Georgia Museum of Natural History to host Oconee Rivers Audubon Society

Submitted by avsterl on Wed, 10/19/2016 - 3:06pm

 

Join us on Thursday, October 26 - 6:00-8:00pm

ATHENS- Tucked away on the back side of the Statistics building at the University of Georgia is the Georgia Museum of Natural History. Inside, a small display room invites guests to see mounted specimens of the Carolina parakeet and the Ivory-billed woodpecker. Spread across the room are mammalian skeletons and hundreds of irridescent butterflies lined up in cases. Whichever exhibit is on display, the room brings us to a different place and a different time.

This room, however, is a drop in the bucket. The Georgia Museum of Natural History posesses huge collections of insects, birds, fish, and marine life. The only problem is that the collection is usually off-limits. Stored in an Atlanta Highway warehouse, the annex as they call it, contains thousands of specimens that the public can rarely see.

The O'Grady Bird Habitat Restoration Project: Restoring wildlife-friendly plantings to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia

Located on the banks the Middle Oconee River, an important migratory corridor for many of eastern North America's imperiled songbirds, the State Botanical Garden of Georgia (SBG) is Athens' premier birding spot. Recognizing its value as habitat for breeding, overwintering, and migratory birds, Bill and Karla O'Grady spearheaded efforts to document bird sightings at the SBG starting in 2004.   They recorded their sightings on eBird, the largest online repository of citizen science bird data. To date, 180 bird species have been recorded in the SBG, and the O'Grady's efforts resulted in the State Botanical Garden being declared a Georgia State Important Bird Area.

To honor their contributions, and the memory of Karla's late husband Bill, Oconee Rivers Audubon Society (ORAS) is partnering with the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in its ongoing efforts to remove invasive plants and restore native, wildlife-friendly plants. Restoration of native plants will provide food, shelter and nesting sites for birds and other wildlife.

To do this, we have established a dedicated fund to which ORAS members, friends of the O'Grady's, and the general public can directly contribute to habitat restoration and maintenance. Additionally, ORAS has pledged to continue monitoring how birds respond to these habitat improvements by completing regular bird surveys in the floodplain. ORAS will also offer volunteer hours to assist with plantings and invasive species removal. More details on how to volunteer will be outlined in future ORAS monthly speaker meetings, our email listserv and newsletter.

L-R: Bill and Karla O'Grady at the State Botanical Garden; Swainson's Warbler; Creole Pearly-eye; Thomas Peters and a healthy canebrake

ORAS March Meeting

Please join us for our monthly meeting where Ashley Lohr, a former recipient of ORAS research grant and graduate student at UGA, will share part of her Master's thesis research on turkey reproductive ecology. Please see link for details.

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