(posted to GABO-L)

I had 3 flyover RUSTY BLACKBIRDS (2 male, 1 female) at the botanical garden powerline this morning, though I wasn't able to get anyone else on them thanks to (what are the chances?) 3 grackles who decided to fly by more conspicuously at almost the same moment. There is plenty of soggy floodplain forest in Clarke Co. right now, so hopefully these are the first of many this winter.

Lorene Winter, Ed Maioriello, Alison Huff, Richard Hall, Bill O'Grady, Karla O'Grady, and I also had lingering Black-throated Green Warblers (3, including 2 adult males), a Magnolia Warbler, and a Swainson's Thrush to go with many of the usual winter residents.

I had 4 Common Nighthawks flying around the Best Buy parking lot lights tonight. I was surprised since I thought they were finished moving through by now.

This morning I had a male AMERICAN KESTREL from the dirt road leading to the golf course pond off of S Milledge. Also 2 FIELD SPARROWS and a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER there. In the power line cut at the State Botanical garden I had my FOTS DARK-EYED JUNCOS (4) associating with a large flock of CHIPPING SPARROWS, plus 2 YELLOW PALM WARBLERS.

4 RUDDY DUCKS and a female RING-NECKED DUCK were on Lake Herrick this morning.

I went back to Lake Herrick once the sun came out, and in addition to the ducks I had 3 AMERICAN COOT, 1 fly-by AMERICAN PIPIT and a couple of YELLOW PALM WARBLERS. A trip to the botanical garden was uneventful except for 2 HORNED LARKS which flew into the fields by the entrance road, a first for me locally.

At 2:10 pm this afternoon I saw an Osprey over the bypass at the Hwy. 441 reservoir.

4 VESPER SPARROWS were feeding at the shoreline of Lake Herrick directly down from the levee. They were occasionally flushed up into surrounding trees by joggers, but always returned to the same spot. On the lake were one each of DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT and PIED-BILLED GREBE. Yesterday's wildfowl were gone. I'm trying to keep an eye on the CANADA GOOSE flock in case any unusual geese turn up among them, though this is made tricky by the fact that they're usually gone by 730am! Photos of the Vespers here:
http://surfbirds.com/blog/rjhall/12554/

I walked some of the wooded trails around Lake Herrick and was surprised to find a reasonable-sized pond at the end of one of them, harbouring a PIED-BILLED GREBE and several sparrows, including FIELD and SWAMP. At the Lake itself, both flavours of PALM WARBLER continue, and there was a late MAGNOLIA WARBLER too. 49 KILLDEER was a personal high count. Full eBird report below:
Location: Lake Herrick
Observation date: 11/3/09
Number of species: 47

Canada Goose 45
Mallard 6
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern) 1
Killdeer 49
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 3
Eastern Phoebe 6
Blue Jay 12
American Crow 6
Carolina Chickadee 15
Tufted Titmouse 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown-headed Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 2
Carolina Wren 4
Winter Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 8
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 3
American Pipit 1
Cedar Waxwing 20
Magnolia Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 25
Pine Warbler 1
Palm Warbler (Western) 3
Palm Warbler (Yellow) 2
Eastern Towhee 3
Chipping Sparrow 3
Field Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 8
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 6
Northern Cardinal 15
Common Grackle 8
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 12

Somebody help me! What's the vireo that makes sort of a wheezy scoldy sound and sings like a Red-eyed, only much slower? I was surprised to hear one at quite a high elevation up in the mountains yesterday, but it flew down the mountain before I could look at it.

That would be a Blue-headed Vireo (the only one that should be around that far north this late).

Thanks, Joel, that's what I tho't but I couldn't find reference to that wheezy scold anywhere, and that's what first alerted me to the fact that it was a vireo. And I couldn't imagine that any other would still be in that location.

This morning at 'Little Lake Herrick' I had a MAGNOLIA WARBLER (different, duller bird than yesterday) and a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. This smaller lake can be accessed by taking the service road south of the parking lot adjacent to the tennis courts at Lake Herrick.

Looks like there are a lot of new late dates for migrating warblers here in the Piedmont. While taking a break from work (on Riverbend Rd.) to soak in this beautiful afternoon, I had a pretty male BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER flit into a magnolia tree close to me. He stayed around for a few seconds to provide nice views even without optics before he kept on moving. I don't have my ACOGB here with me, but there is only one later date I can find in the state on eBird from Nov 5, 2004 on Little St. Simons Island.

Mitchell Jarrett and I birded the botanical garden this morning, and it was filled with decidedly wintery birds and no late migrants at all. The highlights were mostly numerical: new botgarden high counts in ebird for Wood Ducks (24) and Myrtle Warblers (90+!), and a tie of the previous high count for Hermit Thrushes (16). The Wood Ducks were all in a tight pack under a tree in a calm part of the river; I heard one and said, "there's a Wood Duck," and the whole flock promptly took to the wing and startled the bejesus out of me. The lion's share of the Myrtle Yellow-rumps were in the main garden area itself, with one large oak tree containing a few dozen at one time. Hermit Thrushes were everywhere, especially around the beaverpond, giving all three of the common winter vocalizations (the high-pitched, red-winged blackbird-like whistle, the harmonic, towhee-like 'chway?', and plenty of chupping). Also in particularly good numbers were both Kinglets (25 GC, 28 RC).

Other highlights included a Savannah Sparrow in an odd spot- mixed in with Chipping Sparrows feeding under grape arbors in the Heritage Garden. A mystery sparrow flushed with a bunch of White-throated Sparrows in the privet eradication area. I could tell it wasn't a White-throat or Song, and it looked like either a Swamp or a... I won't say it, but you probably know what I'm thinkoln. 3 Brown Creepers, 3 Winter Wrens, and 3 Cedar Waxwings called but didn't show themselves well.

Mitchell Jarrett and I walked Cook's Trail from Sandy Creek Nature Center to the Oxbow wetland and back this morning. Again, no late migrants, but good numbers of winter birds with a couple highlights being a juvenile WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, both along the snaggy section of the long boardwalk. The Orange-crowned Warbler was feeding high in the canopy, which is really weird for them in the fall/winter. I tried to turn it into a late Tennessee, but it definitely had no yellow towards the front and a yellowish wash on the undertail coverts. Other fun things were 2 Blue-headed Vireos, 3 Brown Creepers (heard only), 15 Winter Wrens, 32 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 30 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 8 Hermit Thrushes (heard only), 2 Common Yellowthroats, 10+ Swamp Sparrows, and 75+ White-throated Sparrows. There were hoards of sparrows on our first pass up the boardwalk, but on the way back they had disappeared, and a pile of male Cardinal feathers had mysteriously appeared...

I just came back from a (successful) weekend of deer hunting up at Lake Russell Wildlife Management Area, about 6 miles south of Toccoa. While I was hiking out of the woods yesterday morning, I looked up to observe a beautiful sky with some vultures circling in the first thermals of the day. Upon closer examination, I noticed that one of the turkey vultures wasn't a turkey vulture at all, but an IMMATURE GOLDEN EAGLE. I was surprised enough to call Charlie Muise about it, who kindly posted my sighting on GABO for me.

I was at approximately 1300', one of the highest peaks in this area. The Golden Eagle had white windows at the base of the primaries, white at the base of the tail, and a completely dark brown body, underwing (minus the windows) and head. Thank goodness I always carry my birding binoculars with me while hunting! I saw the bird for about 15-30 seconds before it soared off to the west and I lost it behind trees. Talk about an amazing, serendipitous find! It was an amazing weekend in general, and I now have deer meat in my freezer to boot! Can't get any better than that.