We’re heading into prime bird-watching time in Georgia. Over the next several weeks, untold numbers of neotropical migrants — warblers, thrushes, orioles, vireos, buntings, grosbeaks, hummingbirds, tanagers, swallows, flycatchers — will be returning from winter grounds in Latin America and the Caribbean to commence nesting and raise babies.
The spring migrants will be decked out in their bright, spiffy breeding plumage; some, such as the beautiful rose-breasted grosbeak and indigo bunting, may stop at our feeders to refresh and refuel. But to see an array of these colorful creatures, you’ll have to go where they are — woodlands, wetlands, fields, parks and stream banks.
With trees and shrubs bare of leaves, spotting spring migrants will be much easier over the next several weeks than later in spring, when dense foliage will hide many of the sprightly creatures.
You don’t have to drive far in metro Atlanta to visit some top spring birding spots.
Here’s a sampling from the Atlanta Audubon Society of some of the best places, free and open to the public, to see a variety of birds:
● Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Cobb County. Considered to be the best place in metro Atlanta — and one of the best in the Southeast — to see neotropical migrants, including vireos, tanagers and more than 20 species of warblers.
● E.L. Huie/Newman Wetlands Center, Clayton County. Probably the best place in metro Atlanta for seeing shorebirds and waterfowl. Several of the shorebirds you would expect to find only at the beach. More than 15 duck species come here during the winter and can be seen heading back to Northern and Midwestern nesting grounds in late winter and early spring. A boardwalk also takes you across a pond where you can see several migratory songbird species, including as many as six swallow species.
● Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve, Decatur. You can see several early spring migrants, waterfowl, raptors and permanent residents from an observation deck, a boardwalk and loop trail in this urban oasis.
● Cochran Shoals Unit, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Good spot for herons, woodpeckers, flycatchers and several vireo species, including the uncommon Philadelphia vireo.
● Fernbank Forest, Atlanta. Great in-town location to see spring migrants such as thrushes and warblers, including the stunning Blackburnian warbler.
● Chattahoochee Nature Center, Roswell. Good place to see water birds, spring migrants and perhaps an osprey.
For information on guided walks and driving directions to these places and other local birding hot spots, visit the Atlanta Audubon Society at www.atlantaaudubon.org.
In the sky: The moon will be first quarter tonight and will grow into a full moon by March 19, said David Dundee, astronomer with Tellus Science Museum. This month’s full moon is known as “the windy moon” by the Cherokee peoples. Venus rises out of the east about two hours before sunrise. Jupiter is very low in the west just after dark. Saturn rises out of the east about 8 p.m.
