E. J. William from the Department of Natural Resources. will be our speaker. She will talk primarily about their conservations efforts with the Swallow-tail Kites. This research comprises the 3rd year of their three year study of the ecology of Kites in Georgia funded with by Wildlife License Plate funds. Since 1997 the DNR has been able to map 400 observations of the Swallow-tail Kites here in the state. This includes 20 active nests. Two juvenile kites that were radio tagged near the Satilla River in June of 2000 were found on their wintering grounds in Brazil in November and December of 2000. The first Swallow-tailed kite of 2001 was sighted March 6th soaring over I-95 near Eulonia.

Future speakers— October 4th:  Dr. David Dallmeyer, Department of Geology, University of Georgia will give a  talk, "All about Penguins." 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 1st: State Botanical Gardens, meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Callaway Building lower parking lot.

September 8th: Sandy Creek Nature Center, meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Allen House September 22: State Botanical Gardens, meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Callaway Building lower parking lot.

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.

Fall Field Trips—

September 15th: Kennesaw Mountain. Meet at BiLo shopping center parking lot, South Milledge below the Waffle House at 6:00 am to car pool. Following the trip to Kennesaw the trip may extend to E. L. Huie water treatment plant.

Community events:  The next Rivers Alive River Cleanup is Saturday October 13th.

Results of the Election of Officers and Board— 

President: Maggie Nettles
Vice-President: Mary Case 
Secretary: Page Luttrell
Treasurer:  Eugenia Thompson.
Board members: Sarah Cliett, Gary Crider, David Galewski, Elizabeth Little, John Posey, Mark Freeman, John Willis, and Marianne Happek
Items for the newsletter can be submitted to Mary Case  (mecase@arches.uga.edu) or John Willis (jswillis@cb.uga.edu)
Yellowthroat Editor: John Posey (jtposey@arches.uga.edu)
Field Trips: David Galewski  543-1988
Education Chair: Victoria Smith 
Conservation Chair: Elizabeth Little. 
Membership Promotion: Sarah Cliett/Linda Russell. 
Program Chair: Gary Crider. 
Publicity Chair: Sigrid Sanders.

Report On The Spring Bird Count— 
There were 90 species, 4164 birds, and 33 counters. Thanks to all our group leaders and participants for our spring bird walk. The day was beautiful and many birds were out. Our National Bird, the Bald Eagle, was sighted by Billy Dunbar soaring over Sandy Creek Park. Eurasian Collard Doves were feasting at Billy Dunbar's feeder. The Eurasian Collard Dove is a very pale gray-buff bird with a black collar on the top of its neck. No other dove seen in the North America has this black collar. So be sure and check the doves that come to your feeders. The doves  have been sighted in College Square down town Athens last year and this year. GABO-L reports that the doves have also been sighted in Eatonton, Monticello, Madison, White Plains and Elberton. 
 

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.

Report on the Botanical Garden Observation List— 
In February on  the bulletin  board at the head of the Orange Trail  in the State Botanical Garden the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society installed a notebook to list birds observed in the Botanical Gardens. On this board is a map of the Botanical Garden trails. You are requested to enter the date, species, location and the observer plus any comments.  From the end of February through May (the primary birding season) we have had  25 entries, 13 by groups other than members of the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society. A number of warbler species, tanagers and thrushes were listed. One beaver was sighted in the Flood Plains area at 6:30 pm. by Hanna, 11 years old, the 25th of March.

Zoo Day/International Migratory Bird Day— 
May 19th at Memorial Park. The morning started with a bird walk.  Many thanks to all those who came and helped with our booth. We owe  David Galewski a "great thank you" for his fine poster/tape interactive program on common bird song identification.  The day was called because of rain beginning at 2:00 pm. Despite the weather we had 132 children and 130 adults visiting our booth overlooking the otter pool.

Conservation brief—
Mass-killing of blackbirds (From GAB) by Pierre Howard) The president of the National Audubon Society is asking for help in opposing a plan by the United States Department of Agriculture to spread poisoned rice in sunflower fields in the northern great plains in order to kill Red-winged Blackbirds that are thought to be devouring a part of the sunflower crop. The plan apparently is to kill 2 million Red-winged Blackbirds per year for three years until their numbers are sufficiently reduced to appease agricultural interests. The irony of the plan is that most of the harvest of the sunflower seeds will be used  for— you guessed it— bird seed. Of great concern is the fact that more birds than Red-winged Blackirds will be killed as a result of broadcasting poisoned rice. It is patently obviously represents a real threat for birds and that the birding community should be informed of what our government is doing so that individuals can contact elected officials as well as the Secretary of Agriculture.

Mark Freemen (early in the week of July 30th) reported that a Broad-winged Hawk was taking interest in a Chimney Swift. He observed this activity from the window in his lab. The Hawk was circling closely with the Swift and not aggressively chasing it. August 7th. Six Caspian Terns flew by my 8th floor window in Russell Research Center. Were they blown here by Hurricane Barry? Eugenia Thompson and Dennis Rice on their trip to Oklahoma in mid July saw Mississippi Kites in Oklahoma along with lots of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers. On July 17th in Collierville, TN they saw a Common Nighthawk flying around in the late afternoon and then it lit on the edge of the roof of a restaurant. They could see its silhouette very well.  The same day they saw a large "Bobcat" sprinting across the highway just as they crossed from Alabama into Mississippi. July 28th, at E. L. Huie, Short-billed Dowtichers, Stilt Sandpiper, White Ibis (immature)  Little Blue Herons (immature) and Great Egrets. Mary Case— Northern Minnesota, at the lake July 20-21st, Loons calling and fishing on the lake. Eagles being chased by the crows along the beach. Phoebes with young on nests. Blackburnian Warblers feeding young in trees along the beach. The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds must have had an outstanding nesting season. There were 13 immature and female hummingbirds fighting over 11 ports at the three feeders at one time. We called a neighbor who had feeders and theirs was just as busy as ours at the same time. One mature male was sighted chasing the others off.  At least 1 pound of sugar water a day was used to keep the hummingbirds fed from 5:30 at daylight until 9:30 in the evening. At times during the day you could hear them chirping in the treetops gleaning insects and spiders. Bill and Karla O'Grady  "Backyard birding" has been a banner year for nesting birds.  The following have nested in (or adjacent to) our yard and have brought fledglings in to feed: Blue-gray Gnatchers, Bluebirds, Catbirds, Brown-headed Nuthatches, Towhees and some Pileated Woodpeckers. It appeared to be a good year for Catbirds and Towhees with three nestings for the Towhees. Cardinals nested everywhere with five to six immatures at our feeders for weeks.  The  family of Blue-grey Gnatchatchers was great fun, mom, pop and at least four fledglings hopping around like crazy. Other birds seen were Summer and Scarlet Tanagers, Black-and-white Warbler (immature female), Northern Parula (immature female), Red-shouldered Hawk, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Phoebes, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Goldfinches. Maggie Nettle and Gary Crider— Osprey on Lake Hartwell at the home of Gary Criders parents, first in July at the Retreat and  again the week end of August 12th.

 Meeting of the Georgia Audubon State Council—
Representatives of seven local Georgia chapters of the Audubon Society met in Atlanta on Sunday, July 8th in a meeting of the State Council chaired by Jim Wilson of Atlanta Audubon. The meeting opened with a report by Jim Wilson on the progress of the Important Birding Areas (IBA) program.  Four areas have already been dedicated in public ceremonies:  Kennesaw Mountain National Park, Little St. Simons Island (private), Chickopee Woods Nature Center (Gainesville) and Lake Seminole Wildlife Management Area. Two others will be dedicated during July.  Twenty-one other proposed areas have been accepted by the technical committee of the IBA. The rest of the meeting was devoted to a discussion led by Lynn Tennefloss of National Audubon (NAS) about the creation of a state office for Georgia. Twenty-five states have already created a state office, and Georgia is one of five other states currently being encouraged by NAS to initiate the process of developing one. A primary goal at the state level will be opening Audubon Centers as part of a new effort to make education a central role of the society. Already, land and financial support have been offered in Hinesville in Liberty County, south of Savannah, for the development of the first of what is hoped one day to be as many as 20 such centers in the state. Several members of the Council volunteered to serve on a steering committee to prepare a statement of purpose for a state office and to nominate members for a search committee to find and hire a state director. (report by John Willis).