Date:         Mon, 9 Nov 1998 16:17:34 -0500
Reply-To:     Giff Beaton <giffbeaton@MINDSPRING.COM>
Sender:       Georgia Birders Online <GABO-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From:         Giff Beaton <giffbeaton@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject:      Last Time
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GABbers- This will be my last post on this thread (is that a vast sigh of
relief I hear?) but Brad makes another good point about under-birding and
therefore under-reporting. Of his latest list, all are indeed reported more
from FL than from GA. Specifically:
-Pacific Loon (probably underreported off panhandle coast) If GA birders
regularly checked the western lakes (large ones, i.e. West Point, Walter F.
George and Seminole), I think we would get one or two per year, mostly
fall. In AL, Pacific Loon shows up inland roughly as often as Red-throated,
and we see usually a couple RTs per year inland here in GA.
-Eurasian Wigeon (increasing?) They may be increasing, but I know of no
concentrations of American Wigeon (hundreds plus) in GA, which is generally
what you need to get Eurasian.
-Cinnamon Teal We should get a few more of these than we do, I am at a loss
to explain why we don't.
-Greater White-fronted Goose (?) As previously mentioned, this is annual in
GA and probably more often seen in GA than in FL. We mostly get ones and
twos inland, rarely on the coast. The highest numbers and probably most
often reported single location is probably Eufaula NWR, likely because
there are so many on the AL side (where there is much more habitat).
-Western Meadowlark (far W panhandle in winter) This should be looked for
(color in throat, barring on tertials, brown vs. black intraocular stripe)
but mostly listened for in the far SW corner of GA. I have no estimate for
how many or how often they occur there, but in any given year there
certainly could be a few. I will try to do a little research into
AL/panhandle FL occurrences to see if there are any predictive factors we
should watch for (fall or winter weather, if anything).
Giff