Wilson's Plover signs

Every year the Wilson's Plovers nest on the south end of Jekyll Island. They need help. Too many people are clueless to these amazing beach nesting birds. Coastal Georgia Audubon Society puts up signs to help. Today was the day. Gene Keferl and I put up 17 signs. I will be watching these Wilson's Plover for the next couple of months. Stay turned.

A little bonus the horseshoe crabs were laying eggs.

Thursday in the field

Thursday is my day to Ramble on Jekyll. For those who do not know I conduct a birding tour of Jekyll Island on Thursdays. It is a morning of birding and fun which starts at 8 AM and goes until….well really it should end at 11 AM but I keep birding until my stomach growls. I like to limit this tour to six people so we can have conversations about the birds we saw as we travel between places. From January through April I am overbooked. Starting this week there is room on this morning bird outing.

The goal of my Rambles is to see birds in their habitats, to see the variety of coastal Georgia habitats and most of all to have fun. I want you to forget the stresses of your life, leave them behind, and experience the wonders around you.

This last Thursday I had the pleasure of birding with Nancy Crosby. She is writing a feature article on the Georgia’s Colonial Coast Birding and Nature Festival for Georgia Outdoors Magazine. Nancy is enthusiastic about birding. Here I am at the end of April the height of migration and I have the pleasure of a morning with a passionate birder. Perfect, the birds did not let us down. To top it off, we had one of those National Geographic moments. We were sorting through the gang of birds at the south end of Jekyll. It was the normal cast of gulls, terns, skimmers and shorebirds. They had been just resting, all doing what they do, preening, snoozing, courting and chatting when all of a sudden they were in the air. They were frantic. We looked around and low and behold an adult Bald Eagle flew right over our heads and into the screaming mass. Wow! The eagle landed and waited for the birds to settle down. He wanted them to forget him and land. He waited and waited and waited. Those birds were not going to land while the eagle was sitting there. He finally gave up and left. Nancy and I went on to bird. At the last stop we popped out of the van and were greeted by a Veery right out in the open but it did not stop there. Right at the end when our stomachs were growling we were amazed by an Ovenbird walking along. It was a great morning.

Happy Earth Day

Time is flying by for me. On Saturday morning, I helped Glynn Art Association with a children’s art project. My station was printmaking. I had the children draw something on a soft plate then we printed it. One child drew a cardinal. A boy drew a great bat picture. It was good to know that there are some children enjoying nature. In the afternoon, I did a bird walk, or as I call it a Bird Amble, for the Mother Nature Day Festival on Jekyll Island. This was the second year the Georgia Sea Turtle Center put this festival together. This year the Jekyll Island Authority helped.

Larissa Harris is the Assistant Director of Marketing for JIA. She is on the left. She helped me get started blogging. Beth Burnsed is the event coordinator for Jekyll Island Authority. She is going to help with the Georgia Colonial Coast Birding and Nature Festival in October.

The date for the festival is October 8-12, 2009

There were families out all over Jekyll. I took a small group over to the Amphitheater. This is one of those magical places. It is an old outdoor theater. Behind the theater is a freshwater lake. The lake is a favor hangout for all kinds of egrets and herons.

Did I mention that the Wood Storks are nesting there? These birds are fascinating to watch. I enjoy watching as folks discover them for the first time. The wonder on their faces is worth a million bucks.

Podcast

In January, I went to the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. My goodness, you meet fascinating people at these festivals. While sitting in my booth, I was able to engage all kinds of people in conversation. I met Dawn Fine who is living my dream life and blogging about it. Check out her blog. I do.

Another person that stopped to talk to me was Steve Moore. Steve is gifted with a velvety satin voice, it makes sense that he loves broadcasting. He has a website called Birdwatch Radio. After talking to me for a few minutes he pulled out his microphone and interviewed me on the spot. What fun! I love talking about the Georgia Coast. Take time to listen to Steve's interview with me but don’t stop with mine. There is some great information on Birdwatch Radio.
Thanks Steve.

Taxes are out of the way! Yea. I have been so busy that I really could not do anything but work on the grant and do those taxes. Even then, I always get out for a few hours on Thursday.

Last Thursday, the American Avocets were in full breeding plumage. They are behind the American Oystercatchers.

It was a windy day. The beach was loaded with birds. The Loggerhead Shrikes look like they are going to nest in the trees just south of the Jekyll Island Convention Center.

Blooming

April has been non-stop for me. I am applying for a grant. It took me a while to get the wording just right and fill out the on-line application. I finished it this morning so I can move on to the next task...taxes. I took a little time to clear my head. One of my favorite wildflower is blooming. The common name is Spider Wart.

Here is my favorite patch.

Blog on Migration

My thanks to Patty who posted on Georgia Birders Online about a blog she had found on migration. If you have not seen this, you need to go to http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com/ It is great for following the migrating birds. Today even though it was raining I was out with a good group of birders on Jekyll. It was low tide so all the shorebirds were way out.

So we headed to the Jekyll Island Campground Bird Sanctuary. There was so much action I couldn't get any photographs. It was so much fun just the same. Northern Parulas, Black & White Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, a single Black-throated Blue Warbler, lots of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, White-throated Sparrows and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. There was a pair of Eastern Towhees right out in the open. The female was gathering pine straw as the male sang. At one point the Black & White Warbler landed on the ground right beside us. Whoa! that was fun. Another highlight was a White-eyed Vireo right at eye level with 10 feet of us. This image was taken last year but it is a White-eyed Vireo. Today is overcast and rainy, sorry to say we did not have blue sky.

Here is an image of last year's parula in the bird bath at the Bird Sanctuary. He is back again this year and singing up a storm.