Master Birder Program

This is from a post from Georgia Audubon that will be of interest for our members.  

Georgia Audubon is offering a Master Birder course for birders in our Macon area. 

Classes will be virtual, and they'll be offering bird walks in the Macon area with field trip leaders from our local chapter. 

Check out the link below for more information and to register. https://www.georgiaaudubon.org/master-birder-program.html

Our field trip to the Oconee River Greenway

A nice turnout on today's field trip with 13 observers at the Oconee River Greenway.  This place is a hidden gem in Milledgeville with paved trails that serpentine gently through nature.  A link is in the previous sentence.

Even on a beautiful Saturday, these trails never seem to get crowded, unless of course a paddling event is going on.  Then the river gets crowded while the trails remain inviting.

Big Sycamore tree

Our group seems to be typically nicely mixed.  You'll find experience birders, intermediate and beginner birders.  That way everyone benefits. When observers call out "movement! I see something! a bird!" then we all get to see more bird species that we would otherwise miss.  And birders just love to share, don't they?

Birds migration has started and we spotted many Chesnut-sided Warblers and a Cerulean Warbler.  Here is a complete list of our sighting.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Another Cuckoo!

These Yellow-billed Cuckoos are beautiful! We saw at least seven different ones.  All-together 37 different species not including a few Empidonaxes.  Who were these flycatchers? An Acadian, a Least, a Yellow-bellied? It helps to identify them when they vocalize but they were pretty quiet today.  Fortunately there were plenty of other singing birds all around competing for attention.

Carolina Satyr

We seem surprised when people sometimes ask us what we are doing.  We're birding, right? Not always so obvious when the group gets fascinating by the butterflies, the dragonflies, the wildflowers, the trees,..., nature offers so much to appreciate.  And, did I mention earlier we are a mixed group? Many among us know these living wonders in nature, and some are constantly expanding their reservoir of knowledge.  I saw Jerry Amerson lying on the ground today to take a picture of a "bug".

Carolina Satyr

   Before you know it, it's time to go.  Till next time!

A presentation on eBird by Jerry Amerson

eBird is a great tool currently used by more and more birders across the country and the world.
We have some members who need a refresher on this tool so Jerry Amerson gave us a great presentation at our November general meeting.

eBird is available for free.  A free app for smartphones can also be downloaded from both Google Play or iTunes.  Once you have the app on your phone, you can use eBird in the field while birding.
This amazing tool allows you to keep your records of bird species organized in a permanent place, accessible anywhere.  And you shouldn't lose your records again.  In addition to that, you can check what is been observed in your area or in an area where you are going to.  You can also check birds movements as been reported by other birders.
Can you set up alerts to get emails on reports of bird species you haven't seen yet in your area or any other area? Yes, you can! You can do even more than I'm mentioning here.  If you're not enjoying eBird now, you need to click one of the links here and check it out for your own benefit.

Our members asked many questions.  Little did we know this was such a valuable topic!
Oh, one more thing.  eBird has turned this quiet and laid back hobby into a competitive one.   You can now see the top 100 birders in a county, a State, the country, even the world! So, you want to go out and see more and more birds to improve your ranking.  Don't get discouraged when you make trips that do not yield the target birds.  Welcome to the club! It's simple but not easy.  Just keep birding! You'll see that "nemesis" bird soon enough.

Field Trip at Central City Park

Our March field trip found us at Central City Park with six birders.  It was nice and pleasant the whole time.  Springlike weather.  Birds have been active in nesting, courtship and matting behavior.

Eastern Bluebird preening

Some of our wintering sparrows have started to leave.  Our summer residents typically start coming down at this time.  We saw Northern Rough-winged Swallows that are here for the breeding season only and the White-eyed Vireos moved up to our area.  We still had a lot of wintering bird species.

Birding is usually more than then just birds.  The train in the above picture was interesting; so were Japanese and Chinese Privets.  These are trees.

A pair of Chipping Sparrows

We ended up the outing with 49 species in a relaxed birding trip.  It was notable to watch several birds fetching nesting material and singing to declare the limits of their newly established territories.

Did someone had a message for Ty, our veteran birder and photographer?

Come join us on the next field trip, it's fun!

OAS field trip at Wesleyan Arboretum

We met at Wesleyan College this past Saturday for one of our field trips this month.  Jim Ferrari led the field trip and we birded the Wesleyan Arboretum, fourteen (14) birders in total.

We've tallied 49 bird species including a handful of migrants such as Blue-winged, Magnolia, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and a Swainson's Thrush.

The group enjoyed the vireos and nuthatches we see more often just as much as the fall migrants.  When the Canada Geese came in for a perfect landing, everyone exclaimed in delight.

Partial group photo by Jim Gilreath

The Wesleyan Arboretum has gone through some improvements that was nice to appreciate since our last field trip there.  The College has also added a beautiful new chapel that served as an attractive architectural backdrop to the pond area.

Summer Tanager picture by Anne Armstrong

 Wesleyan College has large acres of wooded areas and we noticed several people enjoying the natural settings while we were there.

Jim Ferrari is well familiar with these surroundings and that helped navigate the trails and areas around the pond for the enjoyment of all.  Thank you, Jim.

Banding schedule with Charlie Muise

This is a good opportunity for bird banding with Charlie.

This is the schedule for the rest of the year.

Panola Mountain State Park in Rockdale County

Meet at the gate at the end of Alexander Lake Road, which is south of the park entrance, on SR 155

September

Saturday, September 12, 6:15

Sunday, September 20, 6:20

October

Sunday, October 4, 6:30 (if enough help!)

Saturday, October 24 6:50

Saturday, October 31, 6:50

November

Saturday, November 14, 6:00

Saturday, November 21, 6:00

December

Saturday, December 5, 6:30

Saturday, December 19, 6:30

NOTES:

Whigg Meadow banding August 29 – September (CMM there Aug 31 – Sept 7)

Charlie teaches banding class in Alabama September 28 - October 3

JIBS September 26 – October 9

GOS October 2-4

Field trip at the Lockerly Arboretum

The Lockerly Arboretum with its Rose Hill and beautiful gardens has served Milledgeville and the Middle Georgia area for over 50 years.

The Arboretum was the site for our field trip this past Saturday with eight birders and nature lovers.

 Katherine Cummings, the Executive Director of the facility, welcomed us at the beginning with a couple of her volunteers and off we went.
We took notice of various butterfly species, flowers and plants, and most importantly, bird species.

David, Dick, and Joe

Jerry Amerson, Ed Irwin, and Marie Amerson

Some in the group, Joe Mangum and David Evans, knew the grounds well and were helpful in the birding/nature walk. 

Jerry and Marie Amerson were the two most experienced birders in the group.  As usual, a group will notice more birds on a field trip when you have experienced birders around.  Jerry also helped identify the butterflies and some of the wildflowers on the walk.

All together, we have identified 36 different bird species on approximately one mile radius walk in two hours.  The highlights were the Black-and-white Warblers, the singing Orchard Oriole that we were able to see, the Yellow-billed Cuckoos, and a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.    

 There were a few nesting and fledgling Eastern Bluebirds that captured everyone's attention.  You never get tired of the pretty Bluebirds, right?  The little ones begging for food were fun to watch. 

We spent a decent amount of time admiring the various plants and wildflowers, trying to identify as many as we could.  

These are the butterflies we've observed: 

American Painted Lady 1

Red-spotted Purple 1
Hackberry Emperor 2
Common Buckeye 2
Hoary Edge 1 - 
Fiery Skipper 7
Sleepy Orange 1
Carolina Satyr 1

The temperature quickly rose to the high 90s and we had to cut short this otherwise pleasant walk.  There was a new water fountain beside the new bathrooms.  That was quite convenient. 

The Lockerly Arboretum truly offers a beautiful setting for anyone wanting to enjoy a nice birding walk or just stroll in nature with plenty of pleasant colors.