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PAGE 16A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MAY 14. 2020
Is backyard birding the
By Dan Pool, Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Backyard birding might well become the
sport/hobby of the year if the pandemic con
tinues.
It’s perfect for the times: it’s outdoors and
relaxing; you don’t have to do much if you
don’t want; it’s cheap (free, once you have
binoculars or camera) and you can get your
supplies while buying groceries. Needless to
say, you are properly socially distanced.
Like most any hobby or yard project, just
a little bit of effort produces better results. In
this case, some work in establishing a “bird
studio” greatly increases the number and va
riety of birds you attract.
This is visibly-proven by a visit to the
Monument Road area home of David Ak-
oubian, a longtime nature photographer and
photography teacher with a library of
Youtube videos on creating birding areas as
well as taking photographs (Google David
Akoubian).
Talking with Akoubian at his Bear Woods
backyard sanctuary, there is a constant swirl
of Eastern Bluebirds, Downy Woodpeckers,
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, plus some chick
adees and sparrows.
From looking at his photographs online,
it’s surprising to see firsthand that his bird
studio isn’t large or complicated, certainly
nothing that would prevent someone with a
small backyard in a subdivision from creat
ing their own.
Akoubian emphasizes that this is a great
way for anyone to spend more time outside,
“It’s much better to be sitting out on the
porch than inside watching the news.”
More and more people are taking an in
terest in both the birds and photography, as
both are listed among the fastest growing
hobbies. Akoubian particularly likes to pique
the interest of kids who are fascinated by na
ture as he was growing up. “I was always
fishing or down at the lake, bringing home
rocks or something. Dad gave me a camera
so I would have to go out and meet people,”
he said.
His interest in photography moved to the
next level after a trip in 1976 to the Grand
Tetons in Wyoming “I fell in love with pho
tography. I didn’t even know there was a job
called nature photography at the time.”
Akoubian, the self-proclaimed “bird
nerd” who preferred guides to comic books,
grew up in Dekalb County but has lived in
the Monument Road area for more than 20
years, the last 10 at his current home. He was
disappointed at first that more birds, partic
ularly warblers, didn’t stop in his yard. Pick
ens is in the migration pattern of many bird
species but a little work is required to get
them to a viewable spot at a home, Akoubian
said.
Local birding and photography expert
David Akoubian in his backyard sanctuary,
Bear Woods.
Carolina Chickadee,
All bird photos from David Akoubian,
taken in his backyard studio.
Following guidelines from the Audubon
Society to establish a certified backyard
sanctuary, Akoubian and his wife Evelyn
converted plant areas from exotic flowers
planted by a previous owner to more natives.
They cut out the pesticides and swapped
weed control sprays for a mixture of “elbow
grease” and a homemade concoction of
Epson salt, vinegar and dish soap.
Not only did his Bear Woods get certified,
but the number and variety of birds quickly
increased. In at least two cases he has pro
vided photos of birds, (first a Yellow Warbler
and second a Cendean Warbler) to the
prominent internet site ebird.org to docu
ment these birds in the Monument Road
area, when previous information indicated
they wouldn’t be at that altitude or in this re
gion.
Akoubian said aside from the birds, his
work transforming the yard was also worth-
Normalcy needed for better
budget, state economist says
“It’s all going
to depend on
consumers and
when we feel safe,”
says state economist
By Beau Evans
Staff Writer
Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia’s chief economist
told lawmakers Thursday that
a return to normalcy is
needed to soften the blow to
the state’s $27 billion budget,
which is set for deep cuts
amid coronavirus-prompted
closures.
That assessment was one
of several that budget-writing
state lawmakers got Thurs
day in a sobering overview of
the sharp drop in tax rev
enues poised drive the Gen
eral Assembly’s upcoming
budget negotiations.
Whether Georgia bounces
back enough to soften the
budgetary blow will depend
on how confident consumers
feel to venture out of their
homes to shop and return to
work, Jeffrey Dorfman, the
state economist, told law
makers Thursday.
“It’s all going to depend
on consumers and when we
feel safe,” Dorfman said.
“When we choose to [return
to] normal is what’s going to
matter.”
Revenues from income,
sales and other taxes in Geor
gia were down almost $ 1 bil
lion for the month of April
compared to April of last
year, as both mandatory and
voluntary actions taken to
curb the vims’ spread saw
businesses close and people
stay put in their homes.
Lawmakers now face the
need to make steep spending
cuts, press for federal relief
and pull from Georgia’s
emergency reserves to bal
ance the budget.
Some measures have
eased the pain from coron-
aviras like a boost in online
retail sales and purchases of
alcohol by home-bound
Georgians. But a spike in un
employment claims, plum
meting of sales taxes on hotel
stays and general merchan
dise, and the delayed dead
line to file state income taxes
have combined to put Geor
gia in a serious financial
bind.
“You’re going to see some
crazy economic numbers in
the news over the next couple
of months,” Dorfman said
Thursday.
Members of the Georgia
House and Senate Appropri
ations committees met jointly
Thursday in an online meet
ing for the first time in the
coronavirus era. They plan to
hold another virtual meeting
next Wednesday before con
vening in person later this
month, ahead of a June 30
deadline to pass the 2021 fis
cal year budget.
Lawmakers have already
asked state agencies to start
preparing for 14% cuts
across the board in next
year’s budget, with revenue
forecasters expecting a de
cline of between $3 and $4
billion in tax collections in
the coming months. Those
cuts will almost certainly
lead to scaled-back services
and furloughs for teachers,
social workers and more.
“We understand that times
are tough for y’all and for
us,” said House Appropria
tions Committee Chairman
Terry England, R-Auburn.
“We appreciate and take very
seriously our roles here and
what we’re trying to do and
to be good stewards of tax
payer dollars.”
Dorfman, the state econo
mist, told lawmakers Thurs
day the full impacts of the
crisis are tough to predict
since the only comparable
historical event was the
Spanish Flu of 1918, for
which he said there is not
much useful data.
Instead, lawmakers should
plan to see a continuing
downward trend in revenues
through at least this month in
sales taxes and for much
longer when it comes to cor
porate tax collections, with
businesses poised for months
of diminished profits, Dorf
man said.
“We don’t really have a
good idea based on history of
how this is going to go,”
Dorfman said. “Hopefully, in
the weeks and months to
come, we’ll get a better idea
as we experience this to
gether.”
The worst economic data
is expected to come after Me
morial Day (May 25) when
officials will learn how bad
tax collections were during
Georgia’s mandatory shelter-
in-place period last month,
said Kelly Farr, director of
the state Office of Planning
and Budget.
Speaking at Thursday’s
meeting, Farr credited law
makers for carrying out the
bulk of 4% cuts that Gov.
Brian Kemp ordered earlier
this year for the current state
budget, before coronavirus
was ever an issue. But the
shortfall will likely force of
ficials to tap into the state’s
roughly $2.8 billion reserve
fund to float the fiscal 2020
budget until July 1, Farr said.
“We basically start spend
ing out of the rainy day fund
to make up for the lack of
revenue,” Farr said Thursday.
Appropriations chiefs
urged calm and courage as
lawmakers hash out the
budget. Senate Appropria
tions Committee Chairman
Blake Tillery, who assumed
the role following the death
of former budget guru Sen.
Jack Hill last month, said
Georgia’s budget experts
have already set to figuring
out solutions.
“We’re in a time that’s
going to require a lot of us to
pull together and work to
gether,” said Tillery, R-Vi-
dalia.
sport for the pandemic?
The yard:
For his backyard bird studio, Akoubian uses
a (roughly 20 by 20 feet area, certainly no larger
than a typical backyard in a subdivision. This
packs a lot of feeders and posts for birds in a
small space.
Planning to use a porch or deck to watch from
makes the hobby a lot more comfortable.
The bird yard has an electric fence to keep
bears out of the raised bed garden and bird feed
ers. People in bear-heavy areas would either
need a fence or to take the feeders in at night.
For feed, Akoubian uses basic bird feeds in
cluding dead mealworms available at local chains
like Tractor Supply. He keeps different foods in
different feeders as some birds come to seeds
while others come to insects.
In addition to feeders, the bird studio has
houses and also posts (interesting limbs gath
ered from nearby woods) standing near the feed
ers. Posts are a great place to spot more birds
by seeing those awaiting their turn at the feeders.
“Birds really do have a pecking order,” Akoubian
said. The posts also offer photogenic perches
with attractive backgrounds. Many people miss
this point with their first feeders in front of a deck
or structure which hinders photography.
As part of making his studio yard an Audubon
certified yard, Akoubian and his wife Evelyn grad
ually got rid of non-native flowering plants and
replaced them with a variety of native plants. He
said this can be as simple as planting coneflow-
ers and letting them go to seed and spread.
The camera:
It’s not cheap to buy equipment for bird pho
tography. But, it’s not out-of-line with costs for
hobbies like golf, or anything involving boats or
vehicles.
Akoubian advises that most any basic Can
non or Nikon set up will do for starters. For those
looking to go beyond basic, Akoubian takes all
his bird photos with his sponsor Tamron’s 60-
150mm G2, which runs somewhere in the $1,100
range.
For those who want to use their phones, there
are “digiscoping” options for zoom photography.
Google digiscpoping to find out more.
Akoubian said photography is a great com
plement to birding as it allows you to document
a species at youryard, even if your photos never
make it to frame or wall.
• Ebird is a great app that allows you record
the birds you are seeing and see what other peo
ple are spotting in your area.
• Merlin Bird ID from The Cornell Lab is a
great app to help identify bird you are seeing.
McEntire
■y r-
State Senate District 54
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Vote for me, a
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conservative, family
man, and political
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June 9, 2020!"
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Eastern Bluebirds
Scarlet Tanager
while “for cleaning up the world a little.”
But, he is quick to point out, that creating
a bird studio can be as simple as someone
desires. He began by standing in his bath
room taking photos of birds out the window
in front of one feeder, later adding a covered
porch to his backyard.
“It starts with getting a feeder up and
everything else just sort of falls into place,”
he said.
Akoubian takes the photography and the
study of birds seriously, teaching classes on
taking pictures and completing rigorous on
line classes on birds. But casual birdwatchers
are always welcome. “You can enjoy just
watching without the studying,” he said.
“They are as entertaining as can be and you
are outside.” .
Find out more about Akoubian’s work
and webinars at the Nature in Focus Photog
raphy on the web and Facebook.