Sat, Oct 5 2013 - The Wilder side of Piedmont Park! Birdwatching Hike with Audubon Society experts (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Charlie Cottingham Participants: Charlie Cottingham, Kristie, Barbara F, Savon Johnson, HARRY Roisman, Linda Bratton Haynes, Lisa Tait

We had fantastic sightings of more than 200 amazing birds this morning.  Linda took lots of beautiful closeup photos including a huge barred owl staring down at us from high in a tree.  We also saw a great blue heron, a  rare hooded warbler, various large hawks and juvenile red-headed woodpeckers - more than 30 different species in all!  Expert Audubon birders Steve & Coralee (who live just east of the park) and their friend Jason did a superb job guiding the walk and identifying many partially hidden birds by their calls rather than by sight.
  The fall weather, wildflowers and and foliage were spectacular and we especially enjoyed the "Six Springs Wetland" trail where more birds were concentrated than anywhere else in the park - also enjoyed hiking the yet-unpaved part of the Atlanta Beltline on the east side of the park where we saw the huge owl.  We hope to join our Audubon friends often in the future for this regular "8 AM 1st Saturday " Piedmont Park Audubon field trip!  -Submitted by Charlie, 3 PM Sat Oct 5