Reflections on birds and other wildlife on the edge of a southern woodland
After a hot, gusty, cloudy day, by evening the wind had died down, the clouds had dispersed, and the air was calm and almost sultry as a big full round orange moon rose and shimmered behind the dark outlines of the trees. Two bats swooped low over the grass and all around us as we walked up to the top of the driveway in deep twilight to see the moon and watch the bats appear and disappear and the last light fade from the sky. It felt like a preview of summer.
Most of the birding notes here are observations I’ve made around our home in Summit Grove, a small neighborhood in Oconee County, Georgia, about an hour’s drive east of Atlanta. Located between two creeks that converge not far from our house, the neighborhood is buffered on roughly three sides by a wide band of woods extending down steep hillsides to the creeks. A few lots remain unoccupied and have grown up in grasses, shrubs and young trees, and there’s one small pond. There’s also a large old field that runs the length of the dead-end road that leads to the subdivision, and beyond the field is a busy highway, U.S. 441. The neighborhood’s mix of woods, fields, creeks, and shady lawns attracts many bird species, as well as other forms of wildlife. We’ve identified at least 102 species of birds, including both residents and those just passing through.
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PHOTOGRAPHS: CLATE SANDERS
For photos, more information, or to hear songs of any of the birds mentioned here, the best source is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. For up-to-date information about birding in Oconee County and Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society is great. For information about birding throughout the state, see the Georgia Ornithological Society, and Wings Over Georgia, an excellent on-line guide. For general information about birds and birding and species of concern because of habitat loss and other threats, click the National Audubon links below.
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