Yesterday, while sitting in a doctor's waiting room on the north side of town, a summer tanager put in an appearance at a feeder right outside the waiting room window. Ever noticed how many doctors and dentists around town have bird feeders around their offices? Sure beats thumbing through two-year-old magazines.

And today, I had a female indigo bunting right outside my house in River Oaks. That's only the second one I've seen here, the other one being a breeding male a couple of years ago.

At 5:45 yesterday evening I checked the small cattle pond on Astondale Rd in Oconee County and found two immature Red-necked Phalarope foraging in the shallow end of the pond, the left side as you face the pond. There was also a Spotted Sandpiper and an immature Least Sandpiper.

The phalaropes were doing their typical surface picking foraging behavior and spinning about. They would occasionally venture toward the near edge and out of view down behind the grassy hill, so keep looking/waiting if you go. Best vantage point may be from the wood fence brace posts. I know the property owner and he is okay with folks viewing from right at the fence.

http://www.wingsoverga.com/OconeeCoBirdingSites.html
(site #3, last sentence)

Please join the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society for the start of the new season when Charlie Muise, Georgia Important Bird Area (IBA) Coordinator and experienced bird bander, will discuss “Bird Banding: What it is, why we do it, and how it helps the birds” at the September 4 meeting of the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society. He will explain how banding is done, display some of the tools used, and talk about different banding methods.

Charlie Muise has been hooked on birds since his college days, conducting several Breeding Bird Surveys and taking part in many Christmas Bird Counts and International Migratory Bird Day counts. His first banding experience was at Shoals Marine Laboratory, on a little island off the coast of Maine. Since then he has assisted in banding activities in 10 states. He managed his first station, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, from 2000 through 2006. This station worked under the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) protocol. He co-designed and opened another MAPS station on the French Broad River in Tennessee in 2005. That station quickly became one of the busiest in the country, catching grassland species. Muise was fortunate enough to be the first to band a Northern Saw-whet Owl in Georgia—in his own back yard.

Interested in life beyond birds, Muise has studied salamanders, grasshoppers and other organisms. His most recent paper, “Preliminary Checklist of Odonata from Great Smoky Mountains National Park” was published in Southeastern Naturalist.

The program, 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, call Edwige Damron at 613-9875.

We look forward to seeing you there!

There are 4 Wood Storks in Comer as of 10 AM this morning.

Directions:

Take Rt. 72 out of Athens until you hit the Weyerhaeuser Plant. Your next left is Rt. 172. Take the left.

Drive until you hit a 4 way intersection with Rt. 98. Go through the blinking red light (stay on 172)

Drive 1 mile, you’ll go around a sharp turn, and then the 1-2 acre cattle pond will appear on your left. There’s a barn there with Marlowe Farms written across it. You may have to pull up and turn around to get the best viewing. Be careful of parking. The road is narrow and there’s a surprising amount of 18-wheeler traffic.

Thanks to Jim Patton for contacting Edwige about the unknown, strange white birds at the pond. As far as I know this may be a first for Madison County?

For photos, go here: http://snowgyre.myphotoalbum.com/view_albu...t_albumName=album02

Does anybody think this is GABO worthy?

The botanical garden was pretty quiet this morning before the light rain showers let up, but then things picked up nicely. I ran into Chris Skelton and Jim Hanna, and collectively we had a very productive morning. It was the first 10-warbler spp. day of 'fall.' I only had a Great Blue Heron wader-wise, but Chris later turned up the imm. White Ibis, Little Blue Heron, and Snowy Egret that have been frequenting the low river. Some other highlights were:

Mississippi Kite 1 (white trail along river; being harassed by chimney swifts)
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1 (South Milledge on the way in at 7 AM)
Solitary Sandpiper 1 (white trail along river)
Barred Owl 1 (distantly heard only, early AM from Blue Trail)
Chimney Swift 70+ (highest count at one time over river, probably many more)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 6
Pileated Woodpecker 4 (great looks at 2 males at one time and, later, 2 females)
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2 (great looks at one)
Acadian Flycatcher 10 (many call notes along river, and an adult feeding young on service road)
Eastern Phoebe 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 2 (great look at one)
White-eyed Vireo 6
Yellow-throated Vireo 2 (good look at one still singing on service road)
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Summer Tanager 1 (female on service road)
Song Sparrow 1 (powerline at river; very unusual at botgarden from May-Sept, with only 3 records, all in the past month)

Warblers:
Northern Parula 4 (3 together at upstream end of white trail)
Yellow Warbler 2 (white trail side of powerline and across river from orange trail)
Pine Warbler 5 (service road, upper powerline)
Prairie Warbler 2 (brush across river at powerline, service road)
American Redstart 1 (juv./female: orange trail along river)
Northern Waterthrush 2 (1 white trail, 1 orange trail; both in close proximity to LOWAs)
Louisiana Waterthrush 2 (still here because of Fay?; not only very late, but both still SINGING!)
Kentucky Warbler 1 (white trail)
Common Yellowthroat 2 (fledgling at privet eradication area, lower powerline)
Hooded Warbler 4 (most on white trail, including spectacular close looks at a male there)

I checked out the Bostwick Sod Farm Saturday late afternoon. I didn't come across any kites. Plenty of swallows around though, among them at least 3 Bank Swallows, possibly more. 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers among stacks of killdeer.

In addition to what James saw in the Botanical Garden this morning, I saw a second SOLITARY SANDPIPER which flew in to join the first at the power line cut, a CANADA WARBLER near the wetland on the orange trail, a LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH along the stream on the orange trail, a WORM-EATING WARBLER on the white trail by the bench where it's possible to cut down to the river, and a MISSISSIPPI KITE perched on a dead snag at the far end of the white trail. But still no Barred Owl!

The Botanical Garden was pretty quiet this morning. The SOLITARY SANDPIPER continues at the muddy sandbar at the power line cut. I also had a CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER (FOS - first year female) along with HOODED WARBLER (3), N. PARULA (2), KENTUCKY WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT (2), and N. WATERTHRUSH. Other than a pair of BARN SWALLOWS, everything else was pretty common.

Hello Everyone, I am not a bird watcher, but I live at 3240 Fairplay Road, and yes indeed I do have a swallow tailed kite. It seems that this is this is a pretty rare thing by the numbers of people stopping to see. I saw at least two on Monday the 18th. They seem to come out in the early evening around 6:30. Good Luck everyone I hope to get to see them too!

Hi birders, I'm a British birder visiting UGA for a week and trying to cram in as much birding around Athens as possible. Today I got a ride out to the botanical gardens and recorded the following
White Ibis - 1 imm.
Little Blue Heron - 1 imm.
Snowy Egret - 1
Louisiana Waterthrush - 1 from white trail, from the river's edge as accessed from a steep path in front of the bench
Solitary Sandpiper - 1 where the orange and white trails meet by the power lines
Northern Waterthrush - 2, white trail
Hooded Warbler - 1, white trail
Along Riverview Road in the 5 Points neighbourhood of Athens, I had a flock of 50 Chimney Swifts yesterday, plus a couple of Brown-headed Nuthatch.

I do not have a car while I'm out here, so if anyone's planning to head out for the Swallow-tailed Kite in the next few days, I'd love to join you. My email address is dr.richard.hall(at)gmail.com Also, would love to know a good spot to search for Barred Owls in the Five Points area or Botanical Garden - no luck with these along the white trail this morning.

Thanks and good birding
Richard

Jim,
   Do we need to call first?

            thank you!
                   -Jim


--- On Tue, 8/19/08, QT - Jim McMinn <qtopic-29-6JbdZFsuhUc6@quicktopic.com> wrote:
> From: QT - Jim McMinn <qtopic-29-6JbdZFsuhUc6@quicktopic.com>
> Subject: Oconee Rivers Audubon Society
> To: "QT topic subscribers" <qtopic-subs@quicktopic.com>
> Date: Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 8:34 AM
< replied-to message removed by QT >

Edited by author 08-19-2008 08:35 AM
I AM SURE. The sighting was on MONDAY THE 18th and I will allow visitors. My last EVGR sighting was a one-time female visit at this location (160 Sweet Gum Dr) more than 8 years ago -- prior to my ORAS membership. The specific feeder for this week's sighting is straight ahead if you come up my drive.

Are you 100% sure? This is a huge deal. There's not been one seen in Georgia for years. Will you allow visitors?

 Steve Holzman
North High Shoals, GA
Oconee County,
USA



< replied-to message removed by QT >

At 6 p.m.yesterday (Tues Aug 18th) I had a male Evening Grossbeak at my feeder.

I just got a call from Mark McShane who told me that Nathan Farnau (spelling?) saw a mixed flock of Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites (not sure of the numbers, but at least several of each species) a little southwest of Bostwick at 3240 Fairplay Rd, which is what 1st Street in Bostwick turns into and will eventually lead you to Hard Labor Creek State Park. The birds were on the east side of the road. He should be making a post to GABO with more details.

Thanks Mark.

We were all sure it was, but since it was the "first look" for all of us, I was a bit cautious in posting it.