The Christmas Bird Count date is Saturday December 16th. Our meeting this month will focus on review and preparations for the bird count.
    We also need both leaders and helpers. If you are interested in participating on this count, please call Mary Case- 548-3848 or Eugenia Thompson-549-7318.

    As you read this newsletter, millions of birds are beginning to leave their northern breeding grounds to start a long and perilous migration back to their neotropical overwintering sites in South and Central America. Tis the season to be outside with your binoculars and field guides, enjoying the colorful beauty of Autumn. Oconee Rivers Audubon has planned several fall bird walks to local migration hotspots that will focus on the identification and natural history of birds. We encourage nature enthusiasts big and small to join us and share in the excitement. For those beginners out there, the opportunities for seeing exciting new birds are great. Veterans, celebrate the migration season by sharing your birdwatching secrets with fledgling birders. Bird walks are open to all ages and skill levels and no pre-registration if required. We generally maintain an easy pace and stop frequently. Waterproof footwear and raingear are wise precautions. For more information contact David Galewski at 543-1988.

    Dr. Robert Cooper, professor in the Warnell School of Forest Resources, discussed his research on the “Ecology and Management of Bottomland Forest Birds” in eastern Arkansas in the White River National Wildlife Refuge and the Mississippi Alluvial Valley Migratory Bird Conservation Area. These bottomland hardwood forests are periodically flooded, mainly in the spring, and are important areas for nesting and migratory birds. Much of these forests are now logged or have been converted to farmland. Some species need large areas of forest for success. Swallowtail Kites need 100,000 acres of forest while the Cerulean Warblers need 10,000 acres. His research involved identifying important bird species and restoring fragmented habitats through the use of landowner incentives to reforest important connecting areas. Large tracts are slowly being reforested. However, much of these forests are managed for timber. Dr. Cooper accessed the stability of populations in cut versus patch-cut versus forest uncut areas. Prothonotary Warblers are an indicator species of healthy bottomland. He found that bird predators, such as snakes and raccoons, are numerous in bottomland habitat and cowbird parasitism is frequent on the forest edges near farm lands. However, logging patterns appeared to have little effect on Prothonotary Warbler numbers. Most of the variation was year-to-year and depended on flooding patterns which influenced predator and nesting success. Indigo Buntings nest in shrubby areas and were more successful in cut areas. Overall, there were no negative effects of timber harvest on the species studied. Flooding influences are more important on breeding success and flood control efforts in the Mississippi Valley have adverse effects on species abundance in bottomland forests.

David Galewski sighted a Smith’s Longspur on 10/17 off Jail Road near Lexington Hwy. This species is a first for Georgia but the bird could not be found again despite repeated visits to the site. On 10/28 in the same area, David saw 9 sparrow species: Grasshopper, White-crowned, White-throated, Savannah, Chipping, Field, Song, Swamp, and Vesper. Templeton Hill saw 12 Killdeer, a Bay-breasted Warbler at Sandy Creek NC, a flock of Cedar Waxwings on Fowler Dr. and a Red-headed Woodpecker. Charles Ratliff, working with the Jekyll Island Banding Station the first two weeks in October, helped to band 2000+ birds representing 44 species including Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and many Common Yellowthroats and Palm Warblers. Mark Freeman witnessed large migrating Vulture kettles. Shan Cammack observed at Lumber City on the Ocmulgee River a Mississippi Kite and a Turkey Vulture roost. Maggie Nettles and Gary Crider, while spending the weekend on Cumberland Island in early October, saw White Pelican, Peregrine Falcon, Veery and Oystercatcher. Dennis Rice observed approximately 50 Robins migrating.
 

President
          Elizabeth Little                                                                  795-5017
          E-mail: elittle@arches.uga.edu
Vice-President
          Mary Case                                                                        548-3848
Treasurer
          Tom Shelton                                                                    795-3959
Secretary
          Page Luttrell                                                                     788-2973

Conservation
          Marta Daniell                                                                   546-9808
          Carrie Straight
Education
          Maggie Nettles                                                               543-8823
Field Trips
          David Galewski                                                               543-1988
Hospitality
          Mary Case                                                                       548-3848
Membership
          Sarah Cliett                                                                      795-3927
Programs
          Gary Crider                                                                      543-8823
Publicity
          Deirdre Allen                                                                  769-4628
Yellowthroat Editor
          John Posey                                                                     769-1417

Articles, artwork, notices, and sighting reports welcomed.  The deadline for submissions is the 15th of each month.  All articles and artwork or copyrighted, and all rights are reserved by the authors. Opinions expressed in articles are those of the respective authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official views of Oconee Rivers Audubon Society.

On Friday, Nov. 3, the Athens?Clarke County Planning Department published the latest draft of the proposed zoning ordinance and development standards for Athens?Clarke County. The Commission plans to vote on whether to adopt the proposed ordinance, which includes two zoning options for Agricultural Residential districts, at its Tuesday, Dec. 5 meeting. Athens Grow Green Coalition calls on the Athens?Clarke County Commission to reject the proposed zoning ordinance in its present form as inconsistent with the unanimously agreed?upon Comprehensive Land Use Plan and the wishes of the citizens of the county. Athens Grow Green Coalition urges the commission to pass no zoning code until a new proposal that prevents sprawl and protects strategic green space can be developed. 
    The proposed ordinance is not a compromise between the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and the current Athens?Clarke County zoning ordinance. A zoning ordinance based on the Comprehensive Land Use Plan will provide better protection from sprawl than the current zoning ordinance does, while the ordinance under consideration will erode the protections against sprawl that exist under the current ordinance. 
    The Comprehensive Land Use Plan specifically calls for protecting rural areas of Athens?Clarke County from suburban development by keeping residential densities low and using Transferable Development Rights. TDRs allow rural landowners to realize the economic benefits of development by selling rights (awarded to them as part of a comprehensive green space protection plan) that can be used to build at a higher density in designated residential areas. The proposed ordinance not only fails to implement a TDR program, it threatens the effectiveness of a future TDR program by increasing the density of the in?town Residential districts so that no economic incentive for using development credits would exist.
    By facilitating the immediate building of suburban "conservation subdivisions" throughout all AR districts, the proposed ordinance encourages, rather than discourages, sprawl and loss of green space in the outlying areas of the county. In fact, the proposed ordinance, in direct violation of adopted by the commission, would authorize residential development at higher densities than is currently permitted in agricultural areas. 

    One option under the proposed ordinance would permit greater densities of development on all AR land in the county. The Athens Grow Green Planning Committee has denounced this proposal as regressive and directly contradictory to the wishes of thousands of ordinary citizens to stop sprawl in Athens?Clarke County. While the concept of conservation subdivisions is a good one, AR districts are the wrong place for them. They should be located in the Residential Single Family districts; yet the proposed ordinance creates no requirements or incentives for conservation subdivisions in the RS districts at all. 
    Let's not move backward ? instead, let's work together to fine tune the elements of a TDR program that will prevent inefficient and costly sprawl and preserve the quality of life that makes Athens so desirable. Retaining our current zoning, while we work together to develop an ordinance that truly protects Athens?Clarke County from sprawl, is a far better option than adopting the proposed ordinance. 
    Athens Grow Green Coalition, formed in September 2000 by Athens residents, works to ensure the implementation of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan to protect the environment, reduce sprawl, and preserve a high quality of life. The Oconee Rivers Audubon supports the efforts of the AGGC and recognizes the impact that the proposed zoning will have on wildlife habitat in the rural areas of Athens-Clarke County.