October 1998 Vol. 8 No. 10
 
 
 
 

Upcoming Meetings

October 1st, Mary Case, professor in the Department of Genetics at UGA and our own vice-president, will present a program entitled "Birding in Costa Rica, a Travel Log" which will include valuable information and beautiful slides.
 
 

November 5^th, Eugene Odum, Director Emeritus of UGA=s Institute of Ecology and world-renowned ecologist, will discuss his recently released book, AEcological Vignettes: ecological approaches to dealing with human predicaments.@
 
 

We meet at the Princeton United Methodist Church at 7:00 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. The church is located at 2390 S. Lumpkin St., where Lumpkin meets the Macon Hwy (US441/GA15).
 
 

A Note of Thanks to...

Laurie Fowler of the Broad River Community Watershed Association for her enlightening presentation on the ways in which the Broad River Community Watershed Project is raising community awareness of water resource issues.
 
 

Bird Walks, Field Trips, and Events

October 3^rd. Botanical Garden. Meet at 8 am in the lower parking lot. This is the first of our Fall Bird Walks sponsored jointly with the Sandy Creek Nature Center, and the Botanical Garden is the premier spot in Athens to view the fall migrants. The pace will be easy and birders of all skill levels are encouraged to attend. Sturdy, waterproof footwear is recommended.
 
 

Other Bird Walks:

Sept 26 Whitehall Forest, 7:30 am outside gate

Oct 17 Dyer's Pasture, meet at 7:00 am at Milledge BiLo to carpool

Nov 7 Sandy Creek Nature Center, 7:30 am at Allen House

Events:

Oct 14-16 The Georgia Urban Forest Council=s 9^th Annual Conference on Natural Capital: The Value of the Community Forest will be held at the Classic Center in Athens. This conference will explore the role and value of community forest resources in our daily lives. For more information contact Melanie McDonald, GUFC executive director, at (800) 994-GUFC or at gufc@alltel.net.

Nov 6-8 Wings over Water Festival celebrates the wildlife and wetlands of eastern North Carolina=s Outer Banks. This is one of the premier environmental appreciation events on the Atlantic Coast with more than 100 workshops, field trips, and seminars in a wide variety of habitats including some of the hottest spots for fall birding. For more information contact the Dare County Tourist Bureau at 1-800-446-6262 or 252-473-2138.

Dec 19: Christmas Bird Count, sponsored by the National Audubon Society
 
 

Environmental Issues Forum on October 5^th

On Monday, October 5^th from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m., at the Presbyterian Student Center on Lumpkin Street across from the UGA artificial turf practice field, the four candidates in contested county races, Victoria Pate and Doc Eldridge (mayor-chair), and Linda Ford and Jeb Bradberry (District 7), have been invited to discuss environmental and land-use issues. These issues will include building density, air and water quality, stream-corridor preservation, wildlife habitat, storm-water management, vehicular congestion and transportation, neighborhood integrity, commercial signage, agricultural land, trees and forests, and natural diversity. This forum is co-sponsored by Oconee Rivers Audubon, Athens Land Trust, Georgia Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, and Athens-Clarke (Continued on following page)
 
 
 
 

Environmental Issues Forum (continued)

Safe Cycling Association. There will be an opportunity for the candidates to answer questions that have been submitted in writing from the audience. Members of Oconee Rivers Audubon and the general public are encouraged to attend and let these candidates know that voters are concerned about the important environmental issues facing a rapidly growing Athens area. For further information, contact Carl Jordan, forum chair, at 548-6407.
 
 

Sightings

9 Aug: Lee & Kitti Reynolds saw immature Glossy Ibis on a farm pond near Commerce, GA.

Aug 22: Jim Hanna, Mary Case, and Bill and Karla O=Grady went on a birdwalk to Kennesaw Mountain. They saw Cerulean, Golden-winged, Blue-winged, Blackburnian, Prairie, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green and Black-and-white Warblers. They also saw American Redstarts and Northern Parulas. From Kennesaw, they traveled to E. L. Huie where they saw Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary, Spotted, and Western Sandpipers, and a Semipalmated Plover.

29 Aug: David Galewski reported a Baltimore Oriole at Lake Lanier; he also reported immature Broad-winged hawks at the Botanical Gardens.

Aug 30: David Galewski, Maggie Nettles, Tim Keyes, and Owen Kinney spotted Worm-eating warbler at the Botanical Gardens

Maggie Nettles and Gary Crider reported Northern Waterthrush, kinglets, and half a dozen American Redstarts on the Oconee River. On 7 Sept they reported several dozen nighthawks flying high over Lake Hartwell.

7 Sept: Bill and Karla O=Grady and Jim Hanna went to Thomas Brothers Grass (a sod farm in Rome) and saw Bank, Barn, and Cliff Swallows, Horned Larks, and Buff-breasted, Least, and Pectoral Sandpipers.
 
 

Georgia Birders Online Listserve Created

Sara Schweitzer (UGA) and Steve Holzman (Brunswick, GA) have created a listserve for Georgia birding. The list is intended to foster discussion about birding in Georgia, including locations, birds, arrival/departure dates, rare birds, trip reports, field trips, etc. (The list does not want discussion about cats, pet birds, or anything not related to Georgia.) The list is called GABO-L. Subscribe by sending a message to: listserv@listserv.uga.edu. In the body of the e-mail, include the following one line message:

subscribe GABO-L Firstname Lastname
 
 

This November, your ballot will have an important question-Amendment #1. While it may be at the end of the ballot, it deserves your full attention. Amendment #1, if approved, would provide for the creation of the Georgia Land, Water, Wildlife and Recreation Heritage Fund ("The Georgia Heritage Fund"). The Georgia Heritage Fund would be used to acquire, manage, and rehabilitate natural lands, historic areas, parks and recreational facilities. Thus, the Heritage Fund addresses three aspects of our quality of life in Georgia: environmental protection, historic preservation, and recreational opportunities.
 
 

Georgia's beautiful natural environment-with rivers, beaches, lakes, forests and mountains should be preserved for our children and grandchildren. The Georgia Heritage Fund will provide the means to conserve and protect these natural resources as well as our heritage of historic sites-from Antebellum homes and Civil War battlefields to prehistoric Indian mounds. And, of particular interest to in-town residents is that local parks and recreation facilities would be eligible for up to 25% of the funds annually.
 
 

By protecting land along rivers and streams, we not only preserve habitats for local wildlife and birds, but we also preserve important buffer zones between development and waterways-and this is important because buffer zones prevent soil erosion and help to filter out pollutants before they reach waterways. In this manner, these buffer zones protect our drinking water and limit the impact of development on aquatic life.

The Heritage Fund's primary funding would come from an increase in the real estate transfer tax. This is not your annual property tax, but rather the one-time fee that is paid in a Georgia real estate transaction at the time of sale or transfer. Currently the transfer tax is 0.1% (or $1 per $1000) of property value and each portion thereof at the time of the sale. Passage of this amendment would raise the transfer tax to 0.2% (or $2 per $1000) of property value and each portion thereof. Although this increase may seem daunting at first glance, it is important to note that this tax is applicable only upon sale or transfer of real property, not upon refinancing of a mortgage. This is not an annual tax. It is estimated that the Fund would raise as much as $32 million annually.
 
 

Private citizens-not politicians-will oversee the Georgia Heritage Fund. The Fund would be administered by the State Department of Natural Resources, but overseen by an unpaid advisory board of 15 Georgia citizens appointed by the Governor. This board would establish the criteria for grant recipients and would recommend purchases of land to the DNR. However, any private citizen or group could also make a proposal. Finally, Georgia citizens will re-evaluate the Heritage Fund in four years. If passed by a majority of Georgia voters this November, the Amendment will be subject to the re-approval of Georgia voters in four years.
 
 

Chambers of Commerce and business leaders throughout the state have declared their support for this initiative. And, in the political arena, both Republican and Democratic leaders, including Governor Zell Miller, have expressed their support for this Amendment. In addition, a number of environmental, conservation, preservation and recreational organizations have expressed their support for passage of Amendment #1. Among them are the Nature Conservancy of Georgia, the Georgia Wildlife Federation, the Trust for Public Land, the Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, the Conservation Fund and the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association.

Again, when you vote this November 3rd, remember to vote on Amendment #1-The Georgia Land, Water, Wildlife and Recreation Heritage Fund. For more information, contact Georgians for the Heritage Fund at 404-609-9990.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

AFall FlyAway@ Activities Planned by the National Audubon Society

As part of the 25^th anniversary celebration of the Endangered Species Act, the NAS urges participation in activities designed to help protect bird=s homes both in the U.S. and in the Latin American wintering grounds. October 10^th - 18^th is National Wildlife Refuge Week, the 24^th - 31^st is World Population Awareness Week, and October is shade-grown coffee month. In addition, many chapters will be hosting wetland tours and field trips, and conservationists and birdwatchers are asked to nominate their favorite birding spots for recognition as Important Birding Areas. Volunteers are welcome and descriptions for all events and activities are available on the Fall FlyAway website at <www.audubon.org/campaign/ff98> or by contacting a local chapter such as the Oconee Rivers Audubon.
 
 

Would You Like to be the New Editor of AThe Yellowthroat@?Garnett S. Stokes

We have a job opening for a new editor for the ORAS newsletter. It is not a hard job, and you don=t even have to be an experienced birder. In fact, as most people who know me are aware, I am a novice birder myself. I took this job because I wanted to do something for ORAS, and I knew this was a job that I could easily squeeze into my Aspare time.@ I knew how to do some basic word processing, and I knew a little bit about such things as creating columns, etc. The Atemplate@ for the newsletter was given to me, and that is what I have worked with for the last two years. All this to say that the job is not very difficult. It requires between two and four hours of time each month, including communicating with people regarding sightings and submissions, actually putting together the newsletter, and getting it over to ORAS=s chosen copier for copies. From there, someone else picks it up and gets it mailed. Many things are submitted to me on disk or via e-mail, and all I must do is cut and paste the article into the newsletter. The editor=s job is a great one for someone who doesn=t mind a little work on the computer and wants or needs Aflexible@ hours. People have been remarkably good about getting material to me by deadline. I have a folder of filler material that I use when I don=t have enough submitted from others. The new editor will receive all my files with filler material, as well as disks with previous newsletters to serve as a template for future ones. The new editor will also get any necessary help from me with the first newsletters, to help ease the transition. If this sounds like a job you would consider, call me (Garnett Stokes) at 353-2344 or Elizabeth Little at 795-5017, or you could e-mail either one of us at the address shown in the box on the second page.