Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B
ffiEeporter
January 1,2014
Monroe County Outdoors
Make your back yard a winter haven for birds
BY TERRY W.
JOHNSON
F br most of us, Dec.
Blst came and
went without
much fanfare; it
was simply just
another day. However, in the
grand scheme of things, it
was very important because
it was the shortest day of
the year and marked the
year officially passing
from autumn to winter.
I must admit that
winter is my least
favorite season.
During this, the
harshest time of the
year, temperatures
plummet, the
limbs of many of
our hardwood trees
stand naked
against the skyline and
the bright colors of fall
are gone.
Some say that winter is
the night time of the
year; a time when the
natural world is asleep. It
is easy to see why people
believe that this old say
ing is true. However,
when I go out into my
backyard on a winter day
and pause for a few
moments, what I hear
and see tell me that this
adage is far from the
truth. While I must
admit that the world
around me is not as beau
tiful and full of life as it
fall, it is definitely not
sleeping.
From the dense shrubs
that border my property
come the beautiful song of
the white-throated spar
row. This large sparrow
nests in the far reaches of
North America and win
ters throughout all but
the extreme
northern
portions of
the United
States. Its
is m spring, summer or
song is
arguably the
sweetest
bird song
that we
Monroe
Countians
hear during
the winter.
Some say the bird seems
to be saying “pure sweet
Canada, Canada,
Canada." However, oth
ers are convinced it is
repeating the phrase, "old
Sam Peabody, Peabody,
Peabody."
Another bird I often
hear calling in the back
yard during the winter is
called the joree. For most
of my life, the familiar
back yard bird went by
the name “rufous-sided
towhee.” Nowadays its
official name is the east
ern towhee.
Locally it is a perma
nent resident. As such, I
hear the bird calling
throughout the year. I
know that you have heard
it, too. Its distinctive call
sounds to most folks like
the bird is singing, "drink
your tea." At times the
bird shortens its call to
simply, "drink tea."
These are but two of the
birds that inhabit my
backyard in winter. On
any given day, chances
are excellent that I will
hear and/or see a parade
of other birds there, such
as cardinals, tufted tit
mice, brown-headed
nuthatches, mocking
birds, red-bellied and
downy woodpeckers, and,
of course, the most abun
dant bird of all, the chip
ping sparrow. From time
to time, my yard is also
visited by ruby-crowned
kinglets, song and fox
sparrows, bluebirds, yel-
low-rumped warblers,
cedar waxwings and oth
ers.
Other kinds of wildlife
can also be spotted.
Much to my chagrin gray
squirrels are common
backyard residents.
During warm winter days
chipmunks will awaken
from their winter slumber
to race across the yard.
On these rare balmy
winter days, a handful of
butterflies can sometimes
be seen fluttering across
the yard. Cloudless sul
phurs, sleepy oranges are
by far the
most often
seen. Others
that make
rare appear
ances are
mourning
cloaks, com
mon buck
eyes and
question
marks.
However, as
soon as tem
peratures
plummet,
they disap
pear as
quickly as
the
appeared.
The red-bellied woodpecker is one of the birds that
often visits Monroe County yards during winter.
This abundance of life is
drawn to my yard
because I provide them
with three important
necessities of life - food,
water and cover. Without
them all that you can
expect to see in a back
yard are those birds and
other animals that just
happen to pass over or
through your yard
enroute to someplace
more hospitable.
Here are a few simply
ways that you can trans
form a sleeping yard into
a place full of life during
even the harshest winter.
Begin by offering your
wild neighbors cover.
Cover can take the form
of a brush pile, tree cavi
ty, nesting box, or thick
evergreen trees or shrubs.
Wild animals will use
them as roosting sites to
escape the long, cold win
ter nights, bad weather
and predators.
Food can be furnished
by planting seed and
fruit-bearing trees and
shrubs. Those plants that
retain their seeds and
berries well into winter
are particularly valuable.
Letting flowers go to
seed and left standing
can supply birds with
much-needed food. In
addition, leaving dry
leaves on the ground
beneath shrubs and other
plants offer birds places
to look for food and but
terflies overwintering
habitat.
The easiest way is to
provide birds with a
dependable source of
supplemental food
throughout the win
ter. It is always
best to offer back
yard diners black oil
sunflower and white
millet seed.
However, if you feed
your feathery neigh
bors mixed bird
seed, select brands
that have low per
centages of wheat,
sorghum (milo), and
cracked corn.
Adding a suet cake
to your bird menu
will attract birds
that don't eat
seeds.
Whatever you do, don't
forget water. Birds need
water to drink and bathe.
Remarkably birds will
bathe even on the coldest
days. With that in mind,
keep a bird bath full of
clean water all winter
long.
If you follow these sug
gestions, you will never
again say that your back
yard slumbers in winter.
Terry Johnson is the
retired Program Manager
of the Georgia Nongame-
Endangered Wildlife
Program. He conducts
wildlife research and sur
vey projects, presents pro
grams and writes about
wildlife. Email him at
TJWoodDuck@ aol.com.
Former Vietnam veteran injures back during fall
BY RICHARD DUMAS
Monroe County resi
dent Dick Holden is
recovering well from
Dec. 4 back surgery
after he broke his L-l
Lumbar vertebrae dur
ing a November fall.
Holden, who owns a
tire repair business
Anytime, Anywhere, 24-
Hour Truck Repair, fell
off of a 10-foot metal
stock shelf like ones
seen at stores like
Sam's Wholesale Club
while at his company's
warehouse in College
Park in early
November. Holden, who
hit the ground so hard
his hat, glasses and earpiece
flew in all directions, severely
injured his L-l Lumbar and
bursa crater during the fall.
Holden was taken to a
Newnan hospital before eventu
ally being transferred to
Piedmont Atlanta.
After being released on Nov.
12, Holden went to see orthope
dic surgeon Dr.
Winston R.
Jesheran, of
Macon-based
OrthoGeorgia.
Jeshuran
scheduled
kyphoplasty
surgery for
Holden for Nov.
27. The kypho
plasty proce
dure attempts
to restore the
height and
angle of a frac
tured verte
brae using
injected bone
cement. In
Holden's case, Jesheran drilled
a hole into each side of
Holden's vertebrae before
inserting a balloon in one side
in order to maximize the height
of the vertebrae before injecting
the cement, which hardened
within minutes.
Holden's surgery was pushed
back a week because his blood
wasn't clotting properly, but
Jesheran went ahead with the
relatively rare procedure on
Dec. 4. Holden, who said his
fall caused a 60 percent reduc
tion in vertebrae function, said
his back pain had mostly
stopped in the days leading up
to the procedure. However, he
decided to have it anyway
because he didn't want his
back's range of motion to be
permanently affected since he
lives a very active lifestyle.
"I'm a believer in quality of
life," Holden said.
Holden said he spent nearly a
month either in bed or in a
recliner causing him to lose
about 30 pounds. However, just
two days after his surgery,
Holden, who was only begin
ning to walk in the days lead
ing up to the surgery, was
already out running errands
around Forsyth. Also, his physi
cal therapist told him he would
no longer need physical therapy
services.
While Holden will be confined
to doing paperwork at his home
for a while, he plans to get back
to work before too long. He
added he definitely recom
mends kyphoplasty to any
Monroe Countians with verte
brae issues.
Holden, a distinguished
Vietnam War veteran, was fea
tured in the May 22, 2013
Reporter for his war service.
DICK HOLDEN
Public hearing is Jkn. 7 on new elem. district map
BY DIANE GLIDEWELL
AND WILL DAVIS
About 250-300 Monroe
County children will be forced
to change elementary schools in
August, and the school board is
taking public input at 7 p.m.
next Tuesday, Jan. 7 on two
maps from which they'll select
the final district lines. The pub
lic hearing will be in the BOE
auditorium.
School board members last
month chose two of four map
proposals presented by superin
tendent Anthony Pack. One,
dubbed Option A, includes the
least amount of change but
may require the board to re-dis-
trict again in 5-7 years, said
Pack. The other, dubbed Option
D, would include more drastic
changes but would hold up the
longest over time, said Pack.
Option D would create 69 per
cent capacity at Hubbard
Elementary, 76 percent capaci
ty at Sutton Elementary and 77
percent at Scott Elementary.
Despite the new maps, next
year's fifth graders and their
siblings could be "grandfa
thered" into their current
school and would not have to
change, provided that they did
n't need bus service.
About 15 parents attended
the meeting to discuss changes
the elementary school district
map.
Assistant superintendent
Jackson Daniel said he based
his proposals in part on discus
sions with others about poten
tial growth in the county. He
said he expects more growth
around Hwys. 41 and 42 south,
but said he doesn't expect much
residential growth from Henry
County and the north.
Pack said the board would
take questions if they were
written down on 3X5 cards.
Mark Dye, husband of T.G.
Scott Elementary teacher
Barbara Dye, asked who the
school board talked to in order
to get the growth projections
for the maps, suggesting UGA
would have been a good
resource. Pack said the people
they talked to about future
growth have authority in the
area but said they asked not to
be identified.
Parent Adam Ham asked why
students on the north end of
the county will be moved so
much. Pack said they had to
enlarge Sutton's district to
include more students because
the school is half empty. Pack
said they'll have to hire more
staff to make the new map
work.
Daniel also said administra
tors may consider balance of
race and income in making
school district maps but that
board members may not.
Parents and taxpayers may
have their say again at a 7 p.m.
public hearing on Tuesday, Jan.
7 in the BOE auditorium. The
final decision is expected at a 7
p.m. meeting on Tuesday, Jan.
14.
The board is having to draw
new district lines because T.G.
Scott Elementary is crowded
while K.B. Sutton, opened in
2009, is half empty. The latest
enrollment numbers are 888
students at T.G. Scott, 586 stu
dents at Hubbard Elementary,
and 436 students at K.B.
Sutton Elementary. State
guidelines for elementary
schools say that 450 students
are appropriate for a school to
have a principal and a half
time vice principal. K.B. Sutton
is below that threshold. The
reason for the imbalance is
more residential growth in the
southern part of the county,
which serves T.G. Scott, than in
the northern part of the county,
particularly less growth in the
K.B. Sutton attendance zone
than was anticipated when the
school was built.
The building at T.G. Scott is
at 87.8 percent capacity;
Hubbard Elementary is at a lit
tle over 67 percent capacity;
and K.B. Sutton is only at 58
percent capacity.
Purse
continued from the front
and about 30 minutes later, dis
patchers received a call that the
other man with Perkins had
returned to the store.
Czerniejewski spotted the other
man, who fled toward Walmart.
However, Czerniejewski secured
the man's vehicle, which was run
ning with the keys inside of it.
Inside of the vehicle,
Czerniejewski found a black ring
box containing the wedding band,
as well as ear rings described by
Cash. Czerniejewski also found
inside the vehicle two bank
ledgers belonging to Cash.
A short time later after the vehi
cle had been impounded,
Czerniejewski received a call from
the vehicle owner who said he
knew nothing about the theft. The
vehicle owner said he was just giv
ing Perkins a ride. Czerniejewski
asked the vehicle owner if he
knew where Perkins was, and he
said Perkins was at Forsyth
Gardens Apartments where he
had dropped him off.
Czerniejewski, Sgt. David Asbell,
Lt. Alexander Daniels and a
Monroe County Sheriffs deputy
went to the apartment where they
beheved Perkins to be. A female
resident eventually let the officers
in, where they found Perkins hid
ing under a child's bed in a rear
bedroom. The officers searched
Perkins but did not find any of
Cash's belongings. They did, how
ever, locate the jacket Perkins had
been wearing on the surveillance
tape.
During an interview with
Daniels, Perkins admitted to tak
ing the purse and throwing it in a
dumpster next to Waffle House.
The officers located the purse
where Perkins said it would be,
but the credit cards, the diamond
ring and most of the cash had
been removed from it. Later, the
vehicle owner's uncle found the
ring in a Forsyth Gardens apart
ment and brought it to the
Forsyth Pohce Department.
Cash told the Reporter she was
headed to North Carolina for
vacation on 1-75 when she stopped
off in Forsyth for gas. She said she
stayed in town for a couple of
hours while Czerniejewski made a
report and tried to find the purse.
She said even after she left
Forsyth, the officer still kept in
touch with her by phone as he
recovered her missing items.
"Officer Czerniejewski was won
derful," Cash said. "He and the
other officers he worked with did
a great job."
Cash said she was pleasantly
surprised her items were recov
ered and plans to retrieve her
stolen items from the Forsyth
Police Department at a future
date. Despite his misfortune, Cash
said she would even stop in
Forsyth again while on vacation
in the future.
She said, "Everybody was very,
very nice."