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| By Lydia Thompson, reprinted with permission from the June 29th edition of the Golden Islander, Volume 35, #13 |
With a couple of flaps of its long graceful wings, the osprey hovers over the pond. On the upward movement of the flap, his feet come down. He reaches out, talons extended to the water. With one very authoritative grab, he snatches a fish and flies off. He is heading to a small group of trees that is surrounded by salt marsh. One or two of those trees are limbless snags looking like skeletons against the early morning sky. His mate is waiting. She greets him with a series of loud chips. She is sitting on a nest. This is a success story.
My father was a boy scout growing up along the New Jersey shore in the 1920’s. His summer job was paddling his canoe in the marshes near Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge just north of Atlantic City. His assignment was to count and watch the ospreys nesting there. He would say that there were Ospreys on every power pole-hard to believe by the 1970’s when Ospreys had become a rare bird.
With the increased use of DDT, the birds were disappearing. DDT was a powerful pesticide widely used in the 1960’s & 70’s. DDT got into the water and the fish. The birds ate the fish. The eggs the birds laid were too fragile for the mother to sit. The Osprey was almost extinct along with the Peregrine Falcon, Brown Pelican and other birds. With the banning of DDT and the help from people who cared, the Osprey has come back! In the 1980’s, Georgia Power erected Osprey platforms for the birds to use for nesting around on Jekyll. These platforms are still in use today.
The Osprey is in a family all by itself, placed between the hawks and the falcons. It is a stately bird black backed and white breasted. The head is white with a black streak through its eye. It has a small but lethal looking black, deeply hooked bill. The male and female Ospreys are slightly different. The male has a clear white breast where the female has a necklace of brown feathers. She is larger than he is and they both are larger than the Red-tailed Hawks. In fact eagles are the only other raptor that is larger.
With keen vision the Osprey can see the movement of a fish below the surface of the water. It lives up to its nicknames of sea eagle and fish hawk, for fish is its main food. An Osprey will have to catch one to three fish everyday of its life. During the summer season when the female is sitting on the nest watching over the chicks, the male must catch between 6 to 8 fish a day. And this bird is built for fishing. It is unique in that its talons are curved in a one third circle. It has 2 toes forward and 2 toes backwards. The bottom of these toes is covered with small sharp spicules. The position of the toes and these spicules make a perfect net. It permits the osprey to catch hold on to its slippery catch. Not only do these birds have acute vision for seeing fish, they have diving skills. They dive feet first into the water often well into the water to grab a fish. After emerging from the water it will give a powerful shake to dry off. The bird then will face the fish in the direction it is going to fly. It is funny to watch the bird carry the fish this way.
I have seen Ospreys start nesting as early as February. Nesting is a long process of about three months. Ospreys sit on the eggs for over a month.
Once the chicks hatch, they will grow in the nest for about 48 to 59 days before they fly. This is called fledging. The fledglings will still be fed for a couple of weeks until they can catch their own fish. To see an Osprey nesting, go to Captain Wylly Road just east of the golf courses. There is a pair nesting on the phone & cell tower. There are several other places to see this Come Back Kid nesting. It is a wonderful time of year as there are lots of birds nesting on the islands. See how many you can find. Please be very careful around the south end of Jekyll where the Wilson’s Plovers are nesting.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Whether Lydia is talking about birds, banding, or drawing birds, her major focus is to intertwine her bird studies and her art. In 1983 she left her safe job and for over a year to travel and learn about birds. From that time she has traveled widely in US, Canada and Mexico. She decided to settle in the Golden Isles of Coastal Georgia. Now she is pursuing her studies of birds and the art of the intaglio print. Preservation and Conservation of bird habitats are her major concern. You can see her etchings at the Nature Cottage in the Jekyll’s Historic District. Don’t forget to make plans to
attend the 4th Annual Georgia’s Colonial Birding & Nature Festival October 13-15, 2006. |
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The Swingin’ Medallions have been based out of the Greenwood South Carolina area, since the early 1960’s. Their musical roots came from listening to the early rhythm and blues acts. The music most often associated with the band is beach music, frat rock, R&B, or shaggin’ music. After a few years of touring colleges from the Carolinas to the Louisiana Bayou, John McElrath took the group to Arthur Smith’s Studio in Charlotte North Carolina, to record “Double Shot (of My Baby’s Love)”. The song became a million seller in 1966, and has been a party classic for college students for decades. “She Drives Me Out Of My Mind” and “Hey, Hey, Baby” were top 40 hits in 1966 and 1967, but “Double Shot” remains the signature song of the Swingin’ Medallions.
The members of the Swingin’ Medallions have changed over the past thirty years, with John McElrath being the leader and only member to be performing today. The personnel of the band has always included around eight members with at least a four piece horn section. The high energy party style stage performance of the first Medallions has been passed down to the band that performs today. The present Medallions stage show has coined them the name “The Party Band of the South.”
Many of the Medallions attended and graduated from Lander University in Greenwood, SC while performing in the south east. The University of Georgia was also the home of some of the band members.
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Lewis Grizzard wrote in a 1993 article that, “Even today, when I hear the Swingin’ Medallions sing “Double Shot of My Baby’s Love, “ it makes me want to stand outside in the hot sun with a milkshake cup full of beer in one hand and a slightly-drenched nineteen-year-old coed in the other.”
On August 11-12, join in the 40th Anniversary Celebration of “Double Shot” During this weekend celebration, many members who have played with the band over the last 40 years will make the trip to Jekyll Island to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime performance. The weekend’s schedule will have the bands playing on three different occasions. Friday and Saturday evening performances will be at the Convention Center. Doors open at 8PM and tickets are $15. A limited number of tickets are available for the evening performances so you may want to purchase them ahead of time. Saturday afternoon’s performance will take place on the beach from 11AM – 6PM and tickets are $12. For Saturday afternoon’s performance, children 12 and under are free and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Jekyll Island Sea Turtle Center.
For more information about the Beach Music Festival, please visit www.Medallions.com. |
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