Georgia Audubon
  • Home
    • Login
  • Ways to Give
    • Join/Renew
    • Donate
    • Wish List
    • Leadership Giving
    • Planned Giving
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Shop in our Online Store
    • Support Georgia Audubon When You Shop
  • Conservation
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife Sanctuary Program >
      • Map of Georgia Audubon Sanctuaries
      • Wildlife Sanctuary Requirements
      • Sanctuary Resources
    • Habitat Stewardship Program
    • Habitat Restoration >
      • Piedmont Park Exhibitat
    • Building Collisions >
      • Project Safe Flight
      • Lights Out Georgia
      • Collision Resources
    • Species of Concern >
      • Chuck-will's-widow
      • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
      • Chimney Swift
      • Wood Thrush
      • Brown-headed Nuthatch
    • Plants for Birds >
      • Plant Sales
    • Coffee and Chocolate
  • Education
    • For Youth >
      • Georgia Urban Ecologists
      • Homeschool
      • Scouts
      • Youth Birding Competition
      • Camp Talon
      • Conservation Career Resources
    • For Educators >
      • School Programs
      • Learning About Birds Curriculum
      • Professional Development
      • Connecting Students with STEM Through Birds
      • Resources
    • Master Birder Program
    • Scholarships
  • Engagement
    • Field Trips
    • Injured/Orphaned Birds
    • Volunteer >
      • Volunteer Code of Conduct
    • Advocacy
    • Community Outreach
    • Beloved Naturalist
    • Travel >
      • SE Arizona 2023
      • Michigan 2023
      • Maine 2023
      • Utah 2023
      • Madagascar 2023
      • Southern California 2024
      • Costa Rica 2024
      • Big Bend & Hill Country TX 2024
      • Colorado 2024
    • Community Science
    • Birding Resources >
      • Birding Sites in Georgia
      • Accessibility
      • Georgia Birding Network
      • Why Birds?
  • News & Events
    • Press Room >
      • In the News
    • Upcoming Events >
      • Program Participant Safety
    • Georgia Bird Fest
    • News Feed
    • Georgia Grows Native for Birds Month
    • Georgia Audubon at Manuel's Tavern
    • Early Birds Book Club
    • Newsletters
  • About Us
    • Mission and Programs
    • Equity, Diversity, Inclusion
    • Annual Report
    • Board and Staff
    • Best Management Practices
    • Job Opportunities
    • Our History
    • Contact or Visit Us

GEORGIA AUDUBON AND SOUTHERN CONSERVATION TRUST NAMED AMONG GEORGIA’S CLEAN 13 FOR WORK AT SAMS LAKE BIRD SANCTUARY

10/21/2021

0 Comments

 
Sams Lake Bird Sanctuary in Fayette County, by Katie Pace.
Brown-headed Nuthatch at Sams Lake, by Marlene Kozlowsky.
Belted Kingfisher at Sams Lake, by Marlene Koslowsky
View of Sams Lake, from Gabe Andrle.
by Dottie Head, Director of Communications

On Tuesday, October 19,  the Georgia Water Coalition released its Clean 13 report for 2021 highlighting individuals, businesses, industries, non-profit organizations, and governmental agencies whose extraordinary efforts have led to cleaner rivers, stronger communities and a more sustainable future for Georgians. Georgia Audubon and Southern Conservation Trust were recognized for a joint project at Sams Lake Bird Sanctuary, in Fayette County.
 
Georgia Audubon removed aquatic invasive plant species, including parrot feather, fanwort, and hydrilla, that choke waterways and block oxygen and sunlight from entering the water. This, in turn, reduces native plant diversity and negatively affects foraging opportunities for aquatic insects, birds, and other wetland-dependent wildlife species. Georgia Audubon also removed invasive terrestrial plants, including privet, Bradford pear, and non-native honeysuckle and constructed a 12-foot Chimney Swift Tower to provide nesting and roosting habitat for these birds. The restoration work was funded through a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
 
“While Georgia Audubon’s primary focus is saving birds, it should come as no surprise that the organization, along with its partner, the Southern Conservation Trust (SCT), are being recognized for saving bugs. Birds, after all, depend on bugs. More accurately, Georgia Audubon is removing invasive plant species and planting native species at SCT’s Sams Lake Bird Sanctuary in Fayette County with the intent, among other things, of creating habitat for more insects,” the report states. “The project is a reminder of the interconnectedness and fragility of the natural order. Invasive plant species—both terrestrial and aquatic—impact habitat for the insects that form the base of the food chain on which birds and other wildlife depend. When completed, the restoration project will improve prospects for year-round feathered residents of Sams Lake as well as the millions of birds that migrate over Georgia each spring and fall.”
 
Sams Lake Bird Sanctuary, is a 57.6-acre property located in Fayette County Georgia and managed by the Southern Conservation Trust. The property was donated to Southern Conservation Trust in 1995 by Ferrol Sams, author of the Run with the Horseman series of books. In 2008, when the City of Atlanta built a fifth runway at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, impacting some 14 acres of wetlands along the Flint River, the city was required by federal law to restore wetlands elsewhere. Sams Lake was the chosen mitigation site at which the city spent $5 million to convert a former man-made reservoir into an extensive wetland area. Today, the natural wetlands help mitigate the impacts of development in the upper Flint River watershed by storing water and slowly delivering it to Perry Creek and then on to Whitewater Creek which flows to Line Creek and the Flint River.

Sams Lake Bird Sanctuary features a trail around the wetlands with two observation platforms overlooking the water and wetland habitat. Small islands provide nesting and roosting habitat for nesting waterfowl species, and the area is used as important foraging and stopover habitat for a number of migratory birds. The area is also a certified Georgia Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary.
For more information on other Clean 13 recipients, visit https://www.gawater.org/clean-13.
 
About Georgia Audubon: Georgia Audubon is building places where birds and people thrive by creating bird-friendly communities through conservation, education, and community engagement.
 
About the Southern Conservation Trust: The Southern Conservation Trust elevates nature through exceptional stewardship through over 70,000 acres of conserved land throughout Georgia and eleven states, as well as eight public nature areas in Fayette County, Georgia and the Fayette Environmental Education Center in Downtown Fayetteville, Georgia. 
 
About the Georgia Water Coalition: The Georgia Water Coalition is a consortium of more than 285 conservation and environmental organizations, hunting and fishing groups, businesses, and faith-based organizations that have been working to protect Georgia’s water since 2002. Collectively, these organizations represent thousands of Georgians.

0 Comments

Alex LoCastro Joins Georgia Audubon as Conservation Program Coordinator

10/8/2021

1 Comment

 
Picture
Please join us in welcoming Alex LoCastro as the new Georgia Audubon Conservation Program Coordinator. In this role, Alex will oversee Georgia Audubon's Wildlife Sanctuary Program and will help us roll this popular program out across the state. 

Alex LoCastro is an environmental educator, entomologist, and artist from Orlando, Florida. Before joining Georgia Audubon, she worked as an Interpretive Ranger at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, leading educational programs and engaging in habitat restoration in the largest urban old-growth forest in the Piedmont region. Alex is most passionate about insects and the many vital roles they play in our environment, including keeping our native birds fed and pollinating our beautiful native flora. She is looking forward to helping Georgia Audubon in our mission to expand the Wildlife Sanctuary program and get more native plants into peoples’ yards.

1 Comment

INTRODUCING KIM SAVIDES: GEORGIA AUUDUBON'S NEW SEA GRANT FELLOW

10/8/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Please join us in welcoming Kim Savides as Georgia Audubon's new Sea Grant Fellow. The position is the culmination of a partnership between Georgia Audubon, the Jekyll Island Authority, and the Georgia Sea Grant.

Headquartered on Jekyll Island, Kim will build upon the work of of Sergio Sabat-Bonilla, our 2020-2021 Fellow, to further develop programs that engage and activate local communities, specifically the BIPOC communities of Glynn and McIntosh Counties, and develop a replicable, inclusive community strategy that brings conservation, birdwatching, and community science to the public. She will also participate in bird monitoring activities, including habitat monitoring, bird banding, and other field work.

Kim Savides is a field ornithologist and a Master’s student at Utah State University. She began her avian career as a field technician during her undergraduate degree and has moved around the country studying birds and their migrations, working with such species as the Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black Rosy-finch, and Lazuli Bunting, as well as at several bird banding stations. Her research has focused on combining information from new tracking technologies with more traditional survey methods to produce better and more complete views of birds’ full life histories. In her work, Kim has mentored budding ornithologists in the field and shared her passion for birds with the public through stewardship, education, and public engagement. She is looking forward to helping Georgia Audubon in continuing to develop our Coastal Program through new research, partnership, and outreach opportunities.

0 Comments

    Author

    Georgia Audubon is building places where birds and people thrive.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture
825 Warner St. SW
Suite B
Atlanta, GA 30310​678-973-2437
Georgia Audubon is a member-supported, 501c3 nonprofit organization building places where birds and people thrive. We create bird-friendly communities through conservation, education, and community engagement.
About Us | Donate | Join | Login to my account | ​Shop
Picture
Ask Chippy Your Bird Related Questions
  • Home
    • Login
  • Ways to Give
    • Join/Renew
    • Donate
    • Wish List
    • Leadership Giving
    • Planned Giving
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Shop in our Online Store
    • Support Georgia Audubon When You Shop
  • Conservation
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife Sanctuary Program >
      • Map of Georgia Audubon Sanctuaries
      • Wildlife Sanctuary Requirements
      • Sanctuary Resources
    • Habitat Stewardship Program
    • Habitat Restoration >
      • Piedmont Park Exhibitat
    • Building Collisions >
      • Project Safe Flight
      • Lights Out Georgia
      • Collision Resources
    • Species of Concern >
      • Chuck-will's-widow
      • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
      • Chimney Swift
      • Wood Thrush
      • Brown-headed Nuthatch
    • Plants for Birds >
      • Plant Sales
    • Coffee and Chocolate
  • Education
    • For Youth >
      • Georgia Urban Ecologists
      • Homeschool
      • Scouts
      • Youth Birding Competition
      • Camp Talon
      • Conservation Career Resources
    • For Educators >
      • School Programs
      • Learning About Birds Curriculum
      • Professional Development
      • Connecting Students with STEM Through Birds
      • Resources
    • Master Birder Program
    • Scholarships
  • Engagement
    • Field Trips
    • Injured/Orphaned Birds
    • Volunteer >
      • Volunteer Code of Conduct
    • Advocacy
    • Community Outreach
    • Beloved Naturalist
    • Travel >
      • SE Arizona 2023
      • Michigan 2023
      • Maine 2023
      • Utah 2023
      • Madagascar 2023
      • Southern California 2024
      • Costa Rica 2024
      • Big Bend & Hill Country TX 2024
      • Colorado 2024
    • Community Science
    • Birding Resources >
      • Birding Sites in Georgia
      • Accessibility
      • Georgia Birding Network
      • Why Birds?
  • News & Events
    • Press Room >
      • In the News
    • Upcoming Events >
      • Program Participant Safety
    • Georgia Bird Fest
    • News Feed
    • Georgia Grows Native for Birds Month
    • Georgia Audubon at Manuel's Tavern
    • Early Birds Book Club
    • Newsletters
  • About Us
    • Mission and Programs
    • Equity, Diversity, Inclusion
    • Annual Report
    • Board and Staff
    • Best Management Practices
    • Job Opportunities
    • Our History
    • Contact or Visit Us