Visiting Helen, GA

We recently went for a week visit in Helen, Georgia.
Helen is a quaint town in North Georgia, recreated to mirror a Bavarian German style setting.


 We spent the week in one the villas/condo as seen in this picture. 





 Our purpose was to rest and relax, go out on birding trips, and explore the surrounding areas including the various State Parks.

At Brasstown Bald, highest point in GA

That's a lot to do in one week.  But we managed to do a little bit of all of the above.  The snow and cold days forced us to stay in, relax by the fireplace, play games. 

The Chattahoochee River going through Helen, GA

 We went out to Unicoi State Park one day, Vogel State Park on another day, and did a lot of hiking around Helen and the resort areas where we saw over 50 bird species.

Mama, Debbie's mother, was with us and has enjoyed the trip and outings as well. 

Some highlights of 2011

I make this little video from some of the activities we had in 2011.

Enjoy and make some comments.  Thanks!

New Year's Eve with the Prices

Family get-together! Always nice.



Was nice to see Angela and Matt again.

Don and Tim were here. George and Georgia, with Angela and Matt. Mama was already here. And Connie and Duane came later. Check blog below.








Yes, we had fun! Food, some booze including Champagne, and fun for the New Year's celebration! And everyone got along nicely.

So much fun we probably need to do this again. Anyone can call it at their place if they want. Family is just...precious! Thanks to all for been here to start off the year.

Connie and Duane in Macon

We finally get the much expected Connie and Duane's New Year's visit. It was last week end.
As always, we had lots of fun.

No, we did not spend the whole time in the kitchen and eat-in areas like the pictures may suggest. This was just the only time I remembered to snap some quick pics.






 

They've introduced us to a new game, Farkle. So it was Rook games one day, and Farkle the next. We "rooked", "farkled", ate great food and snacks, some booze, sat in the sunroom while enjoying the birds outside, and caught up on the news of our lifes. That's what friends and family are for. Good times!

Come back soon, hear!

Point Pelee National Park

These beautiful birds pics were shared by John Kormendy and I'm passing them on.  Enjoy!

Birds at Point Pelee National Park

Don't forget to click the link just above this line to view the pictures.

My first Christmas Bird Count

Have you ever participated in a CBC (Christmas Bird Count)? It will be going on from December 14 through January 5th, 2012.  This is when birders go out in the fields, armed with their binoculars, and count birds all day in specific areas.  Yes, all day.  It's done in small groups. 

If you don't know about this, find out at the Audubon Christmas Bird Count site.  It's fascinating.

Well, I did my first one last weekend.  A blast! My group, led by Dr. Ivey, started at 5:30 a.m.  Before dawn, we spotted five (5!) Barred Owls.  One flew right over us.  Two sat side by side on a tree a few feet from us, hooting. 

We were three to start that early.  The rest of the group joined us later.  And the chase went on all day with a lunch break.  We wanted to see as many bird species as possible. 

We were 9 people all together in our team, divided in three small groups of 3 birders each.  We've seen a total of 100 bird species and thousands and thousands of birds, especially ducks.  For my part, I've identified 83 bird species that day, a record for me. I've added four lifers.  A "lifer" is a new bird that a birder has seen for the first time, adding it to his life list of birds identified. 

If you want to see the list of birds we've seen that day, you can check it out on our site at Ocmulgee Audubon CBC in Macon.  All is all, our Audubon local chapter has identified 110 bird species that day and we set several records. 

Everyone has a hobby or a passion, I guess.  Birding is great and educative! Beside seeing birds, we do spend time in nature and run into other wildlife.  It was truly a great day and I'm already looking forward to next CBC.