Date:         Tue, 19 Dec 2000 13:43:06 -0500
Reply-To:     Andrew Madison <madison@WAYFOX.WAY.PEACHNET.EDU>
Sender:       Georgia Birders Online <GABO-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Andrew Madison <madison@WAYFOX.WAY.PEACHNET.EDU>
Subject:      Mainland Cumberland CBC
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I spent this last Saturday traipsing around St. Mary's and Kings Bay on the mainland portion of the Cumberland Island CBC.  Paul Schoenfeld (the naval base's biologist) said their numbers were very low this year.  They normally have 1,000's of shorebirds and waterfowl, but this year we only saw a handful.  The morning started with some dense fog as well, which made it difficult to identify tiny little birds at the tops of trees.  Some of the highlights were:

Western kingbird (not unusual for this area, but very unusual for this time of year)
Cattle egret (very common in summer, but very unusual to see one in the winter)
2 barred owls calling in the morning
100's of hooded mergansers and buffleheads
100+ wood ducks
a few ruddy ducks and ring-necked ducks
one gadwall
nearly a 100 wood storks and white ibis

Overall a pretty good day with our portion of the count seeing 79 species.

- Andy Madison
Phone: (912) 285-6138
Waycross College
2001 South Georgia Parkway
Waycross, Georgia  31503