June 5th Harris Neck

June 5th, 2007. Today we had our monthly festival meeting at Harris Neck. Attending the meeting was Beth, Regi, Harriet, Gene, Pat and Dot, and, of course, me. As far as I was concerned, this meeting could be long or I could keep it short and sweet. So when Gene announced that he had to leave at noon, I knew "short" was it! We worked on details for the Colonial Coast Birding Challenge: basically, the “Challenge” is a Big Day held before the festival. We decided to have people choose a day from October 5 through October 12 to find as many birds as they could on any or all the Colonial Coast Birding Trail sites in a twenty four hour period. The real change this year was a monetary prize for the winner! It took a while but we finally came up with a plan, and the meeting was over! Gene took off, after which the rest of us stood around tying up loose ends. A birding festival takes a great deal of planning: we give ourselves eighteen months to get the plans laid out for this three day festival.

All the chatter ended abruptly with the announcement that someone had found two Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks! Cars were loaded, and we zipped up to the dike at Woody Pond, only to find a pair of non-birders looking for alligators. They had no clue that they had flushed a rare bird! Oh, well.... There was still a lot to look at: Wood Storks with chicks, Anhinga chicks, egrets, herons, night-herons, and ibis were spread across the pond. The air was filled with the calls of the moorhens; those calls sound like the beginning of the song “Wipe Out” to me...

Scanning with my scope I spotted a small group of nesting White Ibis. I did an etching a while back of White Ibis nesting at Harris Neck, but I felt it was a bit heavy on the greens and reds. Well, today I saw that etching come to life: there they were, tucked into those trees that were a little too green and a little too red!

Thanks to Bob Churi for allowing me to use his photo of whistling-ducks.

With Georgia coastal birdlife on my mind--good birding!
Lydia

May 8th Painted Buntings

May 8, 2007,
There is a chill in the air as I head out to Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge. It reminds me more of Maine spring morning than of coastal Georgia. I am going to a meeting with the Georgia Colonial Coast Birding and Nature Festival steering committee. Every month we meet and hammer out all the details of this wonderful festival. There is a huge amount of work that goes into a festival this size. The coast is lucky to have this dedicated group of hard workers meeting and spending hours on end working on this festival. Today we are trying to find those loose ends.
So I am in my van driving across the wide expanse of salt marsh. It never ceases to amaze me with it stunning beauty. An osprey rises up along side of the van. It has a fish and is heading back to it’s nest where if mate is waiting. We both have our jobs and go in different direction.
Harris Neck is a magical spot on the coast. Parking I grab my Leica binoculars and walk to the side of the Welcome Center. The caged feeder is filled and there are Painted Buntings all around it. The males so colorful and the females a delightful green. While standing there an Eastern Pewee calls and then there is a solid blue bird at the feeder. A Blue Grosbeak is there. I turn to go in and glance at the hummingbird feeder and there is a little Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Never a dull moment at Harris Neck. That goes for the meeting as well. We are still going strong after two and half hours. But we have our marching orders and are happy to know that we are helping to build this wonderful festival. Just so you know the dates are October 12-14, 2007.
That evening I am invited to dinner with old and dear friend on Jekyll. Sitting in their den before dinner I am enterained by their feeder. It has Painted Buntings feeding away on the millet. In the bushes there is an Ovenbird just strolling around. It was a nice day with the birds.
With Georgia’s birdlife on my mind- good birding
Lydia