Bartow County
Birding Locations |
|
Legend
Su = summer
F = fall
W = winter
Sp = spring
YR = year-round
[July 2005] = Most recently checked by KB
[N/A] = Not yet checked by KB
 = Location is within +/- 10 miles of the indicated interstate highway. This is especially helpful for out-of-town birders who may be passing through Georgia while travelling and would like to get a quick birding fix. This is also helpful for birders planning a "Big Day," where staying close to a major interstate corridor is essential for covering the greatest diversity of habitats in 24 hours.
 = Location is a "Georgia Birding Hotspot." Though this designation is subjective, it generally means that the area should be given high priority when planning a birding trip to a region. Some Hotspots offer incredible, productive birding virtually year-round (Jekyll Island), while the best birding of the year may be more seasonal at others (Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park).
SBM = Shorebird Migration; this very generally refers to mid-March thru May in spring and mid-July thru mid-October in fall. Fall is the prime shorebird season. Baird's and Buff-breasted Sandpipers likely only in fall. Peak passage of specific species is quite variable.
PM = Passerine Migration; this very generally refers to April and May in spring and August thru mid-October in fall. This includes all songbirds - wood warblers, vireos, tanagers, thrushes, flycatchers, etc. Peak passage of specific species is quite variable. Spring migration is much more concentrated and birds are often in colorful breeding plumage. Fall migration is more spread out; fall wood warblers can be notoriously difficult to identify (or even impossible to determine sex), with numerous juveniles which do not exhibit the same obvious field marks as adults.
IBA = Important Bird Area; the aim of the IBA Program is to identify and conserve key breeding and feeding sites for birds. An Important Bird Area is a place that provides essential habitat for one or more species of bird, whether in breeding season, winter, or during migration. These sites are considered to be exceptionally important for bird conservation; see Georgia's IBA Webpage. If you visit an IBA, help by filing a simple online report.
Bartow County
1) The Bartow County Loop [Jan 2008]  
YR
[DeLorme pg. 19, E-7,8]
Read about Birding Georgia's Sod Farms
Migrating shorebirds, open habitat birds, wintering waterfowl, swallows. Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper, American Golden Plover, Stilt Sandpiper, Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Bank Swallow, White-rumped Sandpiper, Dickcissel, Bobolink, Brewer's Blackbird, Merlin, Bald Eagle, Horned Lark, and Black Tern are all interesting spp. seen along the route since 2006. Begin at Exit 283 on I-75. Go WEST for 0.9 miles coming from points south, 0.7 miles from points north and turn left onto Old Alabama Rd (you'll first continue under the overpass of Hwy 41, and the first LEFT after going under the overpass is Old Alabama Rd.; a large brown sign for Indian Mounds points to this road, and there is a "No Thru Trucks" sign on the street sign). Continue 4.1 miles, and turn RIGHT at a light onto Douthit Ferry Rd. [DeLorme: p. 19, grid E-8,9] In 0.5 miles, park at the soccer park on the left; Horned Lark and Eastern Meadowlark are often found on the edges of this parking lot. You can walk the trail to the river for interesting passerines during migration. During shorbird migration, bird the sod farm from the paved trail or the road shoulder, but don't even go near the sod! You should also drive or walk about 30 yds further down the road and turn right onto Indian Mounds Rd. Scan the sod to your right out your window as you drive slowly (PHOTO 5), then on your left after you pass the maintenance buildings (PHOTO 6). You may stop *briefly* on the shoulder in a gravel area to scope the sod and a muddy, marshy area on the left (PHOTO 7) if you notice that birds are present while cruising through. Do ALL birding along this road from inside your car if you do not walk the shoulder from the soccer fields – look for shorebirds like Buff-breasted Sandpiper, American Golden Plover, Pectoral Sandpiper, Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, etc. Do not block traffic or pull off on a blind curve or on a soft shoulder, no matter what bird you thought you caught a glimpse of! Be aware that the farm owners are NOT birder-friendly and be ready to leave if any farm vehicle approaches you; do not even try to discuss the matter with farm employees and be polite if they engage you, even if rudely. Return to Old Alabama Rd. the way you came (using Douthit Ferry Rd) and turn RIGHT to continue west for 1.8 miles, where it dead-ends into GA Hwy 61. Turn RIGHT onto Hwy 61, continue 0.4 miles, and take the 2nd LEFT onto Old Alabama Rd. (if you miss this turn, you can just continue past the airport and turn LEFT onto GA Hwy 113 at a gas station about 0.75 miles down the road). Old Alabama Rd. will dead-end into GA Hwy 113 after 1.2 miles, turn LEFT (be careful at this intersection because the road is very steep). Continue 1.8 miles and turn LEFT onto Brandon Farm Rd. [DeLorme: p. 19, grid E-8] Drive slow with windows down, listening for Blue Grosbeak, Field Sparrows, Eastern Meadowlarks, etc. Bobolinks and Orchard Orioles are often found in the area of the power lines in migration. You will come to a pasture area with a cattle watering hole on the left and an ephemeral muddy area on the right. Park on the shoulder here, and look for shore birds from your car at first in case they are spooky. Then, get out and walk around a little, listening and looking for Dickcissel, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Meadowlark, Grasshopper Sparrow, Eastern Kingbird, and other open habitat birds. When the road dead-ends into Taff Rd. (1.1 miles from Hwy 113), turn RIGHT and park in the gravel area on the left (PHOTO 1). Make sure you do not block access to the cattle farm buildings. The owners have never said anything to me, and I always wave and smile and they seem fine with birders being present. Scope the muddy pond across the road (PHOTO 2) for shorebirds like Stilt Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, etc. An American Golden Plover was found April 2006, Buff-breasted and Baird's Sandpipers were seen late Aug. 2006, and an amazing breeding plumage Red-necked Phalarope was found in late May 2007 so this spot is always worth checking in any season! Continue down Taff Rd, briefly scanning a second lake on the right (PHOTO 3). Sometimes waterfowl like Gadwall, Green or Blue-winged Teal, American Wigeon, or waders will be here, and if the water is down you may find a few shorebirds on the edges. Swallows congregate all along Taff Rd in this area, and Bank Swallow is somewhat reliable from mid-August to September so pay attention. In winter, this is a good area to look for Brewer's Blackbirds and always has Savannah Sparrows in good numbers. Turn around and continue down Taff Rd (passing Brandon Farm Rd). In 0.8 miles after passing Brandon Farm Rd, there is a field on the right that is good for Bobolink in migration, and Blue Grosbeak in spring-summer. In 1.1 miles after Brandon Farm Rd, turn right onto Floyd Creek Church Rd. Follow the road for 1.0 mile and continue listening for open habitat birds. Scan groups of swallows for Bank Swallow in migration. At a Stop Sign, turn right onto Hills Creek Rd and continue 1.3 miles to a very large pasture on the RIGHT. Stop on the shoulder and scope the marshy pond – it’s best in winter for ducks, geese, and Sandhill Cranes and unfortunately is really far from the road (PHOTO 4). Be careful and polite here with local traffic; because there is a deep ditch on both sides of the road you will be blocking part of a lane with your car so smile and wave at anyone who comes by and make sure to step off the road with your scope. Two Greater White-fronted Geese wintered here in 2006 and 2007 and an impressive count of nine of this species was seen on 2/19/07; you may also have Snow Goose, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, etc. and flocks of blackbirds which may contain Brewer's, but they are usually so far off the road that positive ID may not be possible. From mid-January thru February there may be good numbers of Sandhill Cranes on the ground - an amazing sight and sound! As of late summer 2007, the cattle company had done some major excavation work to improve the cattle watering hole, but this virtually destroyed the marshy habitat so time will tell how it affects the birds. When done, continue down the road 0.3 miles through a tight S-curve and you will come back to Hwy 113 and a BP gas station. Turn left onto Hwy 113 from Floyd Creek Church Rd and continue 3.3 miles to the community of Taylorsville. Turn right onto Main St. (a small Pure gas station is here on the right). Take a sharp left curve, and at the next stop sign in the center of town, turn right. You will then go through another stop sign, taking a slight right and putting you onto Euharlee Rd. You will see a sod farm open up on the right. [DeLorme: p. 19, grid E-7; Birding Georgia: p. 33] Park at the baseball field on your left and you can scope the farm from the road shoulder; you may be able to get a higher vantage point from a knoll near the baseball field with an apparently abandoned building on it, but this is private property so use your best judgement. Watch out for traffic and do not walk the roads going into the farm. As you return to Hwy 113, continue straight at the sharp curve instead of following it to the Pure gas station, and it will take you through some open pasture land which may have Blue Grosbeak, Grasshopper Sparrow or other open habitat birds in spring and summer. When you deadend into Hwy 113, turn left. Backtrack and continue exactly 1.5 miles past Old Alabama Rd and you'll join Hwy 61 at a Chevron gas station. Continue on Hwy 113/61 for 0.5 miles past the gas station and you will see a sod farm on the left as you go over a small bridge. At the next road, turn left at a sign that reads "Cartersville West Industrial Park" - be wary that as of April 2007 the sign has been torn down due to widening of Hwy 113/61. [DeLorme: p. 19, grid E-8] You can scope a good bit of sod from the shoulder of this road, and this area may have Buff-breasted Sandpiper in September. It is a good idea to bird the edges of the low scrubby area with pine saplings across the road from the main sod area in spring and early summer for species like Yellow-breasted Chat and Prairie Warbler. Continuing on the road will bring you by a couple smaller sod fields on the left. When finished, turn right back onto Hwy113/61, then left at the next intersection with Hwy 61 (at Chevron). Pass the airport on your left, then turn left onto Old Alabama Rd and return to I-75 the way you came. Some of the cross-streets of Hwy 113 in the area of Brandon Rarm Rd are also worth exploring (like Beazely Rd, across from Brandon Farm Rd, which has a nice field for Bobolink in migration). NOTE: Do not attempt to bird the area along Stiles Rd. shown in Beaton's book - there is a dispute with the landowners about public vs. private access and it's better to just stay away.
      
PHOTO 1 PHOTO 2 PHOTO 3 PHOTO 4 PHOTO 5 PHOTO 6 PHOTO 7
Photos and text by KB.
2) Pine Log WMA [Nov 2007] 
PM, late Sp-Su for breeding birds
See Beaton's Birding Georgia.
[DeLorme: p. 19, grid C-10; Birding Georgia: p. 38]
This is one of my personal favorites in early spring to early summer, for neotropical migrants, breeding birds, and nocturnal species like Whip-poor-will, Chuck-will's-widow, and owls. April and May are also awesome because it is the only time the access road gates are open to vehicles because of turkey hunts. Stamp Creek hosts breeding pairs of Louisiana Waterthrush, though they can be tricky to hear or see on every visit and should not be expected. In recent years a resident population of Red Crossbills was observed on a few occasions; despite many searches in various seasons they have not been seen since February 2004. They were seen off-and-on that year, and if you come here for a winter walk to check for them, you may also enjoy the treat of a large number of Fox Sparrows. In winter 2006-07 a group of up to 20 birds was reliably seen along the road within the first 200 yards of the gate at the parking lot near the bridge over Stamp Creek. Just east of this access point is another road into the property, near Stamp Creek Church; however, there is not as much room to park - only 2-3 vehicles, and make sure not to block the gate. A personal favorite spot both for birding and just beauty is a wildlife plot that is a couple miles down the road from the main parking lot. After passing a large planted wildlife field on the left that is immediately adjacent to the road, continue down over a creek (listen for Kentucky Warblers in this area) and head up the next hill until you see another large clearing on your left with a few large trees in it. Park here and bird the field thoroughly - Indigo Buntings, White-eyed Vireos, Prairie Warblers, and Yellow-breasted Chats are likely in spring-summer. Bluebirds often nest in a cavity in one of the trees in the middle of the field so keep your distance and look out for them. Directly across the field from the turn-in, there is a very rough but walkable "road" for tractors to access and mow a separate wildlife plot way up on the hill. As you walk up this road, you should hear Black-and-white Warblers, Prairie Warblers, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Field Sparrows singing. In areas of pine (there are plenty in here), you may also spot uncommon Pine Elfin butterflies along with good numbers of Sleepy Oranges, Red-banded Hairstreaks, and other butterflies. Finally, you will come into a gorgeous mountain-top wildlife clearing, with 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside (PHOTO 1). If you don't mind the hike in (gate closed), this also makes an awesome "hawk watch" vantage point in fall. Note that PHOTOS 2-5 were taken in winter so the views will be quite different in the prime spring season at this location.
    
PHOTO 1 PHOTO 2 PHOTO 3 PHOTO 4 PHOTO 5
Text and photo by KB
3) Reynold's Bend Rd [Jan 2008]
W for pipits, larks, etc.
[DeLorme pg. 19, grid D-7 or Lat 34 13' 07' N; Long 84 59' 14' W]
This area has great potential for open-habitat winter species like American Pipit, American Kestrel, or (speculatively) Lapland Longspur. The habitat is very similar to that at Fite Bend Rd (Gordon County) with vast fields of corn stubble, but the problem is that the vast majority of the property, along a bend in the Etowah River, is private and not accessible to birders. I hope to do some scouting to see if I can determine the owners and talk to them about allowing birders to briefly visit, but until access is granted the area that is viewable from public roads represents only about 20% of what is there. Still, a quick visit in early Feb 2007 yielded a nice flock of American Pipit (30-40 birds), with many more possible in the largest fields just to the north of where the road becomes private. Coming west on US Hwy 411 from Cartersville, turn right (north) onto Reynold's Bend Rd. Almost immediately on your left is a small pull-out affording a view of a nice field of corn stubble on the west side of the road. Continue down the road, passing through a few more small patches of corn stubble. The edges of these fields may host sparrows like Field, White-throated, Savannah, and Song along with Hermit Thrush and Dark-eyed Juncos. You will eventually reach a gate with a stop sign on it. Park in a gravel area on the left just before this gate. From here, you can scan a fairly large area of corn stubble, where a nice number of American Pipit were found in Feb 2007. You can see silos ahead in the distance - just beyond them lay much larger fields (as seen on Google Earth) but as stated above, this is private property and cannot be viewed.
|
|
Copyright 2008 Ken Blankenship. All rights reserved.
|
|
