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PAGE 5B
^Reporter
November 19, 2008
Monroe County Outdoors
Georgia’s second hummingbird season
A uti
/V abl
/ % let
coli
utumn leaves,
ablaze with a pal
let of gold and red
colors, are herald-
lg the arrival of
Georgia’s second hummingbird
season. This special time of the
year runs from November
to mid-March. The ruby-
throated hummingbird is
the monarch of our back
yards from late March
through October. Howev
er, long before the first
chilly winds of autumn
sweep down from the north,
departs for its winter re
treat far to the south.
While the king is away
it leaves other mem
bers of the royal family,
rare western hum
mingbirds represents to rule
over its domain until spring.
The rufous hummingbird
holds the title of being the
most common winter hum
mingbird in the Peach
state. Each year scores of
these brownish humming
birds winter in backyards
from the mountains to the
coast. Last year, only one
rufous hummingbird was
reported locally. This bird
found Ashley Herrington
and his wife’s yard near
Culloden to its liking.
The rufous hummingbird
breeds throughout the
Pacific Northwest as far
north as southern Alaska
and traditionally winters
in central Mexico.
However for decades
increasing numbers of
them have been wintering
throughout the Southeast.
The list of other hum
mingbirds
that also
winter in
Georgia
includes
the black-
chinned,
calliope,
Anna’s,
Allen’s,
broad
tailed,
broad
billed,
mag
nificent, buff-bellied, and
green-breasted mango. In
addition, a few ruby-
throated hummers over
winter in Georgia each
year.
It is no coincidence that
that number of reports of
hummingbirds seen in
Georgia has dramatically
increased over the past two
decades. During this time,
at the urging of Georgia’s
N ongame-Endangered
Wildlife Program and oth
ers, more people have
begun keeping at least one
hummingbird feeder up
throughout the winter
months than ever before.
When this initiative began
most folks took their hum
mingbird feeders down by
October. This was done out
of the concern that, if feed
ers were left out,
rubythroats would be
encouraged to stay and
subsequently die once cold
weather set in. In truth,
hummingbirds migrate in
response to decline day
length. Think about it.
When the hummingbirds
bid farewell to your back
yard your feeders weeks
ago they were stocked with
food and an abundance of
flowers provided them with
nectar. In spite of this, the
birds left. You simply can’t
coax a healthy humming
bird not to migrate with
food.
Concern for the birds’
well being is misplaced.
Hummingbirds can weath
er temperatures that dip
into the teens and below.
They are able to accom
plish this seeming miracle
by going into torpor.
When a hummingbird is in
torpor, its metabolic rate
drops to 1/5 of what it
would be when the bird is
sleeping normally. In this
condition, its heart rate
decreases from 250 to 48
to 180 beats per minute. At
the same time, the bird’s
temperature also plum
mets from 106?F - 95?F
The bird’s breathing rate
drops and becomes irregu
lar. All of these dramatic
changes help the bird use
less energy. Without this
ability, a hummingbird’s
high rate of metabolism
could cause the bird to lit
erally starve to death try
ing to keep warm on a
cold night.
As for food, wintering
hummingbirds have more
food available to them than
you may have thought.
Wintering hummingbirds
feed on tiny insects that
emerge throughout this
our coldest season of the
year. In addition, winter
honeysuckle, leather leaf
mahonia and a number of
other plants actually bloom
and produce nectar in the
winter. The bird also dines
at feeding stations created
by the yellow-bellied sap-
sucker, a woodpecker that
winters throughout
Georgia.
The yellow-bellied sap-
sucker is the bird that
makes rings of holes
around fruit and other
trees. When the sapsuck-
er excavates such a hole,
sap wells up in the tiny
reservoir. The woodpecker
then laps on the sugary
sap with its brushy-tipped
tongue. Many wintering
Bulldogs
continued from IB
Once the game finally
kicked off at 8:45 Burke
County took control and
marched to the endzone to
take an early lead. The
PAT was low, but the Bears
led 6-0 and never looked
back.
The Bulldogs were forced
to punt on their first pos
session. Once again the
Bears took it to the end-
zone. A two-point conver
sion was good and the
Burke County lead
increased to 14-0.
By the time the teams
went to the locker room at
half time the Bears had
left the Bulldogs stunned
and led 35-0.
The Bulldog defense only
allowed one Bear touch
down in the second half,
but the Bulldog offense
was unable to catch up.
In the fourth quarter,
Mary Persons finally got
on the scoreboard. The
Dogs had great field posi
tion at the Burke 35-yard
line. Meshari Walton took
it to the 23.
On first down, it was
Corey Nash who got the
handoff, driving to the
three-yard line. Walton ran
it in from there, avoiding
the goose-egg. James
Brooks kicked the PAT.
By now Burke County
had their back-ups in and
the MP defense held them
to another punt.
Quin King got the ball
three times, taking it a
total of 37 yards for the
second MP score of the
game. That's when time
ran out for good for the
Bulldogs.
MP finishes the season
with a 7-4 record.
Burke County will travel
to Cairo this Friday for
round two. The only team
left standing in region
4AAA is Woodward
Academy, who beat WACO
to move on to round two.
Woodward will play
Carver, Columbus on
Friday.
REGION 4AAA
Beating Mary Persons GREAT
Winning Region EXCELLENT
Doing 10-0 PRICELESS
The MP student section was small Friday night. Bulldog faithful
Shelton Nash and Lauren Perez braved the rain and lightning to
cheer for the Dogs. (Photo/Gina Herring)
RESPECT FOR THE BULLDOGS: Jackson’s region 4AAA champi
onship resulted in this t-shirt, which says beating Mary Persons is
great. But, after going 10-0 and winning the region, the Red Devils
were beat at home Saturday by region 3's fourth place team, Thom
son, by a score of 28-14. Eagles Landing lost to Baldwin, 28-3, Fri
day night. The only team left standing in region 4 is Woodward
Academy. The War Eagles beat Washington County, 21-7. Wood
ward now travels to Columbus to take on the Carver Tigers, the
same team that beat MP last year in round one.
HE GETS AROUND: Zapareo Glover is not letting his injury keep
him at home. He is still a Mary Persons fan and is often seen at
football games and was even at the MP basketball scrimmage Sat
urday. Glover spent a few weeks at Shepherd Spinal Clinic last
month and says he learned a lot of ways to remain independent.
Glover, who was shot in a carjacking in August and paralyzed, says
he is thinking about going back to school soon and is not letting his
injury stop him from pursuing his dreams. Pictured with Glover at
a recent MP football game are his cousins Rayann Scandrett and
Kim Shannon. (Photo/Gina Herring)
MP vs
. Burke Co.
TEAM STATS
MP
BC
MP 0 0 0 14 - 14
First Downs 12
13
BC 14 21 7 0 - 42
Rushing yds. 175
171
Passing yds 33
183
BULLDOG SCORING
Att-Comp-Int 7-3-2
7-7-0
• Meshari Walton 3-yd. run
Fumbles-Lost 3-1
2-1
• Quin King 6-yd. run
Penalties-Yds. 5-30
8-45
Individual MP Stats
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
RUSHING
Tackles Assists
Carries Yds.
Chris Bowden 8 1
Meshari Walton 19
Quin King 6
Corey Nash 2
90
46
22
Tevin Davis 8
Jontae Hammond 5 1
Chaz Avery 5
14
Daniel Weeks 3
Jettry Powers 3
10
Devarick Jones 4 1
Tevin Davis 2
5
Jamodi Chambliss 2 4
RECEIVING
Garrick James 2
Rec.
Yds.
Marquis Perkins 2
27
Drew Coleman 1
6
birds, including humming
birds, also dine on the sug
ary sap.
The best way to give your
chance of hosting a hum
mingbird in your backyard
throughout the winter is
by keeping at least one
feeder up throughout our
second hummingbird sea
son. Fill it with a small
amount of fluid and wait.
Then if you are lucky, one
morning as you enjoy a cup
of steaming coffee, a hum
mingbird may appear at
your feeder. If it does, it
will probably be a western
migrant.
Should you do decide to
put a feeder up in hopes of
attracting one of these spe
cial birds, realize going in
that chances are your
efforts won’t be successful.
While I have never been
able to attract a wintering
hummingbird to my yard, I
known folks that do so the
first year they try.
That being said, give it a
try. If you do get lucky, call
me. I would be happy to
try to identify it for you.
Good luck!
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, presents programs and
writes about wildlife.
Email him at
TJWoodDuck@aol. com.
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Juliette Rd. • Forsyth, Ga.
478-994-6127
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Life is
Precious
Human life is a gift from God.
We were ail in a womb atone
time. When we value their
lives, we value our own.
For more information call the
Monroe County Pregnancy Center
at 994-3173 or go to
www.pregnancycenter
inonroecounty.org.
Herbs & Supplements
VITAMIKS MINERALS 4 HERBAL THERAPIES 0
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Vitamin C and Chemotherapy
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, which is neces
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the absorption of iron in the gastrointestinal tract.
Vitamin C is known clinically for its antioxidant activity.
Antioxidant protect cells in the body from damage caused
by substances called reactive oxygen species (ROS).
The use of Vitamin C supplementation during
chemotherapy for cancer has been controversial. A recent
study reported that if cancer cells were pretreated with
Vitamin C, 30% to 70% less of these cancer cells would
have been eliminated by chemotherapy drugs. This study
was conducted and data collected from results obtained
from laboratory rats with cancer. This specific finding has
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