Newspaper Page Text
September 24, 2008
Davis makes Nike team
t Reporter
Monroe County Outdoors
PAGE 5B
Master Timber Harvester Lie. #3025
Dr. Craig Caldwell
and
Dr. Jeremy Goodwin
“Committed to Patient Care & Health”
478-994-1010
97 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Forsyth, Georgia 31029
Monday thru Friday, 8:30am—5:00pm
^Internal
V/ Medicine Associates
of Middle Georgia
Scouts visit Rum Ceek
On a recent field trip to the Rum Creek Wildlife Manage
ment Area in Juliette, Webelos from Cub Scout Pack 51
visited an endangered Gopher Tortoise's burrow (center).
Pictured are (front row, left to right) Ernie Strickland, Jack
Edenfield, Hugh Moody, Benjamin Sandusky, William
Stevick, Wes Freeman, Hunter DeFore and Browning San
dusky. Standing are (left to right) Donna Sandusky, Meg
Strickland, Christopher Sandusky, Tyler Phagan, Will
Freeman, Schuyler Sandusky, Jody and Lauren DeFore
and Reggie Thackston. Thackston is a wildlife biologist
who serves as Private Lands Program Manager for the
Wildlife Resources Division of Georgia's Department of
Natural Resources. Left: Wildlife biologist Sharon Hol
brooks talked to the group about wildlife conservation,
venomous reptiles and endangered species in this region
of Georgia. In this photo, Holbrooks describes traits of a
non-venomous Corn Snake held by Den Chief Schuyler
Sandusky.
Property reappraisal got you down? Would you like to capture value from your
land and improve wildlife habitat? Why not deal with your hometown timber
harvesters? We have direct access to all area mills, so don't call a middle man
when you can call on us.
John Bunn or Nipper Bunn at our office
478-994-0901
bunnlogginginc@gmail.com
Georgia Logger of the Year 2003 • Southeastern Logger ot the Year 2003
• Georgia Master Timber Harvester 2003
Blake Davis of Monroe
Academy has earned a
place on The Nike Cup
Team of the Canongate
Junior Tour, in which junior
golfers compete in 27
events accumulating points
along the way. After 21 of
these events competitors
(12+) that lead the points
list in their respective age
division earn a birth into
The Nike Cup. This Ryder Cup format is played against
the top finishers of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
Junior Tour in Alabama.
Mustangs
continued from IB
by penalties and traded
fumbles. With time run
ning out Jordan Piland
punted 30 yards for the
Crusaders. Epperson
returned the punt 18
yards, but was held to zero
on first down. Colwell
gained nine yards, followed
by Purser who collected
three. Epperson ran for
five. Then Colwell
streaked into the end zone
from 11 out for the TD
with 49 seconds left in the
contest. Spivey added the
extra point, and the
Mustangs were looking
good at 27-19. The
Crusaders scrambled to
put together a last-ditch
passing assault, but it all
ended when Richie's pass
was intercepted by
Epperson.
Statistically, Monroe had
a decisive win over Griffin.
The Mustangs had 15 to
Griffin's 10 first downs.
MA had 49 rushing
attempts for 353 yards
while GC had 26 attempts
with 96 yards. On passing
yardage, Monroe gained 51
to Griffin's 189. For total
yardage, Monroe had 404
yards to Griffin's 285.
MA fumbled twice and
lost the ball once. Griffin
fumbled twice and lost the
ball twice. Griffin also
threw an interception. MA
was penalized nine times
for 70 yards while GC was
penalized six times for 45
yards. Monroe punted
once for 45 yards, and
Griffin punted three times
for 92 yards.
Epperson carried 10
times for 104 yards and a
TD. His average for the
night wasl0.4 yards per
carry. Colwell had 16 car
ries for 156 yards and two
TDs for an average of 9.8.
Purser carried 22 times for
82 yards and one TD for an
average of 3.7. Purser also
passed five times, making
two completions for 51
yards. Chris Harrelson
received once for 17 yards,
and Andrew Henriksen
received once for 34 yards.
Trey Sanders carried once
for 11 yards.
On defense, Purser was
the standout. He had four
tackles and three b-lines.
Spivey had four tackles
and two b-lines while
Austin Anderson had three
tackles and a b-line. Adam
Laney had two resounding
sacks and two b-lines.
Colby Lewis collected three
tackles and a b-line, and
Andrew Henriksen had
four tackles. Purser and
Harrelson had fumble
recoveries, and Epperson
had the dramatic, game
ending interception.
Coach Dennard Scoggins
emphasized that the
Mustangs had "stepped up
and improved" two weeks
in a row. He added that he
"admired the fight in the
boys" and that he saw
things to be proud of all
across the game.
The coach noted that MA
must continue to improve
"and not make mistakes" if
the team is to prevail
against Thomas Jefferson
Academy in Louisville.
The out of town game will
be MA's first region con
test, and Thomas Jefferson
happens to be the number
one ranked A team in the
state. With Friday's win,
Monroe's season record is
now 2-2.
The Mustangs will play
Thomas Jefferson on the
road Friday night.
Fall bird count yields surprises
BUNN LOGGING INC.
2004 National Logger of the Year
Started by our father, Frank Bunn,
in 1948 and incorporated in 1977,
we have been and always will be
proud to call the Middle Georgia
area our Home
goose proved to be the most common bird seen on the 2008 count.
in the country. However,
the birds aren’t typically
seen here until the fall.
The red-throated loon
breeds as far north as the
northern reaches of
Greenland. The red-
throated loon is a rare
winter resident on large
reservoirs in Middle
Georgia. While a handful
of these small loons have
been seen on Lake
Juliette, this marks the
earliest the bird has been
seen in Georgia. The for
mer earliest state record
was Oct. 14.
Among a host of other
exciting finds was a pere
grine falcon. This raptor
was located perched on a
tree in the Brent area.
Sharing the tree was a
small flock of mourning
doves that seemed reluc
tant to take wing with the
world’s fastest bird peer
ing down at them. Less
than a half dozen pere
grine falcons have been
reported in the county
during the past 3 decades.
This year’s results were
comparable to those
recorded in 2006. Last
year 1,235 birds repre
senting 76 species were
seen. However, the fact
that there has been a
steady decline in species
seen during the past four
years is a cause of con
cern. In 2005, 94 species
were seen. A total of 87
species were tallied in
2006. It is too early to tell
whether these data indi
cate a significant decline
in the populations of
many of our birds. The
results of this count pro
vide only one small piece
of a giant puzzle that is
being analyzed by biolo
gist combing the Monroe
County data with that of
counts held throughout
the country.
If you would like a copy
of the count results, let
me know. Better yet, make
plans to participate in the
2009 count. You will have
a great time while helping
biologists learn more
about our precious bird
populations.
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 sur
vey projects, presents pro
grams and writes about
wildlife. Email him at
TJWoodDuck@aol. com.
rn
I 2
hi
Le 2008 Fall Mon-
■oe County North
American Migra
tion Count was
held Saturday,
Sept. 13. The counters tallied
a total of 1318 birds repre
senting 75 species ranging
migratory birds such as wa
terfowl and shorebirds to per
manent residents like cardi
nals and mockingbirds.
The Fall North American
Migration Count is annu
ally held in mid
September. The data
gathered on these and
other similar surveys held
during the count period
supply ornithologists with
a treasure trove of infor
mation that is used to
determine such things as
the impact of weather on
the fall bird migration
and population trends.
Joining me as members
of this year
the 7-member
count team
was my wife
Donna,
daughter
Angela
Dupree, as
well as Ann
Amis, Angela
Dupree, Ron
Lee, and
Larry ~
Ross.
The
first
species tallied well before
daylight was not an owl; it
was the black vulture.
Ron Lee spotted a small
flock of the Mother
Nature’s cleanup crew
found roosting between
two large billboards along
side 1-75. The last species
recorded as a young white
ibis probing its long,
curved bill into the soft
mud at the western end of
Lake Juliette. In between
were sandwiched scores of
sightings including a flock
of turkeys feeding along
the far side of a pasture;
loons diving for fish in the
clear waters of Lake
Juliette; pine warblers
calling for a pine forest
and ruby-throated hum
mingbirds swirling around
feeders at the Nongame
Wildlife Program Office.
The title of the most
abundant bird seen went
The Canadian
to the
Canada
goose (225),
rounding out
the list of
the top ten
most abun
dant birds
spotted were
the cattle
egret (183),
eastern blue
bird (89),
European
starling (82),
mourning
dove (76),
American
crow (68),
mallard (50),
northern
cardinal
(43), great egret (40) and
chimney swift (40).
Two count records were
set and three tied this
year. New highs were
attained for the
great egret (40)
and summer tan-
ager (11). Record
highs were tied for
three additional
species - the com
mon loon (1),
anhinga (1) and
eastern screech
owl (1).
Four new
species were
seen this year.
This brings the
total number of
species seen on all Fall
Monroe County North
American Migration
Counts to 163. These
birds were the cedar
waxwing (2), sanderling
(1), western sandpiper (1)
and red-throated loon 91).
The western sandpiper, a
shorebird that nests in
the northern reaches of
Alaska and Canada, pri
marily migrates down the
Pacific Coast. However,
many of the birds winter
along the Atlantic and
Gulf Coasts.
Another shorebird, the
sanderling, nests above
the Arctic Circle. If you
have visited the Georgia
or Florida coasts in win
ter, you have probably
seen this plump, whitish
shorebird chasing the
waves along the beach.
The cedar waxwing is a
common winter resident