Lightkeeper's Journal: Georgia

10/01/2014

Scenic Tour in the Country

The Red Spider Lilies are blooming......

Photography by Curtis and Norma Beaird

In the pines......in the pines......in the tall Georgia pines.....

Meet Greta Van Cattle, posing for Rural Vogue in South Georgia

The golden hues of the countryside during autumn.......

In the middle of the Georgia farmland is a pond, and in the middle of the pond sits a beautiful Great Egret.

Stand under one of these and hold a camera for very long.....and you might get a case of vertigo!

Can you see the "S" formation in the sky?

The Gospel Bluegrass Project

All Prayed Up

Posted at 01:02 AM in Bluegrass Music, Countryside, Georgia, Rural | Permalink

09/28/2014

Old Towns & Tent Revivals

An old grain storage building across from B. H. Hall Ready Mix Concrete Plant in historic Dublin, Georgia

Photography by Curtis and Norma Beaird

A beautiful American flag flies over B. H. Hall Ready Mix Concrete in Dublin, Georgia

An old-fashioned tent revival on a very humid night in Higgston, Georgia

Dublin Antique Mall in Dublin, Georgia is full of treasures from the past

The inside of the tent revival, featuring a string of bare light bulbs......

The B. H. Hall Ready Mix Concrete Plant in Dublin, Georgia

Larry Sparks & the Lonesome Ramblers

Somebody Touched Me (It Must Have Been the Hand of the Lord)

Posted at 12:42 AM in Bluegrass Music, Georgia, Rural, Small Town | Permalink

09/14/2014

Little Cabin Home on the Hill

Deserted little cabin on a country road in South Georgia

Photography by Norma Beaird

When we stepped out of the jeep, I began to talk sweetly to the cattle in the pasture.

This is what happened next. It seems I had a captive audience!

Beautiful cumulus clouds over Georgia farmland

Georgia cattle have a lot of company with the Cattle Egrets.

Little Cabin Home on the Hill

The Osborne Brothers

Posted at 01:19 AM in Birds, Birds of Georgia, Bluegrass Music, Cattle, Countryside, Georgia, Rural | Permalink

09/01/2014

Bluegrass in the Backwoods

Petunias and an old teal barn

Photography by Curtis and Norma Beaird

Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron preening his feathers on Troup Lake

Riverbend Wildlife Management Area - Laurens County, Georgia

Old silo in a pecan orchard

Bluegrass in the Backwoods by Kenny Baker

performed at the Fall 2011 Berklee Roots Road Show

Posted at 01:32 AM in Birds, Birds of Georgia, Bluegrass Music, Countryside, Georgia, Rural | Permalink

08/30/2014

Georgia's State Butterfly

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Georgia's State Butterfly

Photography by Curtis Beaird

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail officially became Georgia's State Butterfly

in the Georgia General Assembly in 1988.

From GeorgiaInfo - An online Georgia Almanac:

Georgia General Assembly

TIGER SWALLOWTAIL DESIGNATED AS THE OFFICIAL STATE BUTTERFLY.

Code Section 50-3-62 Enacted.

No. 1271 (Senate Bill No. 449).

AN ACT

To amend Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to other state symbols, so as to designate the tiger swallowtail as the official state butterfly; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, butterflies in their resplendent beauty have fascinated children and adults for ages; and

WHEREAS, the Greeks believed that the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis represented man’s metamorphosis from the mortal to the eternal; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Deen Day Smith, the current President of The Garden Clubs of Georgia, Inc., was inspired by that same metaphor to donate funds in memory of the late Cecil B. Day to build a butterfly center at Callaway Gardens; and

WHEREAS, the Day Butterfly Center which is scheduled to open the latter part of 1988 will stress the importance of conservation of the land and its plants and animals for the enjoyment of present and future generations; and

WHEREAS, it is only fitting and proper that the tiger swallowtail be designated as the official state butterfly.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IN ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

Section 1. Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to other state symbols, is amended by adding a new Code Section 50-3-62 at the end thereof to read as follows:

“50-3-62. The tiger swallowtail is designated as the official Georgia state butterfly.”

Section 2. All laws and parts of law in conflict with this Act are repealed.
Approved April 4, 1988
Source: Ga. Laws 1988, pp. 853-54.

Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center

Posted at 02:41 PM in Butterfly, Georgia | Permalink

08/23/2014

Brown Thrasher Observation

Governor Bo Duke, our Brown Thrasher, enjoys Le Avian Cafe.

Photography by Curtis and Norma Beaird

Research information from the book, Birds of Georgia, by Parrish, Beaton & Kennedy

The Brown Thrasher, Georgia's Official State Bird

In a campaign inaugurated in 1928 by the Fifth District of the State Federation of the Women's Club, and sponsored by the Atlanta Bird Club and other state bird clubs, the school children of Georgia selected the Brown Thrasher as the state bird. The passage of Joint Resolution No. 128, on March 20, 1970, made this official and also designated the Northern Bobwhite as the state game bird.

Governor Bo Duke, our Brown Thrasher, takes a few moments to observe.

Status: The Brown Thrasher is a common permanent breeding resident statewide: less numerous north of the Fall Line in winter.

Habitat: Dense shrubs and thickets, overgrown pastures (especially those with hawthorns), woodland edges and brushy areas; rarely close to human habitation, except in the Coastal Plain and the Coast.

Nesting: Usually in a low shrub; often on the ground; cup nest of grass, twigs and leaves is lines with fine vegetation; pair incubates 4 bluish white to pale blue eggs, dotted with reddish brown, for 11 - 14 days.

Feeding: Gleans the ground and vegetation for larval and adult invertebrates; occasionally tosses leaves aside with its bill; also eats seeds and berries.

Poets Love Birds Note: We currently have two Brown Thrashers regularly coming to our feeders and enjoying unsalted peanuts and various sunflower seeds. In addition, the Brown Thrashers also enjoy our special recipe of Peanut Butter Tree Spread that we place on the trees and branches.

Voice: Sings a large variety of phrases, with each phrase usually repeated twice:

dig-it, dig-it, hoe-it, hoe-it, pull-it-up pull-it-up; calls include a loud crackling note, a harsh shuck, a soft churr and a whistled, 3-note pit-cher-ee.

Meet Bocephus, our Brown Thrasher, with a longer and more curved bill.

The Brown Thrasher is a Mimic Thrush and has the most extensive vocal repertoire of any North American bird, and estimates indicate that it is capable of more than 2000 distinctive combinations of various phrases.

Research source on the Brown Thrasher:

Birds of Georgia - page 270

By: Dr. John Parrish, Giff Beaton and Gregory Kennedy

Note: This is the main "go-to" book that we use for Georgia bird identification. It is extremely informative, with easy-to-read descriptions, beautiful illustrations and colorful layout and design.

Governor Bo Duke, our reddish-brown Brown Thrasher, enjoying the feeder.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology places the Brown Thrasher into the following taxonomic order:

Mockingbirds, Thrashers, and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Mimidae

Posted at 03:24 PM in Bird Species, Bird Watchers, Birder, Birding, Birds, Birds of Georgia, Brown Thrasher, Georgia | Permalink

08/22/2014

Georgia Bird Species Update #4

Meet Vinny, the juvenile Red-Headed Woodpecker

Photography by Curtis and Norma Beaird

Article by Norma Beaird

Reports filed with eBird by Curtis Beaird

Research information (Taxonomic Order) gathered from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The following two lists of Nonpasserines and Passerines include 83 species of Georgia's birds that we have photographed, identified and documented since February 2012. Also included is a Snowy Egret photographed in Florida, for a total of 84 species of birds.

The lists include the Taxonomic Order, followed by the species.

Nonpasserines:

Woodpeckers & Allies - Red-Headed Woodpecker, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker

Hummingbirds - Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Kingfishers - Belted Kingfisher

Pigeons & Doves - Mourning Dove, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Rock Pigeon

Gulls, Terns & Skimmers - Black Skimmer, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Ring-Billed Gull, Franklin's Gull, Herring Gull, Laughing Gull

Sandpipers, Phalaropes & Allies - Sanderling

Plovers & Lapwings - Killdeer

Rails, Gallinules & Coots - American Coot (photographed in the Piedmont region)

Kites, Hawks, Eagle & Allies - Red-Shouldered Hawk, Red-Tailed Hawk

Bitterns, Herons & Allies - Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, Little Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Snowy Egret

Partridges, Grouse, Turkeys and Old World Quail - Wild Turkey

Pelicans - Brown Pelican

Storks - Wood Stork

Cormorants - Double-Crested Cormorant

Ducks, Geese & Swans - Mallard, Canada Goose, Hooded Merganser, Black-Bellied Whistling-Duck

New World Vultures - Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture

Caracaras and Falcons - American Kestrel

Blue Grosbeak (Female)

Passerines:

Tyrant Flycatchers - Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Phoebe

Shrikes - Loggerhead Shrike

Jays, Magpies and Crows - Blue Jay, American Crow

Swallows - Barn Swallow, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-Winged Swallow

Chickadees and Titmice - Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse

Nuthatches - Brown-Headed Nuthatch

Wrens - Carolina Wren

Thrushes - Eastern Bluebird, American Robin

Mockingbirds, Thrashers & Allies - Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher

Starlings & Allies - European Starling

Waxwings - Cedar Waxwing

Wood-Warblers - Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler

New World Sparrows and Allies - Chipping Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Dark-Eyed Junco, Eastern Towhee

Old World Sparrows - House Sparrow

Cardinals, Grosbeaks & Allies - Northern Cardinal, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Summer Tanager

Blackbirds & Allies - Red-Winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-Tailed Grackle, Brown-Headed Cowbird, Orchard Oriole

Finches & Allies - House Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch

Wagtails & Pipits - American Pipit

Mourning Dove

Posted at 03:19 PM in Bird Species, Bird Watchers, Birder, Birding, Birds, Birds of Georgia, Georgia | Permalink

05/27/2014

Tybee Island, a Coastal Georgia Treasure

Tybee Island Sunrise

Photography by Curtis and Norma Beaird

Royal Terns on Tybee Island

Tybee Island Lighthouse

Black Skimmers on Tybee Island

View of Cockspur Island Lighthouse and Fishing Boats from the Tybee Island Marina

Great Egret in the Tybee Island Marsh

Why we love Tybee!

Captain Mike's Dolphin Tour Boat and a Fishing Boat

Franklin's Gull over Tybee Island

The Tybee Island Lighthouse guides ships safely into the Savannah River Channel

Herring Gull on Tybee Island

Ralph Jones Fish Art Gallery, Highway 80, Tybee Island

Posted at 01:08 AM in Georgia, Georgia Coast, Tybee Island | Permalink

04/23/2014

Springtime in Georgia's Coastal Plain

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak (Male)

Photography by Curtis and Norma Beaird

According to Warnell Outreach School of Forestry and Natural Resources:

These birds were photographed in Laurens and Montgomery Counties, located in Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain. The lower coastal plains of Georgia includes 51 counties. It covers 24.2 thousand square miles or 15.5 million acres or about 40.7 percent of the state.