The Great Backyard Bird Count [Feb 12-15]

Join the 2016 annual, world-wide Great Backyard Bird Count! Since 1998, over 100,000 people have participated in this citizen-powered science project. The requirements are simple: for the period of February 12-15, set aside 15 minutes to count birds on one or more days. Then, submit your observations to the bird count website.

Those new to the count will need to create an account first.

To get started, go to http://gbbc.birdcount.org/get-started/

Sandhill cranes over Medlock

The fall migration is on, and the sandhill cranes were seen flying by this morning, chatting up a storm. Their flight path goes straight over us and our neighbor Kathryn just reported that 800+ just flew over the Chattahoochee Nature Center.

To learn more about sandhill cranes, click here.

For a video to familiarize yourself with their calls (and you will hear them before you see them, for sure!), go here. In our area, they will be flying very high up and it won't be as loud. But given the altitude, size and grouping of the birds, and the calls, you will know it ain't geese!

Hawk homecoming

In mid-June, neighbors spotted and eventually helped corral a wounded female red-tailed hawk. Luckily, neighbor Kathryn Dudek is the Wildlife Director at the Chattahoochee Nature Center and was able to transport the hawk to the wildlife center for evaluation and rehabilitation. Today, some 70 days later, lady hawk came home.

Last june: all patched up. Photo via the Chattahoochee 
Nature Center's Facebook page

Last june: wing wound. Photo via the 
Chattahoochee Nature Center's Facebook page

The hawk was released at Medlock Park to the delight of a large group of neighborhood well-wishers. And what a show it was: the hawk launched without hesitation and with strong wingbeats took herself to a high perch on a pine tree. On the ground, the crowd cheered. Kathryn watched and waited for the bird to stick the landing and then she too was off the ground, jumping for joy.

Magic trick: Months ago, in went a wounded hawk...  

This particular hawk had a "fracture to its right radius and ulna, as well as punctures to the right thigh" likely from a dog or squirrel bite, and there were also maggots in the wound. Once the wounds healed and the bandages were removed, the bird received physical therapy to recover full range of motion.

Kathryn shared some additional tidbits. The hawk now sports a namesake red tail which means she is a mature two-year-old. A hawk like this has a grip strength of around 250 pounds per square inch (for comparison, a man's grip is in the 100 psi range). Kathryn said she could feel the squeeze and a talon did pierce the kevlar gloves she was wearing for protection, leaving a tiny pin prick.  Because lady hawk was gone for a while, we may hear some arguments overhead as she reclaims her home turf from other resident hawks.

And today, out came this beauty!

Rodents despair: big mama's home. 

Our thanks to Kathryn for her education and rescue efforts in the neighborhood and beyond, and for bringing this hawk home. The Chattahoochee Nature Center is a community-supported non-profit organization that focuses on educating about the natural environment with an emphasis on the wildlife communities that make a home along the Chattahoochee River. Visit the Center's Wildlife Rehabilitation Facebook Page for many examples of critters that have been hurt but are now on their way to recovery thanks to wildlife rehabilitators. To make a donation earmarked towards wildlife rehab, click here.

Atlanta Audubon Society's Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Tour [Sept. 10]

From Dave Butler via Facebook

The Atlanta Audubon Society is hosting our annual Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Tour on Saturday September 10, 2011 from 9 AM to 4 PM. Numerous backyards are featured where residents have enhanced their yards with plants and water features to attract birds and other wildlife. You will meet great people and be inspired for ideas in your own yards. Tickets for the tour are $12. Visit atlantaaudubon.org for more information and contact me if you would like to purchase a ticket.