Murphy's Law notwithstanding, I have finally finished compiling and posting the Athens CBC, and it's available on the CBC website. If any of you want a copy of my spreadsheet showing the numbers by party/area, email me and I will send you a copy as an attachment.

So now we have feral turkeys to go with the feral cats! Joel, do you think they would interbreed w/ the Wild Turkeys that have been seen out here in the past?

They can definitely interbreed if they come in contact, although I don't know any self-respecting wild hens who would be seen with those goofy feral toms. I think interbreeding of feral stock with indigenous genetics has happened frequently here in the east, but the eastern genetics (most evident in the dark tannish tail band) generally win out over time.

It's a shame these ultra-aggressive feral turkeys couldn't be put to work driving out all the feral cats...

Bradley Hogue bradh802@charter.net Let's go see the Ivory Gull. I'll ante up for gas in your car. Mine gets a humongous 19 MPG.
706-549-9256

Cross-posted to Gabo-L

Today we had our FOTY Pine Siskins at our feeders. There were two of them feeding with a group of 47 American Goldfinches and they returned several times throughout the morning. Nice to have them back.

Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) is starting a new season of “Georgia Outdoors” next Wednesday, February 3, at 8:00pm and the first episode is on the herons in Georgia.

The show will be airing in high definition this year and it has a new team of Emmy award-winning professionals producing it, including former CNN anchor Sharon Collins who is hosting the program.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The show’s air dates on GPB are:

Wednesday February 3 8 PM---Herons & Heroes
                                   8:30 PM---Crashing Water
Friday February 5 9:30 PM---Herons & Heroes

Saturday February 6 6 PM---Herons & Heroes

Tuesday February 9 7:30 PM---Herons & Heroes

Thursday February 11 7:30 PM---Herons & Heroes

Friday February 12 9:30 PM---Crashing Water

Saturday February 13 12 PM---Herons & Heroes

Saturday February 13 6 PM---Crashing Water

Tuesday February 16 7:30 PM---Crashing Water

Thursday February 18 7:30 PM---Crashing Water

Things were quiet and icy on a choppy Lake Hartwell

Cheers
Daniel Kraushaar

Location: Hartwell Lake
Observation date: 1/30/10
Number of species: 32

Canada Goose X
Mallard X
Red-breasted Merganser X
Common Loon X
Double-crested Cormorant X
Great Blue Heron X
Turkey Vulture X
Northern Harrier X
Red-shouldered Hawk X
American Coot X
Bonaparte's Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker X
Eastern Phoebe X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
Brown-headed Nuthatch X
Carolina Wren X
Golden-crowned Kinglet X
American Robin X
Northern Mockingbird X
Yellow-rumped Warbler X
Pine Warbler X
Song Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) X
Northern Cardinal X
blackbird sp. X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

(cross-posted to GABO-L)

A very fast dark shape whizzed low across our front yard this evening just at dusk. It surely looked like a MERLIN. It actually perched in a tree in the little thicket between us and our neighbors' house. By the time we dashed inside for binoculars, our neighbors came out of their garage in their car, and it took off. Dennis had mentioned to me earlier in the week that he saw something that looked like a Merlin zooming over a nearby field. [This is in Shoal Creek Farms, off Morton Rd.]

[note: speaker rescheduled from January due to threatening weather]

Dr. Ron Carroll, professor in the University of Georgia Odum School of
Ecology and director for science at the UGA River Basin Center, will
discuss “Global warming consequences for the Georgia coast and for
neotropical migrants and what we can do about climate change” at the
January 7 Oconee Rivers Audubon Society meeting.

Dr. Carroll's research interests include conservation biology,
sustainable economic development, ecosystem restoration, and invasive
species. He played a key role in setting up the Metro Atlanta Flyway
Cities Coalition, which is part of a national effort to protect and
restore wildlife habitat in key cities throughout the flyways of North
America.

Dr. Carroll has conducted conservation research in Latin America,
especially Costa Rica, since 1967. He works closely with Ecuador's
Maquipucuna Foundation, a 4,500-hectare nature reserve, surrounded by
14,000 hectares of “protected forest,” in the Choco-Andean cloud
forest.

He is active in SELVA Foundation, an action-oriented environmental
organization that focuses on large river ecosystems and related land
use in Latin America. The organization provides concrete and pragmatic
solutions to the serious problems affecting vulnerable eco-systems of
universal significance with the objective of a secure and harmonious
environment for all forms of life.

The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 7:00 p.m. in
the ENSAT Building at Sandy Creek Nature Center. For additional
information, contact President Vanessa Lane at
president@oconeeriversaudubon.org

Hi all,

At work we are putting together a coffee order from Birds&Beans
http://www.birdsandbeans.com/

They are bird-friendly (Smithsonian-certified) and Fair-Trade. The cost is $19.95 for 2 lbs or $10.95 for 12 oz, and if you get in on our order the shipping cost is only about a buck or so depending on how much you want. (Shipping is $8 for up to 100lbs). If you want any, email be by the end of the day. steve_holzman AT yahoo.com

Be sure to specify roast type and ground or whole bean and type of grinding. Yeah, coffee sure has gotten complicated in the last few years.

-Steve

2/2/10 late afternoon on Bear Creek Reservoir:
Location: Bear Creek Reservoir
Observation date: 2/2/10
Number of species: 10

Canada Goose 20
Mallard 2
Ring-necked Duck 5
Bufflehead 4
Hooded Merganser 10
Ruddy Duck 2
Pied-billed Grebe 5
Horned Grebe 5
American Coot 20
Bonaparte's Gull 1

Cheers
Dan

Georgia DNR's Jim Ozier will lead a discussion following the free screening of LORDS OF NATURE: LIFE IN A LAND OF GREAT PREDATORS on Monday, February 8 at 7:30 in room 102 of the UGA Miller Learning Center.

The film LORDS OF NATURE: LIFE IN A LAND OF GREAT PREDATORS tells the story of scientists now discovering the great carnivores as revitalizing forces of nature, and a society now learning tolerance for the beasts they had once banished. Exploring the vital ecological role that large predators play in restoring the health of America’s wild ecosystems, LORDS OF NATURE asks "Can people and predators coexist? Can we afford not to?"

Discussion will be led by Jim Ozier, who received an MS in Wildlife Biology from UGA in 1986 and is a Program Manager at the Forsyth office of the Nongame Conservation Section within the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. He helps oversee state efforts to conserve Georgia's diversity of inland birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals,
as well as the management of priority habitats on state and private lands. Mr. Ozier recently served on the Florida Panther Recovery Team since restoration to portions of the species' former range, which includes Georgia, is a potential component of recovery.

Has anyone out there in message board land seen or heard the barred owls that usuually frequent around the Milledge Avenue area of Prince? It seems ever since the mature oaks etc have been removed I have not seen a dickey bird. I'm sure there were at least two pairs that I would normally have seen by this time of year.

Can anyone tell me what the trail conditions are like at Sandy Creek Nature Center?

My house is near the upper part of Cook's trail, about 2/3 of the way from the Nature Center. The trail there is still completely underwater. If you want to hike, I suggest waist high waders!

I would imagine the area around the nature center is even worse as it has much lower lying land.
Amy Barbe
Athens-Clarke County


On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 1:05 PM, QT - Michael <
qtopic-29-6JbdZFsuhUc6@quicktopic.com> wrote:

>
< replied-to message removed by QT >

That's what I figured - thanks, Amy.