Ghosts of Atlanta Christmas Pasts

On December 25, 2023December 14, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta, bird photography1 Comment

For years Brett and I made the trip to Atlanta over Christmas to visit his family. We had lived there for years and it was like going home. The first pictures I could find from those trips was in 2009. We were heading into the city and I noticed the Peachtree Plaza Hotel (round building on the left) was missing a lot of windows. A tornado had come through in 2008 and it took 2 years for them to order and replace the windows.

The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree on the top of Macy’s at Lenox Mall.

My sister Debbie and I went to Atlantic Station and walked around. They had a huge Christmas tree that you could see from the interstate (Debbie was standing under it). The 2nd shot is from the Station. I’m sure the view has changed a lot with more buildings going up every year.

We had a cold trip in 2010. Above is me in sweats taking a picture of the tree at Brett’s parents.

The forecast called for snow but we really just got frozen rain. It didn’t stay long.

I found a chipmunk in Brett’s parents backyard. I think he thought I was going to try and steal the acorns in his cheeks. We don’t have them here in the Tampa bay area and I missed seeing them.

I saw my first cedar waxwings down the street. I went for walk before dark on Christmas eve and saw them in the trees. I ran back to the house and got my camera and they were still there.

Heading back to Atlanta for Christmas in 2011.

I had heard there were good birds at the Oakland Cemetery in downtown Atlanta so I bundled up and headed out with my camera. I saw my first nuthatch there.

I found Margaret Mitchell’s grave. She wrote Gone With The Wind in Atlanta.

Me being a tourist in my old town. My sister and I went to the Christmas Village in Stone Mountain Park. I had my old Nikon bag with my Nikon D90 in it back then.

Buddy always made the trip with us. This was Christmas 2012.

I went back to Oakland Cemetery for a cold walk on Christmas Eve, You can see the gold top of the Georgia capital from here.

I saw my first dark eyed junco on this trip. There were several here and they were very accommodating.

It wouldn’t be a Christmas blog without a cardinal in it even if the snow is fake and there were plenty at the cemetery. Brett’s family eventually moved down to Florida so we don’t get up to Atlanta as much as we used to and not for Christmas anymore.

Have a Merry Christmas and stay warm if you are up north!

A morning in a cemetery – Skywatch Friday

On January 17, 2013January 8, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta, bird photography6 Comments

It wouldn’t be a day out in nature without seeing some squirrels.

Blue jay keeping an eye on me.

I think this is a chipping sparrow? They were all over the cemetery.

Getting a drink from an empty planter.

Robins were everywhere.

Mockingbird on a cross.

A warbler in the bushes.

I could hear this carolina wren singing all over the cemetery.

Flowers were still blooming.

You can see the capital from across the cemetery.

Even though it was a little cold, it was a beautiful morning. The sun came in and out all morning. Nothing like spending a little time in a cemetery right before Christmas. I’m sure the people there thought I was crazy with my long lens taking pictures of birds. I’ve always said “Cemeteries have good birds.” Even in downtown Atlanta. I was surprised to see so many birds there. I didn’t see the red-headed woodpeckers that I had seen on my last 2 trips there. They may have been hiding. I thought I’d only be there an hour and then go somewhere else, maybe the zoo close by but ended up staying 3 hours.

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Rare birds for me in an Atlanta cemetery

On January 14, 2013January 15, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta, bird photography18 Comments

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This eastern towhee was very accommodating. He just sat there staring at me.

Another towhee looking for food on the ground.

Dark eyed junco getting some food.

Upclose. The cemetery was full of these guys.

Mouthful of seeds.

Posing on the planter.

As I was taking pictures of the juncos, this white breasted nuthatch flew into a tree right in front of me. He only stayed for a few seconds and it was the only one I saw that day.

Two days before Christmas I had a few hours to kill in the morning. I headed for the Oakland cemetery in downtown Atlanta. It was cold (35 degrees is almost death degrees for this Florida person). I had tons of layers on and actually remembered my gloves which I wore the entire time I was there. Oakland cemetery is a very old historic cemetery with a few local famous people buried there (including Margaret Mitchell who wrote Gone With The Wind). When I first got there around 8:30 there was no one else around but by 9:30, people were wandering around. Tourists come to visit and locals walk through when walking their dogs. A few joggers cut through the cemetery as well.

The cemetery was full of birds but not a lot of variety. At first I thought the above were all first sightings but after digging through some old pictures when I got back from the trip, I had seen all of the above only once before and gotten really bad pictures which I never posted. I have not seen these birds in Florida, only Atlanta so I was excited to get shots of them. There were several towhees and tons of juncos everywhere. A few other more common birds were there but more on those later.

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A beautiful redhead in a cemetery

On August 20, 2012August 21, 2012 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography16 Comments

Right side.

Now left side.

From the back.

Entire front.

One of the many robins.

“What are you doing here lady?” said Whiskers, the squirrel.

Last December I had seen a redheaded woodpecker high up in the trees and I think it was a juvenile. It was dark and cloudy that day when I was at Oakland Cemetery so I only got a far away blurry shot of it. Since I was back in Atlanta for the 4th of July, I headed out to the cemetery with Hubby in hopes of finding it again. There were two there. One was high up in the trees and the other one came down and landed close by on a utility pole in front of me. They never got close to each other so I only have single shots of them. I wonder if they nest there. Was that juvenile I saw in December an offspring of the couple and maybe was born that summer? It would be pretty great if these fairly rare woodpeckers were nesting in downtown Atlanta.

It was worth braving the heat to find these birds. Oh yeah, there were also tons of robins at the cemetery. And about a million squirrels. I didn’t see any chipmunks though. We don’t have them in central Florida so it’s fun to see them when we visit Atlanta.

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