Animal Tales from the Birdhouse June 29, 2010

Lookin Out My Front Door, I see my full-size and slightly overweight labrador retriever Caledonia jumping repeatedly high in the air, directly underneath the bird feeder. As I walk nearer, I see the problem, a fat squirrel is trying to climb up the metal rod that suspends the bird feeder from the pecan tree, but try as he/she might, the squirrel cannot reach the top of the rod, and so he/she slides back to the roof of the bird feeder and immediately tries it again with the same effect. This goes on for about 1 minute, which is 7 minutes in dog, and what must have seemed an eternity to the squirrel. Finally, after I shook the bird feeder a few times trying to end this stalemate, the squirrel reached the top of the rod and made it to freedom, this time. Good dog, Caledonia!

Fort Hawkins Fourth of July Celebration June 25, 2010

Fort Hawkins Fourth of July Celebration

Noon-5 p.m. July 4, 2010, Emery Highway, Macon, Georgia, USA. Benjamin Hawkins in his American Revolutionary uniform will present a patriotic program at 2 p.m. concluding with the original Star Spangled Banner poem. Benefit BBQ plates, featuring famous Fresh Air BBQ, are $12.50 each and will be served from 1-4 p.m. with tickets available from all Fort Hawkins Commission members, by calling 742-3003 or at http://www.forthawkins.com. Free admission.

Read more: http://www.macon.com/2010/06/25/1173071/main-calendar.html#ixzz0rrtCNYJk

Sketch of Fort Hawkins, ca. 1863.

GPR Survey at Ebenezer 2010 June 25, 2010

Current GPR survey work at the colonial townsite of New Ebenezer has revealed the complete outline of an octagonal British fortification that guarded the entrance to town. The fort, known as Redoubt Number 3, was built under the direction of Colonel James Moncrief in early 1779 and was filled-in by Continental troops in June, 1782–thus its deposits contain a history of three years of the American Revolution in Georgia. No trace of this fort is visible on the surface but archaeological tests confirmed its existence. This image is a preliminary version and the final version will be published in a LAMAR Institute Research Publication. This project was funded by the Georgia Salzburger Society, Inc. The goal of that project was to defined the outer boundaries of the Jerusalem Cemetery, and that effort is ongoing.

GPR Overlay Map of British Redoubt 3, Ebenezer, Georgia

Back to the Islands June 2, 2010

For those of who that are Ground Penetrating Radar geeks, or people who have an interest in Georgia’s barrier islands, I just uploaded two short research reports on the subject. Fieldwork for both (St. Catherines Island and Sapelo Island) were done in 2006 and it has taken me this long to put them on the web. These two reports are located at the LAMAR Institute’s report website (Reports 91 and 92).