January 15, 2011 I try to make at least one cold-weather trip to Sullivan County each year, specifically to look for water birds. Often I go on January 1, but this year I didn't get there until mid-January. The recent thaw made travel easy today, and I was able to visit Middlebrook Lake (ML), Osceola Island Recreation Area (OIRA), and Musick's Lakeside Campground (MLC) without any delays or mishaps. Highlights included: Gadwall (3 ML) American Wigeon (2 ML) Green-winged Teal (4 OIRA) Canvasback (ML) Ring-necked Duck (67 ML) Lesser Scaup (4 OIRA) Bufflehead (28 OIRA) Hooded Merganser (93 ML) Ruddy Duck (OIRA) Pied-billed Grebe (4 MLC) Red-shouldered Hawk (OIRA) American Coot (2 ML) Ring-billed Gull (331+, mostly ML) Common Raven (Highway 394 at mile marker 12) Winter Wren (OIRA) Hermit Thrush (Painter Creek boat launch adjacent to MLC) As Wallace Coffey mentioned in a post earlier today, waterfowl numbers are down from recent years. My personal records for the area, which are sparse compared to those kept by birders in the five-county northeast Tennessee region who visit the sites regularly, show a decline for the last few years. Don Miller Greeneville, Greene Co., 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 -------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Chris O'Bryan Clarksville, TN __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________