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| winter 2010 meeting. . . |
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The 2010 GOS winter meeting is now in the record books with the annual event, held on Tybee Island, being heralded as a resounding success. Some 77 members registered for the four-day event held January 15-18, 2010. The Ocean Plaza Beach Resort served once again as our headquarters for rooms, registration, banquet and programs. Many members kicked the weekend off by first visiting Saint Simons Island, where they had the second confirmed sighting in Georgia of the Buff-bellied Hummingbird that is spending the winter there. Given the beautiful surroundings of the island and the yard of gracious hosts Richard and Martha Armstrong, I can’t say that I blame the bird one bit. Field trip destinations for Saturday, Sunday and Monday included Tybee Island north beach, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Savannah NWR, a “near shore” pelagic trip, Little Tybee Island, Savannah hotspots, Glennville Water Treatment Facility and Harris Neck NWR. Our featured speaker Friday evening was Jim Cox of Tall Timbers near Thomasville, Georgia. His very informative slide presentation and program, entitled “Lightning Season Burning: Friend or Foe of Breeding Birds?”, provided members an excellent overview of lightning season fires and their effects on breeding birds. Saturday morning greeted eager GOS birdwatchers with a steady rain. Armed with appropriate rain gear and snacks, members departed for field trips beginning as early as 5:30 AM. One might say the weather was better suited for ducks than humans, but bird watchers learn to roll with whatever the weather conditions are. And speaking of ducks, many species were seen, such as Mottled Duck, Canvasback, Blue and Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked, Lesser Scaup, Mallard, and others. Poster sessions at 5:00 PM followed by a social hour at 6:00 PM were the prelude to the banquet and meal at 7:00 PM. As an added feature at this meeting, GOS President Bob Sargent held a trivia contest. The contest involved answering questions that related to the formation and early history of GOS. Helen Ogren and Barbara Brigham got more questions correct than anyone else, winning themselves a GOS logo coffee mug. It was no coincidence that Georgann Schmalz introduced the after-dinner keynote speaker, Dr. Sidney Gauthreaux, Professor of Zoology at Clemson University. You see, Georgann received her master’s degree from Clemson and studied under Dr. Gauthreaux. His most informative presentation, entitled “Radar Ornithology at Different Spatial Scales,” explained his groundbreaking research into the use of radar to “see” into the night skies as migrant species fly otherwise undetected to the human eye. Through modern technology, Dr. Gauthreaux has been able to locate areas of concentrations that migrant species use as roosts, as well as to make landfall after trans-Gulf migration. His research is also aiding the commercial airlines industry, as well as our military, to avoid aircraft collisions with birds. With the aid of Doppler radar, Dr. Gauthreaux has determined at what altitudes and densities birds migrate, thus giving aviators a heads-up when the sky is crowded with birds. To learn more about the Clemson University Radar Ornithology Laboratory and Dr. Gauthreaux’s accomplishments visit: http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/birdrad/people.htm. The presentation of the Earle R. Greene Award was the next order of business. As Bob Sargent read his prepared notes before the naming of this year’s recipient, the listener almost concluded that two different people were to receive the award. And that’s exactly what happened! Only four other times have simultaneous Earle R. Greene awards been presented: 1986, 1990, 2000 and 2007. This year’s most deserving recipients were keynote speaker Dr. Gauthreaux and Georgann Schmalz. See Bob’s remarks about their accomplishments in this newsletter. As the rains continued through the night, becoming quite heavy at times, we wondered what weather conditions would be like in the morning for the scheduled field trips. As I departed my hotel room well before sunrise Sunday, I was greeted to the leftover drizzles from the passing front. The decision to leave my camera in my hotel room would turn out to be a mistake. As I climbed aboard Captain Rene Heidt’s open boat for the field trip to Little Tybee Island, the darkness and fog dissipated, replaced by lovely blue skies and sunny conditions. With an adult Bald Eagle calling from a pine only a hundred yards away, I was now second guessing my decision to err on the side of caution and leave my camera in a drier habitat. While participants caught naps or ate lunch at the local restaurants, the hotel staff was busy setting up for the “flocking” event that began at 5:00 PM Sunday afternoon. Flocking is merely a gathering of members over a cash bar and plentiful hors d’oeuvres to meet and talk about our favorite pastime … birding. As members mingled, two members showed photographs they had taken of birds. The final event of the afternoon was the countdown conducted by GOS First Vice-President, Bill Lotz. We had observed a total of 155 species from Friday through Sunday, and we still had field trips for Monday to increase that number. A winner was declared in the GOS logo contest Sunday evening. Members who had a flair for the arts had been encouraged to render their submissions for the contest. The Brown-headed Nuthatch logo, designed by Rachael Cass, was the winner. (See Steve Holzman’s articles about the contest in this newsletter.) For her efforts, Rachael received a check for $250, a Peterson oriole print, a set of occasional publications, free registration at three GOS meetings, and a hat and coffee mug. Monday morning found members checked out of the hotel and headed for the final field trips of the long weekend. I chose the Glennville Wastewater Treatment Facility with field trip leader Gene Wilkinson. At the facility, Gene drew our attention to a most secretive bird, the American Bittern. The bittern cooperated so well it was almost as if the bird knew we wanted to study every feather on its body and showed itself completely. Luckily, this time I had my camera! And as though the American Bittern wasn’t enough, Gene took the group to his friend’s house, where we observed Baltimore Orioles coming to grape jelly feeders. At one point we counted nine different orioles in one tree! The gracious hosts, Gene and Virginia Griffin, were rightly proud of their winter guests, showing our group photographs they had taken of the orioles. At one point Mr. Griffin refreshed the grape jelly, which was akin to ringing a dinner bell for the orioles. They couldn’t get to the feeder fast enough. The total species count for the weekend was a whopping 168, eight of which were spotted in South Carolina at the Savannah NWR. In spite of the rain on Saturday, weather conditions were much warmer than the 25 degrees we endured in January 2009. Those attending had a wonderful time seeing old, familiar faces and meeting new people. And, of course, there were the incredible birds to enjoy. If you missed the winter meeting, you missed a good time. If you have never attended a GOS meeting, don’t miss another one. The spring meeting is just around the corner and will be held in Athens from April 16-18, 2010. Register early before field trips are full. I hope to see you all in Athens in April. -- Phil Hardy
Steve Holzman, Compiler The following table contains a
combined list of the species
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4/2010
