Sorry for the delay in posting but other commitments kept me from getting online last night. Sunday afternoon/evening (18 August 2002) several birders observed a juvenile Ruff at Rankin WMA in Cocke Co., TN. If the differences in size between the sexes translates to the juvenile birds as well, the bird was probably a female (and thus properly referred to as a Reeve, not Ruff). After having panned through the herds of shorebirds a few times already, I was scanning back through and this bird jumped out at me. It had not been there before or had been hiding behind a tree that snookered our view. It was hanging around the shore a little ways into the water. We observed it for 10-15 min during which time it mostly bathed and preened but did some feeding. Not a good sign if I interpret Ol'Coot's lessons properly. The whole mass of birds was spooked by a Red-shouldered Hawk and flushed. After much searching, I'm pretty sure we relocated the bird but it was over a mile away so viewing wasn't the best. We packed up and headed out to the point near the coal tipple for a better view. Unfortunately, something again flushed the birds while we were in transit. They flew about TWO miles away this time. Despite several hours searching, we never saw the bird again. Birds were coming and going all evening. Three Black Terns and two Common Terns also disappeared about the same time as the Ruff. Here are some details. Observers: Dean Edwards, Amber Edwards, Boyd Sharp, Jean Alexander, David Johnson, June Welch. The Routledges from Greenville were also in the area but I'm not sure if they saw the bird; Larry may have. Superficially, she looked like a great big Buff-breasted Sandpiper. The mantle and scapulars had solid, dark centers surrounded by a fringe of buff giving the bird a very neatly patterned look. The underparts were washed bright buffy all the way down, gradually fading toward white near the butt. The bird was in the water the whole time so leg length was hard to judge. The legs were dull yellow -- not the bright yellow of a yellowlegs but definitely yellow. Bill was long (definitely and readily noticeably longer and more "stout" than for a Buff-breasted, more in the proportions of a Pectoral) and appeared completely dark; there could have been some color at the base but I didn't see any. The bird was seen close to Killdeer, a Pectoral Sandpiper and a peep or two. In direct comparison with those species, overall size was between the Killdeer and Pectoral -- closer to the Killdeer than the Pectoral -- much too large for a Buff-breasted. The bird appeared plump and pot-bellied. Head looked smallish proportionally. Those of you are familiar with the quest Allan Trently has set some of us upon in rewriting songs to be about birds (e.g., There's no bunting like Snow Bunting) and remember McGruff the Crime Dog (Take a Bite Outta Crime) will appreciate Amber's contribution to the effort given below. Ruff, McGruff Rankin Bottoms, TN 37713 Dean and Amber Edwards Knoxville, 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 =========================================================