Piedmont Park a year-round natural haven

One of my most favorite green spaces in Georgia —- and the entire country —- is grand old Piedmont Park in the heart of Atlanta. I love being there on a sunny morning, about an hour after sunrise, in any season, when the park’s magnificent old oaks, poplars, maples and other trees bask and literally beam in the early light.

The park was in its winter glory on a balmy morning last weekend when some 20 of us birders gathered there for an Atlanta Audubon Society bird walk. With their singing, sprightly movements and dashing color, the birds added zest, sparkle and liveliness to the venerable park.

Here are excerpts from my notes:

Our leaders are veteran birders Marcia Klenbort and Marilyn Harris. First off, we spy a splendid red-tailed hawk sitting stoically —- warming in the morning sun —- in a high tree overhanging Lake Clara Meer. When it takes off, it makes an equally splendid sight as its big wings flap over the lake.

On the lake itself are a pair of mallard ducks, natives of Georgia. (The Muscovy ducks that we also see on the lake are not natives.) The male mallard’s green head seems to radiate in the bright sunlight. Another pair of mallards fly over the lake and land at the far end.

Equally radiant is a small flock of Eastern bluebirds that light in some trees along the lake, just in front of us. No doubt, some of the birds shortly will be taking advantage of the bluebird nesting boxes that the Piedmont Park Conservancy has erected throughout the park.

On a sapling at the edge of the sweeping lawn called Oak Hill, a lone bluebird perches with its bright blue feathers shining in the sun —- a superb sight. In another sapling close by, the sun shines on the grayish-white breast of a Northern mockingbird, which then flies low over us, flashing its characteristic gray and white wing colors.

Then, a brilliant flash of red high in a stately, leafless oak: It’s a red-headed woodpecker, the only one of Georgia’s six woodpecker species that has a completely red head. Shortly, another red-head appears. We’re glad to see a pair of the woodpeckers because their numbers are declining at an alarming rate.

We spy common grackles, a white-throated sparrow and some yellow-rumped warblers, and we see and hear a blue jay. At first, we think that a squeaking swing in a nearby playground is coming from the blue jay, which makes a similar sound. A ruby-crowned kinglet hops around in a beautiful Southern magnolia and, in the distance, we hear the spirited “tea-kettle” song of a Carolina wren.

American robins, it seems, are everywhere and are by far the most common bird in the park —- in the trees and shrubs, in the leaf litter and in flocks hopping around on the spacious lawns.

At the end of our walk, a pair of Northern cardinals land in a dogwood tree only a few feet from us. I’ve seen zillions of cardinals in my life, but I never tire of scenes such as this —- a female and a bright red male perched together on a dogwood laden with buds ready to burst into bloom.

Altogether, we spy 17 bird species during our hourlong walk in Piedmont. “Not a bad number, considering all the construction going on around us,” said Marcia, one of our co-leaders. As she speaks, a construction crane across Piedmont Avenue from us lifts some steel beams.

Over the years, some 175 bird species have been found in Piedmont. Marcia tells me that while she was sitting on the banks of Lake Clara Meer several years ago, she saw her first green heron ever.

“I love this park, a wonderful place,” Marcia said.

More to come

Atlanta Audubon and Trees Atlanta, under a grant from the TogetherGreen initiative, are undertaking a project to promote bird and wildlife conservation as part of Atlanta’s 22-mile-long Beltline Corridor. An aim is to help halt the decline of species such as the brown thrasher (Georgia’s official state bird), common grackle, Northern flicker and other birds that are found in Piedmont Park and neighborhoods across the city.

Piedmont, which is expanding by 53 acres, is one of seven “natural neighborhoods” on which the project will initially focus. More information: www.togethergreen.org.

For more information about bird walks in the park, visit www.atlantaaudubon.org.

For more information about the park, visit: www.piedmontpark.org.

And don’t forget about the Great Backyard Birdcount that runs through Monday. More information: www.birdcount.org.

In the sky

The moon will be last quarter on Monday night, rising around midnight and setting around midday, says David Dundee, astronomer with the Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum. Mercury, Mars and Jupiter are low in the east just before sunrise. Venus shines brightly in the west just after sunset and sets in the west about three hours later. Saturn rises out of the east about 9 p.m.

seabrk@comcast.net