GOS Fall Meeting
Jekyll Island, GA
11-14 October 2024
Keynote Speaker: Nate Swick, American Birding Association
Friday Night Speaker: Charlie Muise, Jekyll Island Banding Station
Approximately 87 attendees participated in our Fall Meeting activities, which included interesting and entertaining presentations on Friday and Saturday, the banquet and field trips. For the weekend, participants found 175 species (see list below) on field trips to Altamaha Sound, Altamaha WMA, Altama Plantation WMA, Andrews Island Causeway and Disposal Site, Cannon’s Point, Clayhole Swamp WMA, Cumberland Island, Harris Neck NWR, Jekyll Island (banding station, hot spots), St. Catherines Island and Sapelo Island. As always, thanks to our field trip leaders (Kris Bisgard, Larry Carlile, Diana Churchill, Chris Depkin, Malcolm Hodges, Gene Keferl, Ed Maioriello, Patrick Maurice, Pete Moore, J.P. Moss, Evan Pittman, Ewan Pritchard, Bob Sattelmeyer, Pam Smith, Eliot VanOtteren, Dan Vickers and Steve Wagner).
Our Friday speaker, Charlie Muise, has been banding birds for over 30 years. In his Friday evening presentation, he provided an overview on the history and operations of the Jekyll Island Banding Station (JIBS).
Nate Swick, Education and Digital Content Coordinator for the ABA and the host of the ABA's American Birding Podcast gave the Saturday Keynote address. His talk, “Birding for Life”, examined the many benefits of birding. We, as birders, obviously experience the health and wellness benefits of spending time outdoors. In addition, birding helps develop skills and perspectives that are valued in our daily lives, such as humility, skepticism and community.
Bird List (175 species):
BBlack-bellied Whistling-Duck
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Common Ground Dove
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
King Rail
Clapper Rail
Sora
Common Gallinule
Purple Gallinule
Sandhill Crane
American Avocet
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Wood Stork
Anhinga
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Eastern Screech-Owl
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Hammond's Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
House Finch
Grasshopper Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Nelson's Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel