Eighty-one folks signed up for our "return to Macon," seventy of whom broke bread with us on Saturday evening. Twenty or so of those had been with us fifteen years ago for our 50th Anniversary meeting in that same Ramada Inn with Roger Tory Peterson as our honored guest. Dick Parks was observing the 55th anniversary on that very day of his first GOS meeting, making him the senior member present. The meeting space was much better than our first time there, the banquet quite tasty and the field trips and programs outstanding, but, sadly, the sleeping rooms and front desk expertise were not up to standard. That happens sometimes when you book nearly a year in advance.

Ocmulgee Audubon President Dr. Jim Ferrari got the meeting off to a fine start Friday evening with his entertaining and informative talk on bird-plant interactions, or how the apple can fall far from the tree with a little help. Based on three year's observations on and around the Wesleyan University campus where he teaches. Jim found for one thing that more species are attracted to natural foods than to bird feeders, so plant those shrubs and trees around your homes, folks.

Field trips organized by Jerry Amerson and led by Jerry and Marie, Ty Ivey, Bob Sargent, Todd Schneider and Nancy Gobris rewarded participants with 135 species of birds in the two days of looking, including 21 species of warblers. This bested the 97 count for the anniversary weekend in 1986 by a considerable amount and there were 275 birders in the field then, including Roger Tory himself!!

A short business meeting Saturday evening gained approval for two additions to the society's by-laws creating the offices of Historian and Web-master. That taken care of, we reached the high point of the week-end with the presentation by Bob and Martha Sargent of Clay, Alabama, well known an highly regarded for their work as founders of The Hummer/Bird Study Group (HBSG). Since the group began the serious study and observation of hummers in the early '90's they have banded over 20,000 individuals and documented eleven species east of the Mississippi in addition to the Ruby-throat, which was once thought to be our only eastern species. Eight of those species have been found in Georgia. Capturing our rapt attention with spectacular color slides of his subjects, Bob made the additional point that hummers are genetically imprinted with their migratory behavior and will not overstay their time at Georgia feeders, so leave the feeders up by all means and keep an eye out for unusual visitors. The vital work ofHBSG is entirely supported by members, and membership is open to all interested persons at $15 a year mailed to P.O. Box 250, Clay, AL, 35048-0250. Nuff said.

Silent and live auctions of prints and other items of interest and value to birders following the meeting raised over $1,000 for the H. Branch Howe, Jr., Graduate Student Research Grant program. The success of this first effort encourages us to repeat the event from time to time.

Submitted by Kenneth B. (Ken) Clark

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