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County sports
Lady Dogs down
Lamar, Taylor
New Monroe County superintendent Anthony Pack got into the
act by throwing out the first pitch in MP’s season opener last
week. The Lady Bulldogs are now 2-1.
The Lady Bulldogs soft-
ball team won both games
on Friday while the games
on Saturday were rained
out. The wins improve
their record to 2-1.
In the first game against
Taylor County the
Bulldogs scored 6 runs in
the second inning to take a
commanding lead and
never looked back. The
final score was 11-5 while
Kyla Tanner pitched and
got the win striking out 4.
Leading hitters were:
Courtney McDaniel 2-3,
Deena Deaton 1-1,
Chandler Williams 1-1, and
Amber Sawley 1-2.
In the second game the
Bulldogs faced Lamar
County rallying for 9 runs
in the first inning. On top
of the big first inning,
Freshman, Kaylan Sims
pitched a no hitter picking
up her first win as a Lady
Bulldog. Leading hitters
for the game were:
Courtney McDaniel 2-3
with a homerun, Taylor
Penn 1-1, Chandler
Williams 1-2, Maegan
Fowler 1-2, Lauren Camp 1-
2, and Sarah Bennett 1-2.
Earlier in the week, in the
season opener, the Lady Bulldogs lost to
Crawford County 7-2. Leading at the
plate were Courtney McDaniel (2-3),
Deena Deaton (1-3) and Taylor Pen (1-3).
The JV team won soundly though, 15-
6. Rebecca Arp and Adair Woodward
were the leading batters.
“I am very proud of the direction we
are heading as a softball team,” said MP
softball coach Ronnie Shipman. “We just
have to keep working hard and get bet
ter everyday. Everyone is stepping up
right now no matter who I am playing.”
The next game is Tuesday at Eagles
Landing starting at 5 p.m. This will
begin Region play for the Bulldogs.
Eagles Landing is ranked No. 10 in the
preseason poll.
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Wild turkeys on the loose
Wild turkeys have been, well, wild this summer. About a dozen of them were spotted here on the
shoulder of Montpelier Road in front of Virginia’s Garden last week. Turkey season doesn’t start
until next year but dove season opens this weekend. (Photo/Will Davis)
Members of the Monroe Academy softball team are seniors Autumn Duckworth and Cristina Soto, jun
ior Haley Knight, sophomores Sarah Hoppel, Caroline Smith, Autumn Spivey and Savannah Tate,
freshmen Bailey Barcus and Leah Barlow and eighth graders Mackenzie Epperson and Taylor Lewis.
Coach is Chris Oxford.
Members of the
Monroe Academy
cross country
team are Karley
Barcus, Meredith
Conger, Hunter
Davis, Mitchell
Harrison, Mitchel
King and Alex
Swoope. Coach
and trainer is An
gela Swoope.
Monroe
Academy
photos
courtesy of
Andrew
Brooks
Photography
in Macon.
Here
are the
mem
bers of
the
Monroe
Acade
my var
sity
cheer
leading
squad.
Monroe County Outdoors
Mister, drippers, and wigglers attract fall birds
id you known you
■ ^can attract more
| Bbirds to your yard
with water than
you can with food
or cover? It’s true. The reason
for this that, while birds need
water throughout the year,
most urban and suburban
backyards lack
this liquid gold.
Keeping a bird-
bath full of clean
water is a great
way to transform
your yard from a
veritable desert
into an oasis.
However, believer
it or not, you can
dramatically in
crease the
number of
birds visit
ing your
birdbath
through the
use of misters, drippers and
wigglers. For reasons that
aren’t frilly understood, the
sound and sight of moving wa
ter acts as a magnet to birds.
The simplest way to
accomplish this task is to
punch a small hole in the
bottom of a bucket or 2-
liter bottle, fill the contain
er with water and hang it
above a birdbath. The
water will slowly drip from
the bottle into the bath
creating ripples and a
methodical dripping sound.
The same effect can be
achieved by
placing a shal
low pan
beneath a
slowly drip
ping facet or
hose hung over
a limb.
Running a
small recircu
lation pump
into a birdbath
also
works
well.
A
recent
innova
tion has been the mister.
Misters release a fine
spray of water into the air.
Misters seem to work best
in locations where the mist
bathes nearby vegetation.
The water that collects on
the leaves and slowly drips
into a birdbath is particu
larly irresistible to migrat
ing warblers.
The key to attracting
birds with a mister is find
ing one that emits an
extremely fine mist. Most
misters that are designed
for home irrigation sys
tems aren’t fine enough.
While birds may occasion
ally utilize them, they use
far more water than is nec
essary to attract birds.
The best misters are engi
neered specifically for bird
use. Such devices are most
often available from stores
that specialize in birding
supplies.
The newest device
designed to attract birds
with the sight and sound of
moving water is the water
wiggler. This innovative
gizmo sits in the middle of
a birdbath perched on four
plastic legs. Powered by
batteries the water wiggler
creates ripples in the sur
face of the bath by vibrat
ing. Some models even
come equipped with a
recording of the sound of
moving water. A switch
allows you to control the
volume of the recording.
All of these devices seem
to work best in the spring
and fall when migrants are
making their way to and
from their breeding
grounds throughout North
America and wintering
areas in the Caribbean,
Central and South
America. At this time of
year, they will act as a bird
magnate drawing in birds
that you never realized
pass over your yard. Birds
such as thrushes, vireos
and warblers will bathe
and drink in birdbaths
equipped with misters,
drippers and water wig
glers. In addition to the
migrants that simply stop
by your backyard to feed,
drink and bathe before
resuming their epic migra
tions, these devices will
also bring in permanent
residents such as Carolina
chickadees, northern mock
ingbirds and brown thrash
ers. Birds that nest locally
but winter outside the
United States is also
drawn to birdbaths
equipped with
these contrap
tions. This list
includes the
summer tan-
ager, orchard
oriole, and
wood thrush.
A bird that is
particularly
fond of misters
is the ruby-
throated hum
mingbird. This
tiny summer
resident does
n’t typically
bathe or drink
from a bird
bath. However,
once a mister
is in place these tiny aeri-
alists will repeatedly fly
through the fine mist.
The songbird migration is
in full swing.
Consequently, if you want
to help these beautiful
migrants, and catch a
glimpse of some spectacu
lar birds, install a wiggler,
mister or dripper today.
Terry Johnson is the
retired Program Manager
of the Georgia Nongame-
Endangered Wildlife
Program. He is currently
Executive Director of TERN
(The Nongame Wildlife
Section's Friends Group)
and conducts wildlife
research and survey proj
ects and presents programs
and writes about wildlife.
He can be reached via
email at
TJWoodDuck@aol.com.