Fall Bird Migration Talk

by Ja'Qualen Cameron

We are approaching autumn soon and you know what that means? The Fall Bird Migration will happen soon so come join us on September 11, 2017 for an interactive bird discussion with Melanie Furr from the Atlanta Audubon Society.

This is an excellent time to learn about the factors that effect migration, how to track migration, and making the most out of the bird migration. Many birds including neo-tropical songbirds, kinglets, and yellow bellied sapsuckers will migrate from North America as far south as Peru in South America.

 

Please visit Atlanta Audubon Society if you want to check out more information regarding their efforts to help birds and birding in the greater Atlanta area. One program that the Atlanta Audubon Society promotes is "Lights Out" - an endeavor designed to influence more people in the Atlanta area to recognize the effect that light and buildings have upon bird survival. The program is designed to help reduce the bird deaths caused by building collision.
 

According to the Atlanta Audubon Society:

Lights Out Atlanta is a new program of Atlanta Audubon Society designed to help reduce bird deaths caused by building collisions. Each year, an estimated 350 million to 1 billion birds die in the United States after colliding with buildings. The problem is particularly bad during spring and fall migration.
 

Lights Out Atlanta is a voluntary program encouraging building owners and residential homeowners to turn off or reduce lighting from midnight to dawn during the peak bird migration periods.  Participants pledge to reduce non-essential lighting during peak migration periods of March 15 to May 31 (spring) and August 15 to November 15 (fall). The goal is to create a safe path through Atlanta for migrating birds and to make the City in the Trees a Bird Friendly Community.

 

Eclipse day!!!

In case you are trying to figure out how much of the sun will be 'hidden' in your location, here is a handy web link that gives specific details.

Remember to be safe in your viewing!

 

Eclipse phenomena - from www.greatamericaneclipse.com

From begin to end, the eclipse lasts nearly three hours (including the partial stages) if you are within the narrow path of totality. 

 

There are two general rules for safely viewing solar eclipses:

1. When any part of the Sun is visible, do not look at the Sun without approved solar filters that are used properly. Do not assume that sunglasses, exposed film, CDs, or any other ad hoc filter is safe. Only use approved solar filters such as eclipse glasses from a reputable source. Failure to heed this rule may result in permanent eye damage.
2. During the two minutes of the total solar eclipse, it is indeed safe to look directly at the Sun's corona with your eyes and through binoculars. But when totality ends and it suddenly brightens, instantly turn your eyes away and put your eclipse glasses or filters back on immediately.

More on safely viewing eclipses: http://www.mreclipse.com/Totality2/TotalityCh11.html and http://www.nao.ac.jp/E/file/solar_eclipse_viewing_guide-v1.pdf

Solar Eclipse talk 8/14 @ 6:45 pm

Hope to see you at Gallery Row tonight to hear Ben Jenkins share his expertise regarding the total solar eclipse happening next Monday!