Date:         Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:55:18 -0500
Reply-To:     Mark McShane <eagleeyed@BELLSOUTH.NET>
Sender:       Georgia Birders Online <GABO-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Mark McShane <eagleeyed@BELLSOUTH.NET>
Subject:      GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE - Greene County - 12/21/11

Hi All,

I tried for the 2nd Georgia record GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE yesterday morning,
and along with many others missed it, and I couldn't get back to the site
yesterday afternoon. So, this morning Max Medley and I arrived at about
7:30am at the Greene County, Churchwell Road, GPS coordinates (N 33 42.801
W 83 13.793) location where the bird was amazingly first found yesterday.

Krista Gridley was already there watching and waiting for the towhee, and
soon Bill Blakeslee, Jim Hanna, and Paul Sykes arrived. At about 8:30am
the towhee showed up and we all got great looks!

Max and I stuck around for a while as I was hoping to get some phonescoped
video of the Georgia Giga-rarity towhee, though in the end it never would
hold still for me long enough to get any footage, still need that Nat'l
Geo quality video camera setup, hey, Christmas is almost here! At about
9:00am we saw the bird again. Georgann Schmalz and Theresa Hartz arrived a
bit later and we again saw the towhee at about 9:45am. That's our update.

Also, Max (the finder of the last Georgia American Tree Sparrow) thought
he had a probable American Tree Sparrow in the yard of the yellow house
there. The sparrow disappeared extremely quickly but he felt he saw enough
of the bird to call it a probable, if you go keep an eye open for that one
as well.

After we left the towhee, we made stops at the Redlands Recreation Area at
Lake Oconee, then J. Strom Thurmond Dam and Lake at Clarks Hill, and also
Richard B. Russell Dam & Lake. We saw lots of the common Georgia Winter
Big Water species but didn't see anything rare on the big lakes today, and
there was a lot of wind and rain moving through. Best birds were some
Canvasbacks and Redheads at J. Strom Thurmond, and two Bald Eagles at Lake
Oconee.

Good Birding All!

Mark

Mark McShane
Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia
www.neargareport.com

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