Cars begin to arrive back at the TOS Shady Valley Foray headquarters Saturday as birders trickle in from birding hikes that extended from the early dawn hours. More were arriving as the afternoon hours passed. Still others are expected Sunday. Birders from Northern Virginia to Southeast Tennessee and the Nashville area bunked down in tents, vehicles and at hotels from Abingdon, VA to Mountain City, TN in order to take part. Still others commuted long distance each day to take part in a century of birding celebration hosted by the Herndon Chapter TOS at Elizabethton and the Bristol Bird Club. This weekend is the fifth summer breeding season foray conducted by TOS in Shady Valley during the past 50 years -- starting in 1961. Saturday witnessed no less than four field parties hiking nearly 20 miles along the US Forest Service Iron Mountain Trail and the famous Appalachian Trail which extends from Maine to Georgia. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Canada Warblers, Blackburnian Warblers and Least Flycatchers were among species enjoyed as they sang in their mountain territories. Lush Appalachian green forests and trailsides were again accented with gorgeous wildflowers. Thrills are showing up by the footsteps. A mini-version of a US Fish & Wildlife Service breeding bird survey was covered with 15 stops along Beaverdam Stream, a beautiful trout waters flowing from the valley north thru a splendid and undeveloped riparian cove hardwood. Groups gathered by the tables full for meals at a local restaurant and to cheer their success and compare notes. Not the least of which was Rob Biller who set out alone to bird six miles of the Appalachian Trail, starting at daybreak. Not only did he discovered what is believed to be a new neighboring-county breeding season species record but he couldn't get off the mountain. A best plan to arrived at a US highway and then hitchhike back to his car at the headquarters did not work so well. Finally, Biller reached a friend in Shady Valley who drove to the mountain and gave him a ride from his trail terminus. But Biller was one happy hikers, turning in one of the best lists of the weekend. Good birds were turning up as expected. Good birders are having a fantastic weekends in one of Tennessee's most interesting and rare bird habitats. If you can make it, don't miss the good times and hustle to meet the Sunday parties going out from the headquarters at Orchard Bog Preserve on Orchard Rd. Wallace Coffey Bristol Bird Club