I heard an Eastern Whip-poor-will calling last Saturday morning in northeast Bartow County off of Johnson Mountain Rd. Best I can tell this would establish a new early arrival date for the entire mountain region of Georgia. There's 55 eBird records combined from both the Blue Ridge and Ridge & Valley ecoregions for the month of March. The majority of these records (42) were reported during the last week of the month, eight come from the third week, and five from the second week.
This appears to be four days earlier than the former high which is listed below:
11 March 2009 (Murray, Dietrich) Muscadine Lane
When heard dozens of times, I was located in the Ridge & Valley. I was there hoping for a Barn Ow1, but had this instead. The bird was calling from the east, very close to where the two ecoregions meet and the land begins to rise into the foothills that make up the eastern boundary of Bartow. I was approximately a quarter mile from the transitional point in the topography. I estimate the nightjar being more than a football field's length away from me. I could hear it easily, but it wasn't too close. Therefore, I would place this record in the valley instead of the foothills.
The Blue Ridge ecoregion's early arrival date appears to be:
14 March 2019 (Union, Walton) Gooch Mountain Shelter
Happy Spring Migration,
Joshua Spence,
Murray County
You must be a subscriber to post to GABO-L.
Instructions for subscribing (and the guidelines) are found here:
http://www.gos.org/georgia-birders-online Please read the guidelines before posting.
