Had a few good bird sightings yesterday and today.

Yesterday in Jones county on some Weyerhaeuser land adjacent to Oconee National Forest I had a pair of brown headed nuthatches squeaking so loudly above us they interrupted our meeting. One bird, presumably the male appeared to be trying to present a second bird, presumably the female, with what appeared to be a bark chip. A LENGTHY discussion ensued between the pair which had everyone cracking up by the time they flew off. Minutes later two black and white warblers began singing from nearby. A barred owl also called for awhile during the day on a nearby tract on Cedar Creek.

Later that day on Oaky Woods WMA as thunderstorms approached two turkeys put on a show, gobbling at every clap of thunder. As if they didn't have enough to gobble at, a barred owl started calling and got them really worked up.

Down in Bond Swamp today I witnessed several small flocks of purple martins. They seemed to be concentrating their use around some abandoned mining pits in the Cherokee Brickyards.

Finally, about a week ago while burning in Jones county I watched some interesting behavior from a red-shoulded hawk. The burn went through the territory of a pair of red-shouldered hawks. Unfortunately for them the burn attracted many hawks from the neighborhood to take advantage of bugs/mice that were being driven out of hiding by the fire. These infringements were not taken lightly by the territorial birds. They spent several hours that afternoon calling almost nonstop. One bird did most of his/her calling while carrying around a stick (calling loudly and carrying a big stick!). I've seen this behavior before when Osprey were doing battle with neighbors. It seems to have a lot less to do with nest building than with declaring breeding territory boundaries. Pretty neat stuff.

Nathan

-- ____________________________________ Nathan Klaus Wildlife Biologist Georgia Department of Natural Resources Non-game Endangered Wildlife Program (478) 994-1438, (478) 994-3380 (home) nathan_klaus@mail.dnr.state.ga.us naklaus@mindspring.com ____________________________________