Smoky Mountains, TN / NC border. The cool front last night was a welcome relief and proved to be a good front for Warblers. Working in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area today, I was able to leave very early and drive up to Newfound Gap/Clingman's Dome area for a dose of high elevation birds. From 8:00 - 10:00 am, I encountered several "flurries" of migrants at pull offs in sunny brushy areas from the gap parking lot to the top of C Dome. There weren't alot of different species, but there were a lot of birds to look through! (Most common were Tennessee /Chestnut-Sided and Magnolia.) Temps were very cool and refreshing at the higher elevation and I hiked up to Clingmans Dome observation tower and along a section of the Appalachian Tr. Birds were all around me here and were moving along the ridge, so numbers are conservatively estimated. Work sure goes better after a morning like this! Tennessee Warbler 40-50 easily - 5 diff. stops and along trail ridge Magnolia Warbler 17+ same as above / all stops combined Black-Throated Blue Warbler 14 Black-Throated Green 9 BLACKBURNIAN 4 together on Appalachian Trail Chestnut-sided 28+ Hooded 2 Blue-Headed Vireo 5 singing early Scarlet Tanager 4 Golden-Crowned Kinglet 22 Junco all over Large flocks of Cedar Waxwings on trail to Observation tower on Clingmans dome.. They were eating BEES! Very interesting. (Yellow jackets feeding on the wildflowers, and another type larger bee I can't id) and blackberries for desert. I watched one eat SEVEN huge plump berries and 4 bees.within a matter of minutes !!.. How much can that little bird hold! Winter Wren 1 Chimney Swifts 14 around the tower Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds 6-10 hard to count buzzing jewelweed in several locations 2 Downy WP Eastern Pewee 6 2 EMPIDONAX- unable to ID - short time viewing and quiet Only 2 Red-Breasted Nuthatch Several Chickadees, Titmouse and Goldfinch 1 unidentified Warbler that I thought was a Bay-Breasted but it seems early. Did not see him as well as I wanted to. Definite wing-bars and drab greenish overall. NO RAVEN OR CROSSBILLS seen OR heard. Great morning and enough to inspire me that its TIME TO BIRD AGAIN! Nell Moore jimimoore@xxxxxxxx Caryville, TN CampbellCounty, TN =================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 =========================================================