Audubon 2013/14 teaser

Submitted by richardhall on Mon, 08/05/2013 - 8:42am
 
We hope you all had a good summer, and got a chance to enjoy our local celebrity Scissor-tailed Flycatchers that nested near Watkinsville this year and found by ORAS member Mitchell Jarrett. We are gearing up for an exciting fall program, with some new field trip destinations (including Atlanta migration hotspot Cochran Shoals), and we kick off our speaker meetings with a presentation by Robert Ramsay of the Georgia Conservancy in UGA's Ecology auditorium. We also welcome our new ORAS President, Clark Jones, and our very first ORAS student intern, Crane Breithraupt, who will be posting regular updates to this website, our facebook page and email listserv. Hope to see you and your friends at one of our exciting events this fall!

"Insects of the Night" Family Program

Submitted by cjones on Tue, 06/25/2013 - 12:06pm

-=THE PROGRAM IS FULL FOR FRIDAY NIGHT=-

Join them for the Naturalist's Walk on July 20

Zip! Buzz! Whish!  What's that noise in your ear? 

The Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services Department will host Insects of the Night family program on Friday, June 28, 2013,  from 8:00 - 9:30 p.m at Sandy Creek Nature Center  Participants will see what crawls, flies, and buzzes in the heat of the summer nights.  Everyone will take part in a night hike to see what creatures can be stirred up. This program is for families, children four and older. Pre-registration is required by calling 706-613-3615.

Annual June potluck picnic, Memorial Park, 6 June 2013

Submitted by richardhall on Sun, 05/26/2013 - 10:45am

Meet the ORAS board, including President-elect Clark Jones, at the June picnic


The Oconee Rivers Audubon Society will cap its 2012-13 season with a potluck picnic dinner at a special time and place – 6 p.m. June 6 in Memorial Park, at Picnic Shelter No. 1. Bring a covered-dish item to share and enjoy an evening of socializing in the outdoors. The gathering will include a short business meeting to elect officers for the upcoming year. The slate features a new president, Clark Jones, who will succeed the current president, Richard Hall. Hall will step down to serve as vice president, with Mary Case as secretary and Eugenia Thompson as treasurer. To reach Memorial Park, take South Milledge Avenue through Five Points past South Lumpkin Street and turn right on Gran Ellen Drive at Milledge Avenue Baptist Church. Memorial Park is on the left, and picnic shelters are immediately to the left, down the hill.

Local bird-banding opportunities with Georgia Important Bird Area coordinator Charlie Muise

Submitted by richardhall on Sun, 05/26/2013 - 10:29am

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

May meeting: hummingbird movie at Ecology Auditorium!

Submitted by richardhall on Mon, 04/29/2013 - 12:25am

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 launching a partnership with Sandy Creek Nature Center to study moths

Submitted by cjones on Fri, 04/19/2013 - 2:54pm

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!

ORAS April speaker: Georgia's Important Bird Areas program coordinator Charlie Muise

Submitted by richardhall on Mon, 04/01/2013 - 2:16pm
 
The coordinator of Audubon’s Important Bird Areas (IBA) program in Georgia will demonstrate the critical need for establishing and protecting areas for wild birds at the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society’s next meeting, set for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, at Sandy Creek Nature Center. Longtime state IBA Coordinator Charlie Muise will also provide fresh information about important activities under way in Audubon’s IBA program in Georgia, including bird banding at Panola Mountain State Park and the Joe Kurz Wildlife Management Area, the effects of prescribed fires on bird habitat, and problems with cats on Jekyll Island.

See "The Lost Bird Project" at the EcoFocus Film Festival!

Submitted by richardhall on Thu, 03/07/2013 - 3:05pm

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/

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