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.  

Central City Park Field Trip

Our first June field trip saw us the Central City Park where six birders from the Ocmulgee Audubon group met.

Ty pointing, and Andre updating the checklist.

Paul Johnson observed a Baltimore Oriole before everyone even got there.
We also got three Painted Buntings before the morning was over.

Painted Bunting

The first part of the field trip went on with lively music as a race was going on in a festive mood.
We enjoyed watching a little bit of the race too.  We were in Central City Park after all; where interesting activities happen.

We've observed 52 bird species but it's hard to tell if we stopped more for dragonflies and wildflowers or for birds.  Nature was calling everywhere with colors and life.  We heard more birds but saw more butterflies and pretty dragonflies.

Wildflowers are all around us this time of year.  It takes appreciating eyes to notice them.  And birders have appreciating eyes.

Some birders in the group were very interested in butterflies, dragonflies, wildflowers, and mushrooms.  That was great!

Let's take a closer look at the ... down there!

 We went down the levee all the way to the river, over the railroad tracks, and saw a deer starring at us.

You never know what you will encounter on a birding field trip.

Our next field trip will be at the Lockerly Arboretum.  Beside all the bird species, this field trip promises to yield even more butterflies, wildflowers, and pretty dragonflies.  The grounds of this arboretum are also gorgeous.  Don't miss it.
You can meet us there at 8:30 a.m. June 20th, (all info in the above link) or leave together in a car pool from Dr. Ty Ivey’s office at 1902 Forsyth Street, Macon.

Ocmulgee Audubon field trip to the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge

Ten members of our Ocmulgee Audubon chapter went to the Piedmont NR for one of our monthly field trips this past Saturday.

This field was unique in some regards.  Instead of our normal birds observation and tally, we spent the time appreciating birds, butterflies, wildflowers, and dragonflies.

 The Refuge contains 36,000 acres (according to one of the brochures) and we only checked a small portion of it.  It's a usual site for yearly butterfly counts, and many birders spend time there regularly.

 
We've submitted two checklists from our field trip with an observation of 42 different bird species in one location, Pond 2-A, and 61 species for the other portion of the Piedmont.  Some species are on both checklists.

Highlights include Northern Bobwhites calling, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, Bachman's Sparrows, Red-spotted Purple (butterfly), various skippers and swallowtails (more butterflies).  Noteworthy was also a female Orchard Oriole going back and forth to her nest, feeding her young and removing sacs from the nest.  Her trips were quick as the male was in the field giving her food to carry back to the nest.

Orchard Oriole's nest

We were privileged to have some great birders in the group, Paul Johnson, Jerry Amerson, Trey McCuen, and some people familiar with their butterflies and wildflowers, Jim Gilreath, Paul Hoinowski, Jerry again, and Joe and Jane Mangum.

Beside our birding stop at Pond 2A, we made other stops at creeks, fords, a pond formerly known as the "children's pond", Falling Creek with the large rocks, and Lake Allisson where we saw a Broad-winged Hawk carrying a snake.  We were rewarded at each stop with the sight of wildflowers, pretty butterflies, Summer Tanagers interacting with their fledglings, pretty birds with yellow as in the Prairie Warblers, American Goldfinches, Yellow-throated Warblers, birds with blue as in the Indigo Buntings and Blue Grosbeaks.

It turned out to be a great field trip in pleasant weather.  Looking forward to the next one!

Jim Gilreath has provided several of the pictures for this post.  The pictures without a name on them are from me, Andre Coquerel.
Comments are welcome.

Ocmulgee Audubon Field Trip to the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge

Jerry Payne, Bill Flatau, Anne Armstrong, and Paul Hoinowski

Our May field trip took us to the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge.  A unique place to see the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (on the "Endangered" list) and the Bachman Sparrows.

The above picture shows, among others, Jerry Payne.  As a quick disclosure, he was not on the field trip with us but we ran into him in the refuge.  He is legend and he just organized a "butterfly count" the day before our field trip.  And there he was, already out in the field, birding.  We were happy to see him!

Red-cockaded Woodpecker.  Courtesy Lynn Rivenbark

  We were eleven birders in the group.  We spent the first part of the trip at Pond 2A where we picked up the most birds including Tree Swallows nesting in tree cavities, Bachman Sparrows, Prairie Warblers singing their heart out, Northern Bobwhites calling loud and clear, Yellow-throated Warblers, and many more.

Bachman Sparrow.  Courtesy Lynn Rivenbark

The last two pictures, the Red-cockaded and the Bachman, were seen and appreciated toward the end of our field trip in an area marked for "Red-cockaded Colonies".  (Also seen earlier at Pond 2A). Matt Esterline recommended that spot and I'm glad we made it our last spot as we enjoyed some of the birds seen at a much closer range...Red-cockaded and Bachman in trees 15 feet from us at almost eye level.

Yellow-throated Warbler.  Picture by Lynn Rivenbark.

At one point, we enjoyed an Osprey circling over Pond 2A.  One of our "birding moments".  Anne Armstrong has a recording of this on our Facebook Page.  Check it out!

Black-and-white Warbler.  Picture by Lynn Rivenbark.

Before we knew it, the time has passed and we had to leave this beautiful place.  We drove through creek fords, lingered by a nice pond, walk a path by wooded areas, saw butterflies, ran into nice folks, enjoyed birds you don't see in your backyards.  If you missed any of this, just join us on our next outing.
Our newsletters are posted on this site and they have our scheduled field trips.

OAS birding field trip at the Warner Robbins AF Base.

Birding at the Warner Robins Air Force Base is a real treat.  It's by invitation only.
With a little less than 10,000 acres altogether, this place has over 6,500 acres of beautiful and rich natural habitats including a little more than 2,700 acres of forests.  It's located in the Ocmulgee River basin with two creeks bordering it, the Echeconnee Creek and the Sandy Run Creek.  The Ocmulgee River itself is pretty close but does not go through the base.   

Bob Sargent led the group.  Dr. Sargent is the Manager of the Natural Resources at the base.  We were 20 birders.  Maybe not quite 20 "birders".  There were one or two guys with serious faces that just look like they were "implanted" in the group to watch us so we'll "behave" on base...

...but things changed after we handed them binoculars and they started watching some pretty birds.  They really got into it, smiling and birding, even joking at the end like new birding converts! Or maybe this was just my imagination thinking we were been watched by some "spies" in our midst. 

With lakes, ponds, creeks, and woodlands, we were able to see and hear a great variety of birds.  Our first excitement came with a Northern Waterthrush.  Past mid-May, it is rather unusual to see this bird around.  He lingered near the creek banks and islands, giving everyone an opportunity to enjoy him.  He was busy getting food for his trip northward so he ignored us.  Good fly back home, birdie!

By the way, Bob Sargent spotted the Waterthrush and we really appreciated that he was such a good leader for the group.  There and throughout the outing, he gave everyone a chance to find the birds, he explained about the birds, the calls and songs, the habitat when appropriate, he welcomed people's participation... Thanks Bob!

Before our Waterthrush, we made a stop and saw (and/or heard) over a dozen of bird species including Red Bellied, Red Headed, and Downy Woodpeckers, Yellow-throated, Red -eyed and White-eyed Vireos, Tufted Titmice, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Acadian Flycathers, and several Great Crested Flycatchers.

The more we moved around the base, the more we all appreciated it.  You quickly forget you are on a military base when you get absorbed watching a Red-tailed Hawk controlling his prey, or a gorgeous Yellow-throated Warbler.  Then you're reminded by an innocent comment...

..."I'd love to explore this nice area".  The response was a quick "Oh no, we can't let you walk around here like that!" To which I replied "someone forgot to tell us we'll be prisoners here!" Then came the nice reply "it's not like that.  You are our guests here, and we want to make sure..." something about been escorted around safely. 

All of the sudden it hit me.  The person I was talking to was Kim, a Colonel in the Air Force.  So in fact, I'm being "chauffeured" by an Officer of the U.S. military in one of most unique areas of Middle Georgia, doing something I love to do, birding.  Kim looked like what great female leaders look like, strength and power under control with a pleasant personality.  Back to birding.

After a little over five hours, we've identified 70 bird species including the Kentucky Warbler that Jerry Amerson got, that I've included in the count for eBird.  He heard it, and I trust Jerry.  The Kentucky was there while we were there, so were the Yellow Warbler (by the Purple Martins Condos), the Black-and-white Warbler (that Austin saw first), the Prothonotary Warblers, the Common Yellowthroat (that we saw from the bridge and in the rain), the Pileated Woodpeckers (by the lake where the Alligator Weeds were) ... 

Most of the birds mentioned above have been seen by most in the group.  Two Wild Turkeys roamed the pasture grounds peacefully at one place.  We used a scope at another place to appreciate the Eastern Meadowlark.  Otherwise, the Canada Geese, Great Blue Herons, or Mallards did not need a scope.  There were enough Summer Tanagers and Swallows for everyone to just pick his own to watch. 

As we were winding down our birding outing, we realized we have not seen a shrike yet.  Bob knew exactly the spot for it.  Little did we realize a "surprise bird" was waiting for us.  A Northern Harrier!  Harriers come to Georgia for the winter and this one apparently stayed a little longer for us before making his trip back home.  We got the Loggerhead Shrike too.  And that wrapped it up. 

That was a great birding outing.  Comments are welcome.

Birding field trip at the Ocmulgee NM

Northern Mockingbird

Our January field trip took us to the Ocmulgee NM.

The Northern Mockingbird in the above picture is all fluffed up.  There was a chill in the morning.  Not too many people showed up.  Just seven of us, and we enjoyed it very much.  

Kelly Coquerel, Jerry Amerson, Paul Honowski, Paul Johnson

 There are several places at the Ocmulgee National Mount where you can do some birding.  We covered about half of them and still counted 50 bird species in a few short hours.  Needless to say, this is my favorite birding place in the Macon area.  

The Kinglets were there.  Both Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  The Woodpeckers were well represented: Red Bellied, Red Headed, Northern Flickers, Downies, Pileated, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.  We probably missed the Hairy Woodpecker but got everything else covered for the area.

Baltimore Oriole

Is that Oriole really mooning us? We need to send him back to Baltimore.  Such a Baltimore Oriole! We all enjoyed watching him go from branch to branch, changing positions and wondering why he was so famous that morning. He was just posing for Jerry to get a picture taken...but, what a pose!

On the boardwalk

What is always interesting about the Ocmulgee NM is that you'll see certain bird species where they hang out year after year.  Typically.  The Orange-crowned Warbler was in his same area on his rendez-vous. The sparrows were quite predictable: Chipping? there you are, Swamp, check, White-throated , you can be everywhere today but Paul Johnson heard you already hiding in the brushes, check, Song Sparrow? check. 

We saw Towhees, and Wrens (Carolina and Winter), Vireos (White Eyed and Blue-headed), the usual (Titmice, Chickadees...), then a Brown Creeper! Nice. 

Blue-headed Vireo

It's interesting to go birding where non-birders also come.  You'll see people jogging, walking their dogs, taking their kids for a promenade in the "woods", and they don't even notice any of the pretty birds!!!  What a crying shame. 

Great Egret

How do beautiful Great Egrets stay so clean and white in dirty marshes? Always wondered about that. 

Belted Kingfisher

This Kingfisher's name is Raspie.  I've named her three years ago.  I think she's the same bird.  She is very vocal in the Spring and Summer.  If it's not the same bird, then she sure looks familiar!

Cedar Waxwings

The Cedar Waxwings in the above picture were part of the welcome committee.  Their large number was overshadowed by the 123 Red-winged Blackbirds.  They beat the 19 American Goldfinches in number.  

This turned out to be a really pleasant birding day.  The Ocmulgee NM usually is.  If you haven't birded there yet, try it.

Thanks to Jerry Amerson for sharing the bird pictures.  

Thanks to Kelly for coming birding with your Dad on a cold day.