One of the great attractions, it seems to me, of our semi-annual meetings is the opportunity they afford for folks, regardless of their birding skills, to meet, mingle and spend a day in the field with some of the top birders in Georgia, guided by volunteers who really know the interesting birding areas in the neighborhood. This was certainly the case at our spring meeting in Valdosta 26-28 April this year. Brad Bergstrom planned and organized field trips led by himself, Michael Bell, Kristi Avera, Ken George, John & Kate Swiderski, Malcolm Hodges, and Barbara Passmore that produced 141 species of birds for our edification and enjoyment. Notables in Georgia included Horned Grebe, Prothonotary and Swainson's Warblers, and Bachman's Sparrow, while a trip to phosphate mines in north Florida revealed Common and Red-throated Loons, Eared Grebe, American White Pelican and Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. Even though we missed migration, a total of 17 warbler species were found.

This was John & Kate Swiderski's first opportunity to play host to a GOS gathering since they moved to Valdosta from Cartersville a few years ago. They teamed with the GOS president Gail Russell, and meeting planners Bob Sargent and Anne Mursch to provide a really great weekend for the more than 90 GOS members and guests who participated. The ambitious program began with a smooth check in with Anne Mursch on the registration desk, aided by Helen Ogren, Barbara Brigham and Pat Sully. Brad Bergstrom presented the Friday evening program on "From Jamaica to Belize: Birds of Winter in the Hand and in the Bush," well supported with beautiful color slides of his own making. John Swiderski followed with an appetite-whetting description of the Saturday and Sunday field trips to such hot spots as the PSC phosphate mines in Hamilton County, Florida; the Grand Bay WMA; Reed Bingham State Park; Grassy Pond; private property in north Lowndes County; Broxton Rocks; Langdale Park; and the Blackwater nesting stork colony in Brooks County. The weather was kind and the birds cooperative, as the species count shows.

Saturday afternoon members were invited to the dedication of Grand Bay/Banks Lake Ecosystem as an Important Bird Area, then returned to the Holiday Inn for a poster session organized by Bob Sargent (six exhibitors), and an exhibition of paintings done during WW II by Charter Member Dick Parks. A "Backyard Barbeque" banquet preceded the Saturday evening presentation by Dr. Ken Meyer of the Avian Research and Conservation Institute, Gainesville, Florida, on "The Trans-equatorial Migration and Conservation Biology of Swallow-tailed Kites," illustrated with dramatic photographs of the birds and explanatory charts.

The day's countdown by Brad Bergstrom and Bob Sargent closed the evening and prepared the group for another half-day of birding Sunday. It was a well planned and executed meeting with a full agenda of very interesting and informative programs, quite a feather in the caps of our Valdosta hosts and volunteers. I hope we'll be going there again before too long.

Submitted by Kenneth B. (Ken) Clark

Click map to view full-size