GOS Fall Meeting
Jekyll Island, GA
7-10 October 2022
Keynote Speaker: Kevin McGowan, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
Friday Night Speaker: Heather Gaya, University of Georgia
Approximately 85 attendees participated in our Fall Meeting activities which included interesting and entertaining presentations on Friday and Saturday, the banquet and field trips. For the weekend, participants found 177 species (see list below) on field trips to Altamaha Sound, Altamaha WMA, Altama Plantation WMA, Andrews Island Causeway and Disposal Site, Cannon’s Point, Clayhole Swamp WMA, Cumberland Island, Glennville Wastewater Treatment Facility, Harris Neck NWR, Jekyll Island (banding station, hot spots, welcome center), St. Catherines Island and Sapelo Island. As always, thanks to our field trip leaders (Adam Betuel, Kris Bisgard, Larry Carlile, Chris Depkin, Malcolm Hodges, Gene Keferl, Ed Maioriello, Pete Moore, Evan Pittman, Bob Sattelmeyer, Lydia Thompson, Dan Vickers, Steve Wagner and Gene Wilkinson).
Our Friday speaker, Heather Gaya, is a PhD student in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia and a recipient of a H. Branch Howe Graduate Student Research Grant from GOS. Her Friday evening presentation, “Trailing-Edge Community Dynamics in the Southern Appalachian Mountains”, examined the environmental factors that influence the distributions of species at the edges of the species’ ranges.
Kevin McGowan, Senior Course Developer and Instructor for Bird Academy at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, gave the Saturday Keynote address. In his talk, “The Uncommon Crow: The Hidden Life of a Familiar Bird”, Dr. McGowan shared many interesting examples of crow behavior that he has observed in his over 30 years of studying American Crows. He emphasized the importance of social interactions of family groups and the intelligence of these “familiar birds”. In addition to providing an interesting and entertaining presentation on Saturday evening, Dr. McGowan was also the first to spot the Townsend’s Warbler during that morning’s Jekyll Island Hot Spots field trip. His photographs of the bird are also posted on eBird.
Bird List (177 species):
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
American Wigeon
Mallard
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Common Ground Dove
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Clapper Rail
Sora
Common Gallinule
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Wilson's Plover
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Hudsonian Godwit
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Greater Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Anhinga
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Eastern Screech-Owl
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Lark Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Yellow-breasted Chat
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Golden-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel