Forty Oaks, Georgia

Urban birding has its own special appeal, but less so when it’s somebody else’s city, and even less when the locals drive as if their licenses weren’t worth the paper they’re photocopied on. Never mind: my little rental Mitsubishi and I set off anyway in search of a reported Common Redpoll not too far from Alison’s place, in a part of Atlanta called Clarkston.

No redpoll, and in fact no place remotely resembling the locality described by the original reporter. But a discreet sign pointed me to Forty Oaks Preserve, and I spent a very pleasant hour wandering around there, enjoying birds I don’t often see: Pileated Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Brown-headed Nuthatches, Golden-crowned Kinglets. A gorgeous Tennessee Warbler was the first of that species I’d seen this year. The cool damp and the snatches of song from American Robins and Pine Warblers made it feel more like spring than late fall.