Upcoming Meetings
June 3rd: We will hold our annual potluck dinner and preparation for the June Bird Count with presentations on the Breeding Bird Survey and other information on our breeding season resident birds. In addition, the election of new officers and board members will be held. This event will take place at the Princeton church in the outdoor pavilion (indoors in case of rain). Bring a dish to share or just come to take part in the program. Food consumption starts at approximately 6pm followed by the program at 7pm.

Note of Thanks to:
Ellen Sutherland for her talk on the AScientific, Legal, and Political Perspectives of Concentrated Swine Feeding Operations@. Ellen's talk and the discussion that followed were well received as she explained the environmental, such as ground and surface water contamination, and social impacts, such as the displacement of smaller hog farmers, that large scale hog farming has had in other states. In addition, she stressed that there is a potential for a similar situation to occur in Georgia unless regulations to lessen the impacts are put in place now. Ellen received a Master's degree from UGA this semester in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development and she will be serving as an intern this summer on the President's Council on Environmental Quality.

Upcoming Events
5 June: Annual June Bird Count. Contact Mary Case (548-3848) or Eugenia Thompson (549-7318) for information.

Cook’s Trail Clean-up
As part of the week-long Greenfest activities, five volunteers came to the Cook's Trail clean-up and bird walk  on April 24th. Sightings of garbage were common but not abundant.  However, we had good views of numerous birds. The best sighting was four Swainson's Warblers which were seen and/or heard. One fellow allowed all to have a good, long, close-up view while he warbled away. Some of the other bird species seen and/or heard included Hooded, Prothonotary, Kentucky, Parula, Common Yellowthroat, Pine, Yellow-Rumped, and Black and White Warblers, Red-Eyed and White-Eyed Vireos, Pileated and Red-Headed Woodpeckers, Great-Crested Flycatcher, Gnatcatcher, Phoebe, House Wren, and Wood Thrush. There were a total of 28 species.  Everyone had an enjoyable time doing their part for Earth Day.

Zoo Day at Memorial Park on May 15th was a huge success. Over 483 adults and 455 children came by our tables set up overlooking the otter pool in four hours.  It was an opportunity for the children to get bird stickers and posters and to see various bird parts— feet,  wings and skulls. We passed out information on butterflies as well as our ORAS materials. We want to thank all of our group who helped make this a success; Elizabeth Little, Maggie Nettles, Marta Daniels and Mary Case.

The Spring breeding bird count

…will be June 5, 1999. This covers the same area as the Christmas Bird Count. If you want more information and would  like to participate in this count, call Mary Case 548-3848 evenings (e-mail mecase@arches.uga.edu) or Eugenia Thompson 549-7318 (e-mail erthkomps@negia.net).
    It is not too late to join us on June 5th for the Summer Bird Count. If you are interested and we can match you up with one of the party leaders. At 7:30pm (June 5th) there will be a "recording" of the data at Mary Case's home. This is not a pot luck dinner but bring some type of snack to share. The directions to my home are as follows. Go down Macon Highway, past the Princeton United Methodist Church, cross the river to the first stop light. Turn right on Timothy Road up the hill. Take the second road to the right— Tilson Road. There are two houses between the first road and Tilson Road. When Tilson dead ends, turn right. I am  the third house on the left--325 Kennington Dr.

Nominations for ORAS June Election
The nomination committee have put together the following slate for the election at the June meeting:
President: Elizabeth Little Treasurer: Tom Shelton
Vice-President: Mary Case Secretary: Page Luttrell
There probably won’t be too many surprises at election time. However, we are still in need of a volunteer for publicity chair and we are always looking for people who would like to actively participate in ORAS, no matter how small the contribution.

Sightings
Jim Hanna saw a Dickcissel on 5/2 at E.L. Huey and a Sedge Wren on 4/24. A Swainson's Warbler spent a week at the home of the O'Gradys at the end of April/beginning of May. On 5/2 Owen Kinney saw a Marsh Wren at Bishop Park. Page Luttrell and Tim Homan saw Peregrine Falcons at Pickens Nose mountain in North Carolina two different weekends in April. Dennis reported that all of the Martin Gourds at Sandy Creek Park were occupied with Purple Martins. Also, Dennis has a female Mallard Duck and seven babies at his house. Elizabeth Little saw a pair of Barred Owls in April and a solitary female Turkey repeatedly in May near her house in Danielsville. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak was seen in mulberry tree on Morton Road in Five Points on the morning of 4/24 by Margaret Weirich. Later uncounted cedar waxwings were in the same tree. On the ORAS trip to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield, 4-25-99— Owen, David, Mary, Ellen, Jim, Carla, Bill, Dierdre, Sid and Mark 59 F, breezy, overcast, 7:30-10:30— 22 Warblers: Hooded, Tennessee, Magnolia, Ovenbird, Chestnut-sided, Pine, American Redstart, Yellow-rumped, Worm-eating, Northern Parula, Golden-winged, Prairie, Western, Palm, (did we see/hear Yellow/Eastern as well?), Black-throated Green, Yellow-breasted Chat, Orange-crowned, Black & White, Blackpoll, Blackburnian,  Bay-breasted, Cerulean, Nashville. And… Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Orchard Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, Summer Tanager, Wood Thrush, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, (did we see/hear any Yellow-throateds?), Indigo Bunting, Hairy Woodpecker,
Red-headed Woodpecker, Turkey Vulture, Broad- winged Hawk, Red-tailed hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, (Cooper's Hawk seen?). And… White-throated Sparrow, Carolina Wren, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, Brown Thrasher, (others?), etc.. and DOZENS of birders! David Galewski reported at the May 4th meeting sightings at the Botanical Garden on 4/28—  in the morning around 9am was a Yellow-breasted Chat and Scarlet Tanager. Afternoon—4:30-5:30pm—Warblers: 3 Cape May, Chestnut-sided, Yellow, Redstart, Black & White, Parula, Yellow-rumped; A Common Yellow-throat, 2 Baltimore Orioles, 3 Orchard Orioles, and a Red-breasted Grosbeak. Roy Major reported that a Red-bellied Woodpecker, who only showed up at his feeder about once a week, now comes nearly every day. Cowbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, Cardinals, Doves, and House Finches are regular feeders. He’s seen a few Juncos, Indigo Buntings, Brown Thrashers, Blue Jays, Doves and Field Sparrows. And the Bluebirds are busy raising their family!

Republicans Unveil Environmental Agenda
(from Audubon Advisory, 04/25/99) Congressional Republicans outlined 10 environmental initiatives last Wednesday and made a call for $900 million per year in permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) the cornerstone of their agenda. "Unfortunately, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has not been funded for the last three years, denying states and communities an important conservation tool," said Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). "The 106th Congress is going to give states and local communities back that tool."
    Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Sen. John Chafee (R-RI) led the effort to develop the 10 initiatives for Congress' consideration. In addition to LWCF funding, the agenda includes: neotropical migratory bird conservation; environmental tax credits for land donations and brownfield cleanups; water quality upgrades in coastal waters; capital gains tax cuts for land sold for conservation purposes; and coral reef restoration.

Nine are Found Guilty in Last Summer’s Cormorant Killings
    Nine men pleaded guilty in a Syracuse, N.Y. district court to the killing of more than 1,000 double-breasted cormorants on Little Galloo Island in eastern Lake Ontario on July 26, 1998 in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a federal law designed to protect all migratory birds. The pleas were announced by U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Maroney after extensive investigative work by law enforcement officers of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and special agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Most of the birds killed were juveniles unable to fly or escape. Many birds died later from injuries, starvation or dehydration. According to court records, David McCrea, Ronald Ditch, Mitchell Franz, Louis Cook and John Kabot traveled by boat on July 26, 1998 to Little Galloo island where they shot and killed more than 850 cormorants. After leaving the island, the five men transferred their weapons to another boat operated by Rex Allen. Allen held the weapons for several days before giving them to Angelo Aversa, who hid them until February 1999, when authorities broke the case. With the exception of Rex Allen, all of the men, as well as Andrew, David and Thomas Ditch, who are all sons of Ronald Ditch, admitted to shooting cormorants at other times earlier in 1998. According to Maroney, the men agreed to terms of incarceration ranging from a period of probation to six months of in-home confinement. They will pay individual fines of up to $2,500.  The men also agreed to make a cumulative contribution of $27,500 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which will use the funds to support wetland restoration and enhancement projects in the Lake Ontario region.

Trip to Standing Indian Campground , Nantahala National Forest, May 7-9, 1999
Participants:  Maggie Nettles, Gary Crider, Elizabeth Little, Mary Case, Charles Ratliff, Andra Nyman and friend Paul, Tim Homan, and Page Luttrell.

    After huddling together through a severe rain and lightning storm under a duct-taped tarp from Target on Friday evening, we awoke to Veery and Louisiana Waterthrush song and a clear, cold-front sky. That morning we walked the Appalachian Trail from Deep Gap to the views of the upper Tallulah River basin atop Standing Indian Mountain (about 5,500 ft). As we climbed up the mountain, we walked back into early spring. Above 5,000 ft, Trout Lilies were in fresh bloom, and oak trees were just beginning to leaf out. Newly arrived Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were singing all the way up, and a female showed us a nest in progress about 8 feet off the ground.  We saw Canada Warblers and Ravens near the top, and Chimney Swifts were hawking insects at high speeds directly above the summit.
    Sunday morning we descended to the Wasilik Poplar through a north-facing cove hardwood forest rich with wildflowers-three species of Trilliums (Vasey's, Wake Robin, and Large-flowered), Showy Orchis, Yellow Mandarin, Nodding Mandarin, Foamflower, Sweet Cicely, Violet, and Umbrella Leaf, to name a few.  Notable birds seen or heard were Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Chestnut-sided, Parula, Yellow-throated, and Blackburnian Warblers,  Redstart, Ovenbird, Blue-headed Vireo (formerly Solitary), and Wood Thrush.  A living monument to the former grandeur of the eastern forest, the Wasilik Poplar measured 26’-8” inches in circumference.
    Sunday afternoon, after lunch at a waterfall, we walked up to Pickens Nose (next to Chunky Gal and Big Butt Mountains) where we were treated to the aerial displays of a Peregrine Falcon. We watched as it called and swooped through the big valley to the east and then stooped on a Turkey Vulture when it carelessly floated into the falcon's territory.  Further exploration on Pickens Nose revealed beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, including Rabun Bald in Georgia.

The Spring breeding bird count
…will be June 5, 1999. This covers the same area as the Christmas Bird Count. If you want more information and would  like to participate in this count, call Mary Case 548-3848 evenings (e-mail mecase@arches.uga.edu) or Eugenia Thompson 549-7318 (e-mail erthkomps@negia.net).
 

Oconee Audubon Society

P.O. Box 48132

Athens, Georgia 30604-8132
 

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