MANSFIELD, Ga. (May 8, 2008) -- Brad and April Brown dared go where few parents of five children 7 and younger would: to a two-day birding event, the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division's Youth Birding Competition May 2-3.

But after a full day of birding Saturday, May 3, the McDonough family had logged about 30 species and as many memories. "It has been a really awesome experience," said Brad as the Browns relaxed during the evening banquet and awards ceremony at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center.

The third annual statewide bird count sported plenty of highlights, including the most ever:

· Participants 126, ages 3-18.
· Bird species spotted or heard approximately 200.
· Money raised for conservation in Georgia $3,642.

Flyboys member Luke Simmons, 15, listed a black-bellied whistling duck and a roseate spoonbill as unexpected finds for the Watkinsville team. Another highlight: The Flyboys four teens searched out birds from Jekyll Island to Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Mansfield to compile a competition-record 133 species and win the high school division.

Other division leaders included in middle school, the Thunderbirders from Watkinsville (129 species); elementary, Home School Hummers from Suwannee (112); and, pre-elementary, Birds of a Feather from LaGrange (82 species).

Birds of a Feather and the Thunderbirders won their divisions in fundraising, collecting $523 and $1,419, respectively. Brown Thrasher Boys & Girls from Decatur topped the elementary category at $135. Nutty Nuthatches from Bainbridge led among high-schoolers with $367. The money will go to a variety of conservation groups, including American Bird Conservancy, Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center and the Jekyll Island Banding Station.

There were also 195 entries for a first-time T-shirt art contest. Grand prize went to Kelly Redford OMara, a senior at Darlington School in Rome. The night of the banquet, some 200 people were wearing sky-blue shirts printed with OMaras painting of a blue-gray gnatcatcher.

Art winners took home gift certificates to Michaels. Awards for the birding teams ranged from binoculars to field guides donated by event supporters such as Eagle Optics, Atlanta Audubon Society, Georgia Ornithological Society, Identiflyer, Softscribe and The Environmental Resources Network, or T.E.R.N.

Earlier in the evening, participants enjoyed a bald eagle program by Charlie Elliott wildlife interpretive specialist Pete Griffin as judges Tim Keyes, the competition organizer and a Wildlife Resources Division biologist, and expert birder Giff Beaton pored over teams species checklists.

Jasper County High School science teacher Elizabeth Proctor sat with some of  her students she had convinced to take part. The team, dubbed Birdzilla, counted 46 species from Friday night through Saturday, learning a lot in process, Proctor said.

Members Megan Studdard, 16, and Ashley Stowe, 15, recalled hearing an owl and calling in a Chuck-wills-widow the night before at Charlie Elliott. I liked trying to find the owls at night, Studdard said.

Owls also figured into a Youth Birding Competition highlight for Tim Keyes. He heard 3-year-old Delaney Matthews of the Blairsville Bird Brains assure her mother that "hoo hoo ho-hoo is an owl," a barred owl to be exact.

"It was fantastic!" Keyes said.

The 2009 Youth Birding Competition is scheduled for April 25-26. Buying a nongame wildlife license plate or making a donation via the Give Wildlife a Chance state income tax checkoff supports this and other conservation education efforts in Georgia. Sales of the bald eagle/American flag and ruby-throated hummingbird license plates provide vital funding for Wildlife Resources Nongame Conservation Section, which receives no state funding.

YOUTH BIRDING COMPETITION RESULTS

Pre-elementary division
· Birds of a Feather from LaGrange 82 species; $523.20 raised
· Love Bugs from McDonough 33 species; $125 raised
· Marshbay Bluebirds from Braselton 16 species
· Song Birds from Shady Dale 24 species

Elementary division
· Blairsville Bird Brains from Blairsville 41 species
· Brown Thrasher Boys & Girls from Decatur 38 species; $135 raised
· Chaotic Kestrels from Jackson - 58 species
· Coot Club from Mansfield 54 species
· Hatchet Hawks from Demorest 27 species
· High Fliers from Braselton 42 species
· Home School Hummers from Suwannee 112 species
· Wood Thrushes from Atlanta 63 species

Middle school division
· Dragon loons from Flintstone 44 species
· Eagle Eyes Girls from Augusta 60 species
· Golden Eagles from Flowery Branch 25 species
· Gross-beaks from Macon 62 species; $118 raised
· Thunderbirders from Watkinsville 129 species; $1,419.72 raised
· Victorious Vireos from Athens 68 species; $440 raised

High school division
· Birdbusters from Clarksville 34 species
· Birdzilla from Monticello 46 species
· Cardinals from Marietta 53 species; $100 raised
· Eagle Eyes Boys from Augusta 81 species
· Flyboys from Watkinsville 133 species
· Free Birds from Lakemont 79 species
· Magnificent Frigatebirds from Stone Mountain and Macon 121 species; $279.19 raised
· Nutty Nuthatches from Bainbridge 105 species; $367.25 raised
· Potato Chips from Rome 113 species

T-shirt art contest winners
· Pre-elementary: turkey vulture by Clareese Spahn, kindergarten, Albany
· Elementary: barn swallow by Emily Butler, fifth grade, Milton
· Middle school: belted kingfisher by Jackson Pittard, eighth grade, Savannah
· High school (and grand prize): blue-gray gnatcatcher by Kelly Redford OMara, 12th grade, Rome

                                2008 PHOTO GALLERY!
       
       
       
       
       
                       
                     


   2007 Youth Birding Competition
           PHOTO GALLERY!

Team Photos (see also Awards Banquet)
                                             
      Marietta Merlins                        Eagle Eyes                      Goofbald Eagles         Lightning Eagles 2        Brownie Thrashers

                                              
  Thunderbirders       Wood Thrushes     Home School Hummers    Caracara Cousins    Birds of a Feather     Home School Herons


In The Field