Dorinda G. Dallmeyer will give a talk on Penguins. She is currently the Associate Director of the Dean Rusk Center for International and Comparative Law and faculty chair for the Environmental Ethics Certificate Program. Prior to attending law school at Georgia, Ms. Dallmeyer conducted research in tropical marine biology and ecology and collaborated on a number of scientific articles. Her research has taken her to Jamaica, the Great Barrier Reef, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including a weeklong saturation dive in the underwater HYDROLAB. Ms Dallmeyer has maintained her interest in protection of the international marine environment throughout her career. She is the editor of a book on rights to oceanic resources and assisted the International Environment Institute in drafting an international agreement on transboundary marine pollution. One of her current areas of research is the development of environmental ethics for global marine systems. As a devoted naturalist, Ms. Dallmeyer and her husband David frequently serve as shipboard naturalists for expedition cruises. She has visited over 30 sites in the Antarctic and is an enthusiastic ambassador for the protection of this unique ecosystem.

Future speakers—  November 8th: Dr. Mike Conroy, School of Forest Resources, will give a talk on Finches of Spain.

Oconee Rivers Audubon/Sandy Creek Nature Center Joint Fall 2001 Bird Walk Schedule—

September 29th: Sandy Creek Nature Center, meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Allen House.

October 6th: Whitehall Forest. Meet at the gate at 8:00 am.

October 13th: There will be a special bird walk for beginners at the State Botanical Gardens beginning at 8:00 am.  Meet at the Callaway Building lower parking lot. This walk is for all age groups, so families please come and bring children interested in learning about birds.
 

March 8-10th, 2002: Cabretta Island Campground on Sapelo Island, off the Georgia coast. The reservations requires a two-night minimum of 15-25 people at $10 a night per person (plus $10 for round trip ferry. The ferry leaves the mainland at 5:30 Friday afternoon and leaves Sapelo at 4:00 on Sunday afternoon. A bus will transport us and our gear to the campground. The group campground is five miles from the ferry and other civilization (so we have to pack everything we need). It is surrounded by creek, marsh, live oaks, dunes, beach and ocean. A comfort station with hot showers is available. If you are interested in this trip, Maggie Nettles needs a $10 deposit per person by the November meeting. The first 25 to give her $10 will be the 25 who go.

Sandy Creek Nature Center Sponsored Programs
These programs are free, but you must register— call 613-3615 extension 0. Rivers Alive! River Clean up: Join in on Athens-Clarke County's largest river clean up. Teams of volunteers will work side by side in helping to clean up our local waterway. Free t-shirts and breakfast and drinks will be provided to all volunteers. October 6th, 8:am to Noon. Meet at the ACC Solid Waste Facility on College Avenue. North Oconee River Canoe and Clean: After a short canoe safety talk, we will spend the rest of the morning out on the water. All experienced levels welcome. November 3, 1-4 pm. Meet at the parking lot at the intersection of College Ave. and MLK Blvd. next to the Greenway pylon.

Raffle at the September meeting:  David Galewski won the pound of Shade-Grown Coffee donated by Earth Fare.  This money is used to help support the increased expense of the Newsletter.

Tour de Sprawl 2001:
Downtown Athens, October 13th 9:00 a.m. (Rain date: Oct., 14th). This event is sponsored by BikeAthens, Upper Oconee Watershed Network, and Athens Grow Green Coalition. This event is designed to educate elected officials, city planners, and our neighbors about the negative consequence of uncontrolled growth (sprawl). The event starts Oct 12th with a presentation by Andres Duany, noted architect and founder of the New Urbanist Congress, at 7 pm in the Fine Arts Theater on the UGA campus. For registration and further information call 706-425-0868. There will also be a benefit concert that is part of the Tour de Sprawl on Thursday, 10/11 at the 40 Watt Club and featuring some of Athens, Georgia's best musical talent. The doors will open at 8:30 and the show will start promptly at 9:00. Proceeds from this event will go to support BikeAthens, Athens Grow Green Coalition, and UOWN.

Tax Rebate Challenge: After the summer's retreat/board meeting in July, a few ORAS members challenged each other to give $25 of their windfall tax rebate to ORAS, to be used to stimulate our cultural evolution rather than the economy. Thus far, Elizabeth Little, Sara Cliett, Gary Crider, Maggie Nettles, Page Luttrell, and Tim Homan have pledged $25 each and challenge the rest of you to do likewise. Of course, if you want to exceed $25, we won't mind being shown up.
 

President                                 Maggie Nettles                        543-8823
Vice-President                        Mary Case                               548-3848
Treasurer                                Eugenia Thompson                549-7318
Secretary                                 Page Luttrell                            788-2973
Field Trips                               David Galewski                        543-1988
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.

Cabretta Island— March 8-10th, 2002:  Cabretta Island Campground on Sapelo Island off the Georgia coast. The reservations requires a two-night minimum of 15-25 people at $10 a night per person (plus $10 for round trip ferry. The ferry leaves the mainland at 5:30 Friday afternoon and leaves Sapelo at 4:00 on Sunday afternoon. A bus will transport us and our gear to the campground. The group campground is five miles from the ferry and other civilization (so we have to pack everything we need). It is surrounded by creek, marsh, live oaks, dunes, beach and ocean. A comfort station with hot showers is available. If you are interested in this trip, Maggie Nettles needs a $10 deposit per person by the November meeting. The first 25 to give her $10 will be the 25 who go.
 

Highlights of September Meeting
The meeting started with a bird profile by Templeton Hill on identification of the Chestnut-sided Warbler  in both spring and fall plumage. This warbler is increasing in numbers in Georgia because of the change in habitate. Our main  speaker, E. J Williams, discussed the three year studies by the Department of Natural Resources on the conservation efforts of the Swallow-tail Kite (STKI) in Georgia. In Georgia the STKI nest primarily along the major river systems in Southeast Georgia in the pine forest and hardwood forests.  Nesting sites have been documented by the DNR assisted by hunters, and fishermen, birders, bird clubs, newspeople and  reports to the GOS web site. The DNR makes a concerted effort the first week in  April  when the kites are involved in nesting to monitor activity along the Altamaha River system from Jessup to Brunswick on both private and Georgia Power property. The observers use helicopters, the "Condor" (a crane from Georgia Power which elevates 5 stories up over the forest canopy),hiking and canoes.  There are around 80 breeding pairs of STKI in Georgia.  This three year study was funded by a grant from the wildlife licence plates. The STKI migrate leaving in August for the Panatel region of Brazil and return to Florida in February. There is a resident non-migratory population of STKI in Central and South America.  Conservations efforts to help the STKI  also aid in the preservation of other species  such as the Swainson Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler and the Parula Warblers. Our final speaker was Cory Westbrook from the National Audubon Society- a regional grassroots coordinator. She came to discuss the status of the vote on Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR). The bill which passed the house permits drilling  in 2000 non-continuous acres of the 1.5 million  acres of ANWAR. This would be a disaster to the environment. The amount of oil recovered would be the proverbial  "drop in the bucket" of the US energy usage.  The senate vote  probably will come up the end of September. An effort must be made to contact our senators, Max Cleland and Zell Miller to indiate what a disaster passing this legislation would be. The next issue of  concern before Audubon is the Roadless Rule permitting further roads in our National Forests and Conservation areas that President Clinton passed in his final days and that Bush has stopped. The last concern was the poisoning of Red-wing Black Birds that was discussed in the September Yellowthroat.
 

Please Contact Our Senators About The Arctic Refuge— As you well know, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to open the ANWR to oil and gas drilling last month. The House passed measure to open the Arctic to oil drilling contained a provision to "limit" drilling to 2,000 acres. The limitation is a lie. The bill opens the Refuge's entire 1.5 million acres Coastal Plain to oil drilling. The oil development does not have to be in the same place— it can be  spread around the Coastal Plain at the will of the oil companies. And the "acres" limit counts only the parts of the Coastal Plain where oil development touches the ground!  The impact would be on far more acres. This leaves the fate of this environmentally sensitive area in the hands of the U.S. Senate— specifically the handful of U.S. Senators who have not yet committed to where they stand on the issue. Contact Senators Zell Miller (202-224-3643, fax:202-228-2090) and Max Cleland (202-224-3521, fax: 202-224-0072). Urge them to protect the arctic refuge from oil and gas drilling. Use this site http://www.protectthearctic.com to instantly identify and send a letter, fax or e-mail to your two U.S. Senators free of charge. For more facts go to:
https://www.audubon.org/campaign/latestnews.html#drilling

Conservation:
John Sawhill, Pres. of the Nature Conservancy, 1990-00 CARA introduced in the Senate: (Audubon Advisory). Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) reintroduced the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) into the Senate. S.1328 is the version of CARA that passed the House last year. CARA directs $3.1 billion per year from the offshore oil and gas receipts to a variety of conservation programs. The House Resources Committee passed the sweeping conservation measure on July 24th. The measure now awaits the final vote by the U.S. House of Representatives. We will see if the House schedules the bill for a floor vote when they return to Washington from their August Recess! It is still unclear whether CARA will pass both the House and Senate and the approval of President Bush. While passing the House resources Committee is a major hurdle, the legislation still has a long way to go.

Endangered Species Protection— A Long Way to Go: (Audubon Advisory) The Senate followed the House's lead and rejected the proposal from President Bush (known as the "Extinction Rider") that would have given the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service an excuse not to comply with court orders on listing species and designating critical habitat. However, the Congress continues to deny adequate funding for the agency so it can truly protect species on the brink of extinction. While the Senate added $524,000 to the House level for endangered species listing, the Senate bill is still $110 million short of the amount needed to address the backlog of species listing needs. Southern" birds live longer and produce smaller clutch sizes. In a time of concern over the rising cost of energy it is well to remember that the cost of energy is a major determinant of the life style and success of all animals. For example, a mouse that pursues a nocturnal way of life may gain the benefit of reduced risk of being spotted by a predator but pays the price of a higher energy cost for maintaining its body temperature in the cool night air compared with its day-time cousin.  Fifty years ago David Lack recognized that the clutch size, or number of eggs laid by birds could be directly correlated with the availability of food, and the branch of physiological ecology concerned with strategies of  budgeting energy during the life history of animals has grown from such early studies. (UGA's Justin Congdon at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory is a leading proponent of such studies and the academic mentor of Mark Komoroski, the founder of the Oconee Rivers Audubon Chapter). One of the issues in this field has been the difference in clutch size between southern- hemisphere birds and comparable northern-hemisphere species. In a recent issue of SCIENCE (April 2001, vol. 292. p. 494) Cameron Ghalambor and Thomas Martin of the University of Montana in Missoula have searched the literature for data clutch size adult survival. For 182 passerine short-lived species of the "north" (North America and Europe) and long-lived species of the "south" (Australia, New Zealand and South America) they found that lower adult survival correlated with larger clutch sizes. They found the  same difference in matched species that they themselves studied on sites in Arizona and in Argentina, where they were able to track  the territorial behavior of the surviving birds.