Our Spring Meeting took place April 23-25 in the historic and charming college town of Milledgeville. This was something of a homecoming for GOS, as our first meeting was held in Milledgeville in 1937. The consensus of the meeting participants was that our homecoming was a resounding success thanks in large part to the graciousness and hard work of the Georgia College and State University (GC&SU) faculty, staff, and students. In particular, Dr. Bob Chandler and Dr. Bill Wall went above and beyond the call of duty to entertain and inform us.

We started the meeting with a Friday afternoon tour of Herty Hall and GC&SU’s new, state-of-the-art library facility, led by Bob Chandler and the talented library staff. Bob’s enthusiasm for his research is infectious, and participants were captivated by his guided tour of the ornithological collection, artifacts storage shelves, and the site of the school’s future paleontology exhibit room. Friday night’s provocative program, “Bird Evolution’s Big Bang,” was presented Dr. Alan Feduccia of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In 30 all too brief minutes Alan “walked” the audience through a fascinating exploration of the origin of birds, explaining, disputing, and introducing theories.

The field trips schedule featured some well known birding locations in Middle Georgia, and some that weren’t so well known (e.g., Beaverdam WMA) but definitely have the attention of birders now. The species count for the weekend was 123, and the schedule was a big hit thanks to the planning of Bill Lotz and the many talented field trip leaders. Highlights included: Northern Shoveler, Common Loon, Wilson’s Snipe, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Cliff Swallow, Swainson’s Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Bachman’s Sparrow, Painted Bunting, and Baltimore Oriole (see the complete list in this newsletter). Dr. Chris Skelton (GC&SU) led the species countdown on Saturday night.

Saturday was a busy day, featuring an ornithological paper session in the afternoon following the field trips, then the banquet and guest speaker. About 35 people attended the paper session, which featured presentations by students and faculty from GC&SU, Georgia Southern University, and the University of Georgia (UGA). Papers covered an array of topics, including primitive birds, osprey ecology, kestrel nest sites, and agricultural impacts on bird diversity.

Saturday night featured a rather unusual arrangement for a GOS meeting, as the banquet and the featured speaker’s presentation occurred in two different rooms. The evening went smoothly due in large part to the efforts of Anne Mursch, who also joined Barbara Brigham and Steve Holzman to manage the registration and sales desks. An exhibit featuring the art of Dick Parks is a mainstay of GOS meetings, and this one wasn’t an exception to that rule. Dick once again impressed the members by displaying an assortment of his beautiful paintings during the banquet. Tommy Patterson also contributed his work to the meeting, making available copies of his fine book, “Birds of Laurens County” in the registration area. The finishing touch on a very enjoyable day was an intriguing and insightful look at conservation issues, problems, and groups in Bulgaria and Croatia, presented by UGA’s Dr. Sara Schweitzer. Sara’s talk included a brief history of the two countries, a description of conditions in those countries today, and an excellent account of the work being done by scientists on behalf of conservation in that little-understood region of the world.

Submitted by Bob Sargent