What a Surprise!

February 21 was the evening for the third year for Jekyll Island's Green Screen. Ben Carswell created this wonderful event.  Each year, I bring a poster for my Operation Plover Patrol.   This year the Plover Patrol keep me excited through the worst of the nasty chemo.  Even when I was so weak I could barely move, one of my volunteers would send me a report and I could keep going.  Giving the birds a voice was more important than any treatment.  Also, there were lots of friends sending me notes.  These notes helped me.

      Abby Sterling is studying Wilson's Plovers on the Georgia Coast.  She spent the summer near Barrow, Alaska.  This is one place I really would love to visit.  She sent me pictures from Barrow.  It lifted my mood. 

Here is Abbey Sterling with me at the poster.  This year's poster was put together by Katie Higgins.  It was peach so it popped!   It was so much fun to see all the conservation work going on here on the Georgia Coast. There was one poster that showed how much the south end of Jekyll has grown and change.  The work used a shrimp boat that went down in June of 1996.  Fascinating, I wish I could have looked at it a little longer but there was so much to see and people to talk to around the room.  

    Of course, there was the main event the movie.  Angel Azul is a beautifully filmed story of the coral reef and the people who are working to save it.  But before the film began I got a huge surprise.  I was honored with a Certificate of Appreciation. 

I was floored & humbled. I had no idea that they were going to do that.  Abby told me that they wanted to thank me for the bird conservation work I am trying to do.  It is hard work getting people to listen to these creatures who live with us on this planet and I love giving the birds a voice.   Britt Brown donated her photo of 3 Wilson's Plover chicks.  Hatched then color banded in June 2013.  These chicks were resighted as fledglings.  

Valentine Day's Great Backyard Bird Count Woodbine

Woodbine  is a lovely community 35 miles south and west of Jekyll Island.  It has converted it old railroad tracks into a Greenway.  The Woodbine's Women Club adopted this trail.  They put up bird feeders, so it is a natural place to invite a new birder to go birding.  So on Saturday February 14 Coastal Georgia Audubon (CGAS) with the Woodbine's Women Club invited the community to go birding. 

The Wednesday before CGAS President, Marge Inness teamed up with Janice of the Woodbine Women's Club and went into to the elementary school and the Head Start Program and did programs on birds.  Marge and Janice invited the young people out to the gazebo on Saturday to join in the Great Backyard Bird Count.  We had 17 young people come.  What fun it was.    Here are some pictures of the young people's activities.

 Kids had their hands full of pine cone feeders, Learning how bird build nests as well as learning to use binoculars.

                                             








 This was our youngest birder who had her very own bird book and binoculars.  She went out with the adults birding.
This Chipping Sparrow was very helpful and allowed everyone to see it.



                                                                                                        This event wasn't just for the young people there were adults that wanted to know about the birds.

Thank you all for coming out.  We had a perfect day for it.  The sky was clear.   It was chilly but this is winter.  The birds were all around us.