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Natural historians migrate to coast for annual bird-watching
Jan 28, 2004 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
Phil Titus, science department chair, Laura Murray, biology instructor, and an expert ornithologist from Atlanta joined instructor Owen Kinney and his Georgia Natural History class for their annual trek to coastal Georgia in mid-January. Jekyll, St. Simon’s, and Andrew’s islands, as well as waterfowl management areas along the Altamaha and Savannah rivers were the stomping grounds for this intrepid group of birdwatchers.
Armed with binoculars, scopes, and field guides, students competed to see who could identify the most bird species in the three days. From their headquarters in a Jekyll Island beach house, the troops rose at 6:45 each morning to enjoy the sunrise over the rich wetlands and sandy beaches of the Golden Isles. “It was fun to stay in a house with everyone. We all bonded,” Katie Binns, senior, said.
“It was great fun being out in the field with such a cool bunch of people,” Max Hinton, senior, said. “We watched birds and ate fried pickles with gusto. And, we discovered that Mr. Kinney can whip up a mean burrito.”
Prior to the trip, the students had received training in field ornithology and were able to identify 72 local birds. “The trip gave them an unique opportunity to test their avian knowledge in one of the most species-rich areas in the eastern U.S.,” Kinney said. “Getting to see the birds we’ve studied in their own environment was fun,” Binns said.
Each student was given a checklist of birds with points assigned to each bird. Most species were worth one point and a few of the more unusual species were worth three points. At the end of the trip their point totals were a test grade. Over the weekend the group saw close to 120 species, including a few very unusual species like the American Bittern, Bald Eagles, and American Avocets.
Clearly, however, the trip was not all work and no play. Some of the boys could not resist the opportunity to scare the girls late one night by climbing up a tree net at 2 a.m. so that they could scratch on the girls’ window. Sure that something or someone was out to get them, the girls called Kinney to the rescue. Ah, the joys of taking a bunch of teenagers on a field trip!
Armed with binoculars, scopes, and field guides, students competed to see who could identify the most bird species in the three days. From their headquarters in a Jekyll Island beach house, the troops rose at 6:45 each morning to enjoy the sunrise over the rich wetlands and sandy beaches of the Golden Isles. “It was fun to stay in a house with everyone. We all bonded,” Katie Binns, senior, said.
“It was great fun being out in the field with such a cool bunch of people,” Max Hinton, senior, said. “We watched birds and ate fried pickles with gusto. And, we discovered that Mr. Kinney can whip up a mean burrito.”
Prior to the trip, the students had received training in field ornithology and were able to identify 72 local birds. “The trip gave them an unique opportunity to test their avian knowledge in one of the most species-rich areas in the eastern U.S.,” Kinney said. “Getting to see the birds we’ve studied in their own environment was fun,” Binns said.
Each student was given a checklist of birds with points assigned to each bird. Most species were worth one point and a few of the more unusual species were worth three points. At the end of the trip their point totals were a test grade. Over the weekend the group saw close to 120 species, including a few very unusual species like the American Bittern, Bald Eagles, and American Avocets.
Clearly, however, the trip was not all work and no play. Some of the boys could not resist the opportunity to scare the girls late one night by climbing up a tree net at 2 a.m. so that they could scratch on the girls’ window. Sure that something or someone was out to get them, the girls called Kinney to the rescue. Ah, the joys of taking a bunch of teenagers on a field trip!
