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American Birding® 
. A S S O C I A 1 ION 
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SOUTHERN ATLANTIC 
in Rabun, GA 3 May (KB). An Ovenbird that 
wintered in Manteo, NC was present until 25 
Mar QL). Several unique Connecticut Warbler 
encounters involved 2 singing males at Hen- 
derson Park, Dekalb, GA 13-26 May QSe, ph. 
SSI, m.ob.). Mourning Warbler sightings in- 
cluded one at the Botanical Gardens, Clarke, 
GA 9 May QM et ah); one at Clyde Shepherd 
N.A., DeKalb, GA 20 May QSe); and one in 
Greensboro, NC 30 May (HL et ah). 
A wintering Clay-colored Sparrow in Edge- 
combe, NC was last seen 19 Mar (RD), while 
one was quite late at the S.S.S. 9 May (SC). A 
Lark Sparrow visited Henderson, NC 9 Apr 
(RS, ph. WF). Increasing Regionwide are Lin- 
colns Sparrows, with seven reports including 
2 in Gilmer, GA 4 May (KB). Remarkably, a 
male Snow Bunting was spotted near the 1676 
m summit of Snake Mt., Watauga, NC 8 Mar 
(BBo). A wintering Summer Tanager remained 
in Wilmington, NC until 30 Mar (AW), while 
a total of 52 Scarlet Tanagers was notable at 
K.M.T. 1 May (GB). Unusually far inland were 
single Painted Buntings near Merrimon, NC 
22 Apr (HP), in Banow, GA 30 Apr (VJ), and 
in Jackson, GA 2 May (BW). This spring phe- 
nomenon has been documented for several 
years, and efforts are underway to determine if 
these birds represent eastern overshoots or 
migrating western birds, using genetic tech- 
niques from blood and tail feather samples 
from populations in Florida, Georgia, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia (PWS). 
Dickcissels were very widely reported this sea- 
son, including breeding colonies in all three 
states; the high count of migrating Bobolinks 
was 800+ at A.W.M.A. 3 May (NF). Yellow- 
headed Blackbirds were observed in George- 
town, SC 4 Apr (B&JM) and in Wilmington, 
NC 8 Apr (LL); a dead male was found in 
Houston, GA 28 Mar (JidejSe). A male Shiny 
Cowbird was collected on Sullivans L, SC 21 
May (fide WP); this species has proven very 
scarce in recent years. 
Though known to nest in the Regions mts., 
direct evidence of breeding Red Crossbills is 
rare: ad. males were observed feeding fledg- 
lings in Rabun, GA 25 Apr (vt. KB) and in Bre- 
vard, NC 13 May (ph. CP). The Georgia birds 
were part of a hock that had been resident 
near feeders for almost a year; audio analysis 
proved them to be Type 1 Red Crossbills (KB, 
tMY). Invading forces of Pine Siskin began 
their retreat from the Region late Apr, though 
some lingered well into May. Usually nesting 
only in the high-elevation spruce-fir zone of 
North Carolina, ads. were surprisingly ob- 
served feeding fledglings at Durant Nature 
Park, NC 30 May QC) in the lower piedmont; 
this hints at the possibility that above-average 
numbers nested across the Region as hold- 
overs from the large irruption. One banded 1 1 
Jan in Lamar, GA turned up dead in Kalkas- 
ka, MI 13 May (CM). Perhaps the most excit- 
ing vagrant of the season was an ad. male 
Lesser Goldfinch that visited feeders in Beau- 
fort, NC 2-4 Mar (RM, ph. HS); this black- 
backed individual provided only the 2nd 
record for the state and Region. 
Contributors: Nick Anich, George Armistead, 
Parker Backstrom, Giff Beaton, Brandon Best, 
Pat Bland (PBl), Ken Blankenship, Brian Bock- 
hahn (BBo), Edward S. Brinkley, Patrick Brisse 
(PBr), G. Gordon Brown, Patricia Bums (PBu), 
Steve Calver, Rachel Cass, Walt Chambers 
(WCh), Doug Chapman, Marjorie Clark, Greg 
Clewis, Randy Climpson (RCl), Doris Cohrs 
(DCo), John Connors, Walton Conway 
(WCo), Will Cook, Ricky Davis, Matt Daw 
(MDa), Scott DePue, Nathan Dias, Bill Dob- 
bins, Marion Dobbs, Leonard Dupree, Frank 
Enders, Jesse Fagan Nathan Farnau, 
Chris Feeney, Jim Flynn Wayne 
Forsythe, Dot Freeman, John Fussell, Hugh 
Garrett, Beth Garver, Gilbert Grant, Andy 
Haines, John Haire, David Hedeen (DHe), 
Chris Hill, J.B. Hines, Paul Hinkle, David Hol- 
lie. Penny Hooper (PHo), Earl Horn, Steven 
N.G. Howell (SH), Ali lyoob, Jim Jackson, Ver- 
na Johnson, Chris Kelly, Nathan Klaus, Rick 
Knight, A.J. Knue, Loretta Kolodzieski, Carol 
Lambert, Vanessa Lane, Patrick Leary, David 
Lenat, Jeff Lewis, Ritch Lilly, Henry Link, Lin- 
da Losche, Bill Lotz, David Lovett (DLo), Mar- 
cia Lyons, Sidney Maddock, Michael McCloy 
(MMc), Billy McCord (BMc), Ross McGregor, 
Patty McLean (PMc), John McMahan QMc), 
Joel McNeal, Mark McShane, Bob & Judy 
Maxwell, Alan Meijer, A1 Mercer (AMe), Kathy 
Miller, Terry Miller, Darlene Moore, Pat Moore, 
Charlie Muise, Brian Murphy, Randy Newman, 
Bill Newton, Brian Patteson, Inc. (BPI), Jack 
Peachey OPe), Taylor Piephoff, Barbara Pigott, 
Jesse Pope, William Post, Carolyn Powell, Hol- 
ly Powell, Paul Raney, Carol Reigle, Keith 
Rogers, Dan Roper, Bob Sattelmeyer, Harry D. 
Sell, Ron Selvey Jeff Sewell QSe), Lou Skrabec 
(LSk), Steve Slayton (SSI), Chris Sloan, Curtis 
Smalling (CSm), Sharon Smart, Bruce Smith- 
son (BSm), Chris Snook (CSn), Jacob Socolar 
QSo), Josh Southern, Joshua Spence QSp), 
Lois Stacey, Darin Sujjavanich, Paul W. Sykes, 
Jr. (PWS), Cindy Tobin, Phil & Sharon Turner, 
Dan Vickers, Steve Wagner (SWa), Bruce 
Weeks, John Weinstein, Marilyn Westphaul, 
Carol Williamson, Sheila Willis, Brad Winn, 
Matt Young, Gene Zielinski. 
Ken Blankenship, 3774 Tulip Tree Road 
Marietta, Georgia 30066, (kenhblankenship@comcast.net) 
412 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
