Feb. 8-9, 2003 Mark Greene and I enjoyed the Hiwassee Refuge trip Saturday morning, the exhibits at Birchwood and an extended visit with Kenn Kaufman but a bird called. We decided to travel north to try to add a bird to Mark's TN list. The Allen's Hummingbird was not too far away. We stopped by Bonnie "the dairy queen" Johnson's new Cookie Jar Restaurant near Dunlap for a great meal. (I have no financial connections, blah, blah but wish I did) If you are in the area it is well worth a visit, if they only would pass out pillows for a little nap afterward!!!! We made our way north and were treated to views of the Allen's before we got out of the truck. We were invited in and enjoyed great views and got a few photos. The host and hostess are truly great people and are getting to know a lot about us birders. If anyone is planning a trip would you please get in touch with me before you go. I have a message I need delivered to them. Thanks............ Sunday morning broke bright and clear but it was all down hill weather wise from there. It really got prettier as the snow started to fall big time about 1 PM. In all of our running around we only saw 2 Common Loons all day long! We did have 20 species of waterfowl with 19 seen at Britton Ford and Greater White-fronted Geese added at the Big Sandy Flats. The real treat of the day was 4 male Common Mergansers courting a female up close to the observation platform. I got some nice photos of these elegant birds. We had all 3 mergansers in view from the platform and we had over 100 Common Goldeneye to scan but no prize! Also at Britton Ford, I picked up a Horned Lark, probably of the prairie race "rubea". It was very reddish all over to the point that you could pick it out of the flock at a distance from the color of its back without using your field glasses. American Pipits were in every field and on every mud flat, maybe indicating they are moving back north. On the Big Sandy Flats to the south we found Killdeer galore with 20 Least Sandpipers, 3 Dunlin and 18 Wilson's Snipe. We located an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull at Paris Landing and another immature and a 2nd year bird south of New Hope Landing. I had another gull at that point that appeared to be a Thayer's and we walked a considerable distance to get a better look at this bird that was tucked into the flock. Just as we set up, I noticed that the trees across the lake had disappeared. The snow was marching across the lake and chased us back to the truck. We were soon in a winter wonderland. We visited a few other points and bays but it was soon almost a white out. I did get a nice winter shot of a few turkeys foraging in the snow fall. Sparrows and Juncos were forming huge flocks, feeding and gritting before the covering was complete. I love birding in snow......... Good Birding!!! Jeff R. Wilson OL' COOT / TLBA Bartlett Tenn. =================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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================