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A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO TEAM SWIFT!!!!

The boys participated in the Junior Statewide Birding Championship and won 2nd place for the Elementary Division (3rd – 5th). The competition started on Friday evening, April 23rd, where they recorded over 50 of the first bird species list. They awoke the morning of the 24th, at 4:30 am, to assure being at West Point Lake at dawn, and birded until moments before the end of the competition at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center by 5pm, even walking through many rainstorms and puddles to locate their birds. They did a terrific job of spotting, confirming, even photographing, the 94 bird species.

Their team not only won, but JM got to meet his hero, Giff Beaton, who signed his book. Giff or “Bird Dog” as he is lovingly called by the birding community, was so impressed that they spotted and photographed a whimbrel that he ‘stole’ the camera and ran around the banquet hall showing the WMA folks.

“The list included a whimbrel spotted – and photographed – at West Point Lake, only the fourth or fifth known sighting of the shorebird inland in Georgia, Giff Beaton said.”

The boys won three pairs of binoculars, a hat, tote bag, attended their very first dinner banquet, met ALOT of enthusiastic birders like themselves, and discovered some really wonderful places to return to for birding. We are so very proud of them. All had a terrific weekend and are really looking forward to next year’s competition, thanks to a very dedicated wildlife biologist at the DNR, Tim Keyes!

To read the GABO newsletter about the competition and see more photos – click here.

TEAM SWIFT – Proud Winners at the Statewide Youth Birding Competition

From: Tim Keyes
Date: April 26, 2010 9:04:20 EDT
To: GABO-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: [GABO-L] Youth Birding Competition results
Reply-To: Tim Keyes

Hey GABO -
I thought some of you may be interested seeing our press release about the YBC this past weekend. Despite the rain, we had a great turnout!

Tim

YOUNG BIRDERS SHINE IN ANNUAL BIRDING COMPETITION

MANSFIELD, Ga. (April 24, 2010) – Saturday’s rains did not dampen the spirit or skill of about 130 children and teens who took part in the 2010 Youth Birding Competition.

The Chaotic Kestrels, a team of 12-year-olds Ethan Hatchett of Jackson and C.J. Armour and Daven Hayes of Griffin, opened the 24-hour birdathon at Jekyll Island Friday evening, waited out a downpour at middle Georgia’s Rum Creek Wildlife Management Area early Saturday and finished at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center near Mansfield by the 5 p.m. deadline.

Their highlights included a grasshopper sparrow, a painted bunting and 100 species in all. “We did much better than last year!” Ethan said, grinning.

Better indeed. The team led the middle school division, one of four in the annual event. Fantastic Flycatchers of Macon, a high school team, won the overall competition with 148 species.

The fifth annual Youth Birding Competition, sponsored by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and The Environmental Resources Network Inc., fielded some 130 participants ages 6-18, plus team leaders. The
birders, from newcomers to veterans, saw or heard 184 species and raised $2,300 for conservation groups. The maximum number of bird species in Georgia at this time of year is about 200.

The statewide competition is focused on cultivating a deep interest in wildlife and conservation. Teams count as many bird species as possible from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 p.m. Saturday. The event closes with a banquet
and awards ceremony at the DNR Wildlife Resources Division’s Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center.

Organizer Tim Keyes, a wildlife biologist with the DNR Nongame Conservation Section, said considering the rain the number of species documented was remarkable. “It’s remarkable in perfect weather,” Keyes added.

The list included a whimbrel spotted – and photographed – at West Point Lake, only the fourth or fifth known sighting of the shorebird inland in Georgia, Giff Beaton said.

Other division winners were:

** Elementary – Eagle Maniacs from Alpharetta (101 species).

** Pre-elementary – Cute Chicks from Blairsville (56 species).

The leading teams in fundraising, a voluntary part of the competition,
included:

** Fantastic Flycatchers, raising $517.

** Country Cuckoos from Bainbridge ($505).

** Birding Brothers from LaGrange ($491).

The money goes to conservation groups chosen by the teams.

The leading rookie, or first-year, teams were:

** High school – G-Gnat II from Rome.

** Middle school – Mobbing Mockingbirds from Duluth.

** Elementary – Eagle Maniacs from Alpharetta.

** Pre-elementary – Cowbirds from Monticello.

The Country Cuckoos won the birding journal category.

The Youth Birding Competition T-shirt art contest fielded 90 entries. Jess Milner’s detailed painting of a great blue heron in a wetland with two red-winged blackbirds took the blue ribbon. Milner, a senior from
Darlington Upper School in Rome, also won last year.

The winning artwork was printed on event T-shirts and earned Milner a $100 gift card to Michaels. Milner told art contest organizer Linda May, the Nongame Conservation Section’s environmental outreach coordinator, that the painting took “about a week” – his spring break. He also said he will probably pursue art interests at his next school: the University of Georgia.

The three other art division winners – second-grader Gracie Black and third-grader Kirkley Holifield of Piedmont Academy and home-schooled eighth-grader Anna Hamilton of Clarkesville – each received a $50 gift
card for supplies at Michaels, an arts and crafts outlet.

Keyes said next year’s Youth Birding Competition will again be in late April.

The Flying Penguins will be there. The five-member team from Covington – siblings Peter, AnGowsack – counted fewer birds than in 2009 but had a wonderful, if wet, time.

“It’s a great family thing,” said the Collarts’ father, Dave.

Awards for the teams varied from binoculars to field guides donated by event supporters such as Eagle Optics, Atlanta Audubon Society, Wild Bird Centers, Georgia Ornithological Society and TERN.

Keyes and expert birders Giff Beaton, Bob Sargent of the Georgia Ornithological Society, Charlie Muise of the Important Bird Areas Program served as judges. Keyes started the competition in 2006 with help from TERN and a desire to engage upcoming generations in birding and wildlife conservation. TERN is the friends group of the Nongame Conservation Section.

Buying a nongame wildlife license plate or making a donation via the Georgia Wildlife Conservation Fund state income tax checkoff supports this and other conservation education efforts in Georgia. Sales of the bald eagle/American flag and ruby-throated hummingbird license plates provide vital funding for the Nongame Conservation Section, which receives no state funding.

2010 YOUTH BIRDING COMPETITION RESULTS

Pre-elementary division (pre-K-2nd grade)

1. Cute Chicks, Blairsville – 56 species

2. Cowbirds, Monticello (also division-best rookie team) – 15 species

Elementary division (3rd-5th)

1. Eagle Maniacs, Alpharetta (also division-best rookie team) – 101
species

2. Team Swift, Temple – 93 species

3. The Wood Thrushes, Atlanta- 80 species

4. Willing Whip-poor-wills, LaGrange – 66 species

Middle school division (6th-8th)

1. Chaotic Kestrels, Jackson – 100 species

2. Night Owls, Monticello – 71 species

3. Mobbing Mockingbirds, Duluth (also division-best rookie team) – 67
species

High school division

1. Fantastic Flycatchers, Macon – 148 species

2. Country Cuckoos, Bainbridge – 144 species

3. Homeschool Hummers, Suwanee – 140 species

(Division-best rookie team: G-Gnat II.)

T-SHIRT ART CONTEST WINNERS

** Primary (pre-K-2nd grade): painted bunting, Gracie Black of Hillsboro, Piedmont Academy.

** Elementary (3rd-5th): barn owl Kirkley Holifield of Mansfield, Piedmont Academy.

** Middle school (6th-8th): brown-headed nuthatch of Clarkesville, Anna Hamilton, homeschool.

** High school and grand prize: great blue heron, Jess Milner of Rome, Darlington Upper School.

**********
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A HUGE THANK YOU to Tim Keyes for starting and continuing the Youth Birding Competition. The time spent together was an experience we will always cherish.

The boys have been busy planning, building, and planting their bird sanctuary, which they have called “Two Swift Sanctuary”. Once the flowers are up, they will apply to have it sanctioned by the local Audubon Society. After alot of hard work on their part, over the last month, here is a preview – Daffodils, Tulips, and Apple trees are already beginning to bloom and the berries have new leaves sprouting.

Click the image for a larger view.

The sanctuary is broken out into areas. The birds watched everything going on with great interest, even flying down to within a few inches to see what was going on as they were working. Since they finished it over the weekend, it has already had lots of feathered and furry friends visiting. They will tell you more about it soon, so stay tuned.

Beautiful!!!

The boys were given the assignment to write a personal narrative. They had to take notes, write a rough draft, proofread, rewrite, and create a final draft in Microsoft Word, and then email it to me.

You can read their essays below. They each included a photograph they took on that day. They enjoyed the assignment and are looking forward to writing more essays. Each one worked independently, wrote very descriptive and engaging stories, and seemed to have little trouble understanding and using the technologies. Other than a few very minor typos (which we will work on as the year progresses), they did a really TERRIFIC Job!

When a Hummingbird Landed On My Shoulder, by JM Barrett
The Overgrown Hawk, by JR Barrett
A Day at the High Museum of Art, by JT Barrett

Service To Others is emphasized greatly in our homeschool. One of the organizations that our students volunteer for is Soldier’s Angels.

The boys have been members for many years and have enjoyed it very much!

They have made Blankets of Hope for the Combat Support Hospitals. In 2007, they received an email from one of the RN’s letting them know that their shipment of quilts were received by local children who had recently been hospitalized.

I am very proud of them. They have big hearts and willing hands.

Here are some pictures and letters they’ve received.

(more…)

In 2007, the student’s cousin Chris O’Hara went overseas to Afghanistan. He lived and worked on Camp Cupcake. The boys were excited when they received these and many other photographs from cousin Chris. Chris has since made several more returns.

In 2006, the students learned about community helpers. They chose to write to our local Georgia State Patrol office and ask them some questions. This a picture of the Post 4 Troopers.

Following is the reply they received. (more…)