Amber and I decided we had done enough work Saturday and hit the road to Rankin WMA in Cocke Co., TN. Ron Hoff, Dollyann Myers, Frank Bills and Sharon Bostick had just arrived when we got there. Michael and Leslie Sylva showed up a bit later and gave Amber and I a canoe tour. We were paddling back at sunset as hordes of Great Egrets came in. Swallows and shorebirds filled the air and were skimming the surface all around us. Bird numbers continued to increase the longer we stayed. Awesome experience! Thanks again to Michael and Leslie. The water is still high but will drop quickly. We drug bottom a lot of the way and I don't know that there was ever a time that our paddles couldn't touch bottom. Next weekend might be the peak time. Best birds were a pair of White Ibis -- one juvenile, one apparent 1st-year bird -- which did a flyby. Also a waterthrush that we didn't get a good enough look at to ID by sight but, based on Dunn and Garrett's Warbler guide (any waterthrush seen in the US after 20 Aug is almost certainly a Northern) was almost almost certainly a Northern. Lots of otter tracks in the mud. Other highlights below, numbers are very estimated. 10 Aug 2002 Rankin WMA, Cocke Co., TN Douglas Lake at 985 ft ---------------------------- Double-crested Cormorant, 40+ Great Blue Heron, 30+ Great Egret, 270 estimated by counting by tens, came to roost on a spit of land at sunset Snowy Egret, 3 Little Blue Heron, 1 immature Green Heron, several Black-crowned Night-Heron, 20+ White Ibis, 2 (1 juvenile, 1 1st year) Canada Goose, 100+ Wood Duck, 40+ Mallard, 70+ Blue-winged Teal, 3 Osprey, at least 2 Semipalmated Plover, ~10 Killdeer, 100+ Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, ~20 Solitary Sandpiper, 10+ Spotted Sandpiper, 2-3 Semipalmated Sandpiper, 15+ Least Sandpiper, 30+ peep sp., 150+?, great swarm of birds were circling around at sunset Pectoral Sandpiper, 30+ dowitcher sp., 2-3, seen from 1-2 miles away, best guess, juv. Short-billed Eastern Kingbird, 30+ Purple Martin, 100+ Tree, N. Rough-winged, Bank, Cliff, Barn Swallows, lots American Robin, 30+ coming in to bathe and feed, looked really out of place Warbling Vireo, 4 Yellow Warbler, 1 Prothonotary Warbler, 10-15 including 1 fledgling being fed Northern Waterthrush, 1 Summer Tanager, 1 female 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 =========================================================