all the Ring-billeds and a few Bonaparte's. I made my first try for the LeConte's Sparrow seen just west but had no luck - did scare up a wintering House Wren. After another look at the gull roost, I headed south to Pickwick Dam. Since 9/11 (I guess) there is even less access to the dam than in the past, and few gulls were about. At the state park, an E Screech Owl tape lured in a large flock which included several Pine Siskins. A search of Savannah Bottoms was mostly unsuccessful, and I headed back to the gull roost at about 1:30PM. The ice had melted and there were now several hundred gulls present. No Herrings with all the RBs but the dark phase Thayer's was now present and seen very well both on the water and in flight - a really spiffy bird. Another try for Leconte's Sparrow failed and at about 3 PM the Thayer's had disappeared as did I - thanks Jeff Terry Witt Murfreesboro 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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================