General Discussion

Just a reminder that the deadline to apply for an ORAS small grant is Oct 1st. Details on how to apply can be found here.

Dear ORAS birders,

this forum is a great place to share general information and ask questions about birding and conservation issues in the Athens area. I'd just like to point out that we are continuing to use our QuickTopic site to report noteworthy local bird sightings. The QuickTopic site can be viewed here, and has the advantage that you can receive new posts to your email as they arrive, or in digest form.

Thanks, and good birding!

Richard

Suki Jannsen with Athens-Clarke County Recycling provided us this interesting link to birding landfills.

Enjoy!

http://www.mswmanagement.com/MSW/Articles/Honey_Lets_Go_Birdwatchingat_t...

I had a nice morning out at the BotGarden today.  Avian highlights were:

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Worm-eating Warbler

Hooded Warbler

American Redstart

Tons of White-eyed Vireos

Yellow-throated Vireo

Indigo Bunting

But the real highlight for me was a pretty large Timber Rattlesnake in the new Flower Garden area down the hill from the Visitor Center.  The ACC snake wrangler had just shown up as I was leaving so I don't think the snake is going to be there anymore.

Ed.

All,

I've been doing some updates on the ORAS site and have a couple of outstanding issues:

1. The Home Page slide show is showing the default images rather than our desired ones.
2. The Current Newsletter link on the Home Page is still showing the June issue.  The August/September one is available in the Newsletter page.

I'm working to correct thise issues.  Hopefully they'll be fixed soon.

Ed.

A recent kayak trip on the pretty downtown section of the North Oconee River (between College Ave and Dudley Park) was enhanced by close-up views of a Great Blue Heron,  a pair of Belted Kingfishers, and numerous Barn Swallows.   A Spotted Sandpiper and a Louisiana Waterthrush were also seen. 

Almost forgot that in Pickens County on Monument Road there were Blackburnians, Black and Whites, Black Throated Greens, a Worm Eating Warbler, many Red Eyed Vireos and Indigo Buntings.

<p>Yesterday morning I saw a Pied Billed Grebe on Lake Oglethorpe. It is the first one that I have seen in months. Shortly after a Bald Eagle was seen low to the water rounding a bend out of sight. I paddled out to search for it and heard it calling a weak high pitched two noted call. It was sitting in an oak tree eating a fish and calling in between bites. I was able to watch at close range for a couple of minutes before it flew out and circled over the lake with two Mississippi Kites in hot pursuit. They had been in nearby trees watching.

Really seems to be working well!

Hey,

You can find some of my bird pictures here!

Ed.