Last Sunday, 11 DEC 2005, Rob Biller and I discovered three nests in Elizabethton, Carter Co., TN which I believe are Yellow-crowned Night-Heron nests. They are between Race Dr. and the Watauga River, 36.3563 N, 82.2202 W, and across the river from the Moose Lodge on Lovers Lane. They are visible now from both sides of the river, on Race Dr. and Lovers Lane. They are probably not visible through the foliage in the growing season from the Moose Lodge on Lovers Lane, because I looked for nests there unsuccessfully last summer when I saw Yellow-crowned Night-Herons foraging in the river there. They may be visible in the growing season from Race Dr., I suspect. Last Wednesday, 14 DEC 2005, Dianne Draper and I observed the Great Blue Heron nesting colony near Fort Patrick Henry Dam in Sullivan Co., TN. I was amazed to count 43 nests. My memory is imprecise, but I believe I counted quite a bit fewer nests last spring. I think I read somewhere that the number of nests needed to classify a colony as "significant" is 25 nests. While there we also saw four adult Black-crowned Night-Herons that were perched on the rocky river bank between the dam and the Hwy 36 bridge. Don Holt Johnson City, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the count 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 _____________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp _____________________________________________________________