The second winter meeting in the nearly 70-year history of GOS was held jointly with Alabama Ornithological Society (AOS) during January 28-30 in beautiful Guntersville, Alabama. I arrived early on Friday afternoon so that I would have some additional time to explore the countryside of northeastern Alabama and so I could participate in a field trip to the “Hawk Farm.” I was not prepared for the truly stunning scenery. Guntersville is located on a peninsula that juts out into a lake formed where the Tennessee River makes a dogleg turn to the northeast, following the Appalachian ridgeline into Tennessee. Looking west and north from the hotel, I could see ducks in the lake just beyond the parking lot, and the view to the east was dominated by the rugged Appalachians, which were mostly wrapped in low-hanging clouds throughout the weekend. Field trip destinations often included a drive across the causeways that span the lake, radiating from points on the peninsula. Every time we started across one of the causeways we discovered that the lake, which was just a few feet from our vehicle, was chock-full of birds: ducks, loons, grebes, etc. Stop-and-gawk driving was the standard for the weekend.

About 130 GOS and AOS members registered for the meeting, though the grim weather forecast forced some birders to turn back. Saturday morning found us chopping ribbons of ice off car windows and doors. Things weren’t looking much brighter when we found ourselves standing in a cold rain on the edge of a wheat field at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge later that morning trying to see Snow Geese, which appeared to be at least two counties away, through fogged-over binoculars. I confess I found myself wondering why I left the hotel. A half hour later it was still very cold, but the rain had eased and we were looking across a mud-flat at an enormous flock of Snow Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, Sandhill Cranes, Pintails, and Canada Geese. In a word, the birding was spectacular, and remained that way throughout the weekend. All told, birders saw 115 species, including an Iceland Gull, Western Grebe, five species of geese, and 18 species of ducks. Several Bald Eagles were seen around Guntersville, including one on a nest. Along with hundreds of Common Loons, Guntersville Lake also provided sanctuary for a lone Pacific Loon and a few Red-throated Loons.

There was more to rave about than just the birding. The Friday night program featured a series of slide shows, mostly by AOS members, showing off their best bird pictures and favorite Alabama birding destinations. Jim Wilson also gave a brief overview of the Important Bird Area (IBA) program, and Rick West provided details concerning the Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA) recently started by AOS. For those of you who enjoyed participating in Georgia’s BBA, Alabama needs volunteers to help with their atlas field work. Saturday night’s program featured Pat and Jack Casselberry, members of the “outreach team” for the International Crane Foundation. Their program gave us a behind-the-scenes look at Operation Migration, the massive effort to train Whooping Cranes to migrate from Wisconsin to Florida. The Casselberrys concluded the program by enticing audience members to come up front and imitate crane behaviors, including dancing. Among the dancers were our very own Bill Lotz and Anne Mursch.

Obviously, the weather didn’t really put much of a damper on the weekend. As always, the GOS team, especially Bill Lotz, Anne Mursch, and Steve Holzman, did a great job handling all the details. Thank you to the AOS folks, particularly Bob Reed, Stan Hamilton, and Linda Reynolds, for the invitation, the wonderful hospitality, and for introducing us to a corner of their beautiful state. Come see us in Georgia next time!

Submitted by Bob Sargent