I had been reading about the brown-headed nuthatches at Kingston Steam Plant for several days, and had intended to go see these birds--which would be "lifers" for me--but for one reason or another, I had not. When I read that James Brooks had seen them still there recently, I decided to go. So last afternoon and early evening (Wed., 6/12/02), I spent three hours at KSP, finding not only the nuthatches exactly where Brooks mentioned they were (in the stand of a dozen or so pines along the edge of the bay by the railroad track just across from I-40 at the plant). I saw two brown-headed nuthatches working the pine cones and the decayed wood in the pines in the perfect low afternoon sun. Great view. After seeing the nuthatches, I drove over to the ballfield area of the plant and walked in to the settling ponds and the cattail marsh area. Much to my delight, I also found a male and female orchard oriole, and a male blue grosbeak in the trees along the marsh border. (Both the oriole and the grosbeak were TN "firsts" for me also). Two yellow-billed cuckoos also cavorted in and out of the deciduous trees as I walked along the gravel road near the marsh area. To cap off my very pleasant evening, an osprey flew overhead as I left the cattail area. I thank Wallace Coffey for creating this TN-Bird site, and for the reporters who keep folks like me updated on birds in and around the area. Finding the brown-headed nuthatches (and the other species last night) through the reports on TN-Birds was a genuine treat, and proved to me the value of this medium. Arthur McDade Wartburg, Morgan County, Tennessee =================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 =========================================================