I visited the Floating Mill Recreation Area on Center Hill Lake, DeKalb Co., this morning, suspecting that some waterbirds might have made an appearance there in the wake of the disturbed weather we've been experiencing. After scanning the large embayment of the lake at that site, I found 50 American Coots in a little wad, 2 Pied-billed Grebes, 2 Gadwalls, 8 Lesser Scaups, and 9 Horned Grebes, the first of the latter two species I have recorded this autumn. The grebes were scattered over the lake in three groups of two and one group of three. In most years in the past when I have first encountered Horned Grebes at this site, they have usually been scattered out in very small groups, with groups of two predominating (if memory serves me correctly). Later in the fall, there will be many more grebes present, usually in one large group for most of the day. I'm wondering if there is a statistical way to analyze the early-season groups into which the grebes fall, to see if groups of two are present in greater number than would be expected if they occurred purely by chance. Would be glad of some help on this, if anyone out there is statistically minded and interested in this matter, which might shed light on the issue of whether pairs of Horned Grebes migrate and overwinter together. Steve Stedman Cookeville, TN And, BTW, thanks to all who responded to my query about the PIF population estimate for Loggerhead Shrikes in TN; the consensus of the responses, at least those that stayed on point, seemed to me to be that the PIF estimate for LOSHs in TN was too high, even preposterously too high, a consensus with which I am in complete agreement. sjs =================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 _____________________________________________________________