A great opportunity to see birds up close and personal, and contribute towards citizen science.

Bird banding dates
JOKU = Joe Kurz MWA in Meriwether County
PANO = Panola Mountain State Park in Rockdale County

May 24 JOKU, 5:45
May 28 PANO, 5:30   (No Ash)
June 1 PANO, 5:30     (No Anne M)
June 7 JOKU, 5:45
June 14 JOKU, 5:45
June 15 PANO, 5:30
June 21 JOKU, 5:45
June 22 PANO, 5:30
July 5 JOKU, 5:50         (No Ash, maybe no Terry)
July 6 PANO, 5:30    (No Ash or Anne A)
July 13 PANO, 5:30
July 19 JOKU, 6:00
July 20 PANO, 6:40
July 26 JOKU, 6:00
August 3 PANO 5:50
August 9 JOKU 6:10
August 17 PANO 6:00
August 23 JOKU 6:20
August 31 PANO 6:10

To celebrate the launch of National Audubon's new citizen science project "Hummingbirds at Home" (hummingbirdsathome.org), Oconee Rivers Audubon Society is screening the film "Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air" at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2, in the Ecology Building Auditorium at the University of Georgia. Free on-campus parking is available outside the Ecology Building.

Discover Life is launching a partnership with Sandy Creek Nature Center to set up a citizen science study site, for studying moths and other natural history.  Birders may find it interesting to get up just one extra hour earlier before dawn, to come witness the amazing natural history of moths (which as both adults and as larvae are some of the primary food for many carnivorous birds!).  The diversity of moths way outstrips the diversity of birds... over 900 species of moths have been identified in Clarke County after monitoring for only three years!

On Saturday, March 23 at 1:30pm,  The EcoFocus Film Festival is screening "The Lost Bird Project" , documenting an innovative, moving and humorous art project to commemorate five extinct North American bird species, at Ciné in downtown Athens. The filmmaker (Deborah Dickson) and artist (Todd McGrain) will be joining us via Skype for a Q&A after the film.

For more information, see:

http://www.lostbirdproject.org/

ORAS wishes to support a student, teacher, individual, or group conducting research, designing outreach or educational activities, or undertaking habitat improvement that will benefit birds and other native wildlife in the Athens area. Awards are typically in the region of $300.

Successful applicants are expected to write a short report for our monthly newsletter and/or to give an oral presentation of 30min – 1hr at one of our monthly speaker meetings. The proposal should be 2-3 pages in length (single or 1.5 spaced), and should describe how the project will benefit birds, wildlife, and the Athens community. It should also contain an itemized list of supplies that will be purchased with the grant money. Please email applications to ORAS President Richard Hall, president@oconeeriversaudubon.org.

The deadline for receipt of these proposals is April 1st 2013.

The 2013 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) will take place Friday, February 15, through Monday, February 18. Please join us for the 16th annual count!

 ATHENS – University of Georgia ecology professor John Pickering will share his knowledge about the often-unseen populations of moths in Northeast Georgia at the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society’s next meeting, set for 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 3, at Sandy Creek Nature Center.

Pickering, an associate professor in UGA’s Odum School of Ecology, will speak on the topic, Join the Dark Side of Life – The Fabulous Diversity of Local Moths.