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| spring 2006 meeting. . . |
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For the first time in 22 years we held a meeting in the Metro Atlanta area. Nearly one hundred birders gathered at the Hilton Garden Inn scarcely a mile from one of the best spots in the Southeast for Neotropical migrants, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, but it proved to be a very windy weekend with migrants difficult to find. The program Friday night featured Ron Rohrbaugh, Project Director of the Search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker for the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Ron had just returned from Arkansas where he had been in charge of dozens of professional ornithologists and volunteers who had been searching all winter for proof of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker’s existence. He presented a program filled with the history and mystique of the “Lord God Bird”, those who studied it and the tantalizing clues to its possible continued presence in the White River area of Northeastern Arkansas. On Saturday there were field trips to Kennesaw Mountain and Pine Log Wildlife Management Area, a late afternoon poster session, followed by a delightful banquet. Our Saturday program was presented by Greg Miller, one of the three birders portrayed in Mark Obmascik’s excellent book, “The Big Year, A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession”. We were fascinated with Greg’s story of working full time and trying to do a Big Year in the ABA area on a limited budget. Unknown to Greg at the beginning of that year, 1998, there were several other birders who were doing a Big Year as well, one of whom held the record at that time. It is quite remarkable that three of the birders tallied over 700 species, including Greg. Since that year only one birder has been able to surpass 700! The anecdotes and experiences that Greg shared made for a memorable evening. Sunday’s Kennesaw and Pine Log field trips were repeated along with the addition of one to Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area. A total of 130 species were seen or heard over the weekend (full species list elsewhere in this issue). Our thanks go to all the field trip leaders, Chuck Saleeby, Giff Beaton, Malcolm Hodges, Georgann Schmaltz, Theresa Hartz, Carol Lambert and Jeff Sewell, who tirelessly searched for birds that, for the most part, stayed hunkered down in the strong winds. And a big thank you goes to Anne Mursch, Steve Holzman, Helen Ogren and Barbara Brigham for their hard work in putting together another successful meeting. Please join us on Tybee Island for our Winter, 2007 Meeting, which will be held on January 12-15, 2007. Submitted by Bill Lotz
Bill Lotz, Compiler The following table contains a
combined list of the species
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08/2006
