More confirmation: Lora Smith, associate scientist at Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, recently reported recordings of gopher frog mating calls at Williams Bluffs.
   The egg mass photos sparked cheers from the Jones Center and other the organizations that since 2007 have poured time and gopher frogs – more than 4,000 – into the effort at The Nature Conservancy preserve near Blakely.
   The loss of intact upland sandhill habitats and fishless wetlands needed for breeding has reduced Georgia’s gopher frog populations to about 15. The frogs named for their use of gopher tortoise burrows are state-listed as rare and petitioned for federal listing.
   The first eggs are a big first step. Other promising signs include introduced frogs surviving to adulthood (“Discovery raises hope,” Nov. 15) and the survival of frogs released directly into tortoise burrows.
   But for a self-sustaining population, said John C. Maerz, associate professor in UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, “We need that wetland to start producing frogs.”
   Drought dried the wetland the past two years, leaving frogs no place to breed. This winter, rains filled it.
   The rest is gopher frog history.
   Next steps include continued monitoring at Williams Bluffs, plus consideration of other possible restoration sites, such as Ohoopee Dunes Wildlife Management Area near Swainsboro.
   Project partners include Atlanta Botanical Garden, DNR’s Nongame Conservation Section, the Joseph Jones Ecological Research Center, The Nature Conservancy, UGA and Zoo Atlanta. Bear Hollow Zoo in Athens has also helped. 

   One of the top 10 longest-running festivals in Georgia – and no doubt the wildest – returns March 9-10.
   The 46th annual Claxton Rattlesnake & Wildlife Festival will feature scores of rattlers and other snakes, plus plenty of wildlife-related exhibits and shows, along with more than 170 food and craft vendors.
   The former rattlesnake roundup organized by the Evans County Wildlife Club drew a record crowd of about 18,000 last year, as news spread that the event would no longer buy and sell rattlesnakes (“Fest drops wild-caught rattlers,” January 2012).
   Organizations such as DNR, Georgia Southern University’s Center for Wildlife Education and Zoo Atlanta will again support the event. DNR staff will hold wildlife programs at elementary schools in Metter and Lyons Friday.
   The club’s former president said the event combination of more wildlife and educational outreach “hit a home run” last year.

   Got binoculars? You’ll want a pair April 12-14 as Sea Island gear up for a bird-focused weekend adventure.
   The getaway at Sea Island, a premiere site for birds, will feature birding experts and experiences and a photography skills workshop, all benefiting novice and veteran birders.
   The guest speaker is former DNR Nongame Program Manager Brad Winn, now a conservation specialist at Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences in Massachusetts.
   Winn will give an overview of coastal birds and discuss in detail the migration of whimbrels.
   Learn more about the birding weekend and the lineup of optional nature-related activities online, or by calling (855) 228-5632 for reservations. 

   New from UGA Press, “Natural Communities of Georgia” provides an essential reference for ecologists and a rich resource for all interested in the state’s natural heritage. The 700-page guide, authored in part by Nongame Assistant Chief Jon Ambrose, details Georgia’s 66 distinctive natural communities with an eye on conserving this ecological diversity.
   A foiled attempt to steal sea turtle eggs has a Brunswick man facing up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In May, DNR rangers with a K-9 caught Lewis Jackson Sr., 58, leaving Sapelo Island with 156 loggerhead eggs in a cooler. Jackson, who pleaded guilty in federal court, has not been sentenced.
   DNR fisheries biologists Jimmy Evans and Don Harrison have been honored by the Georgia chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Evans received a Career Contributions Award largely for his work in conserving the robust redhorse. Harrison was named Fishery Worker of the Year in part for his leadership in a federal process that resulted in a permit providing for a commercial shad fishery and protecting endangered sturgeon -- the only such permit on the Atlantic coast.
   Kids and teachers, take part in the 2013  Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest! Deadline for entries into this popular conservation-oriented competition for grades K-5 is March 27.
   A federal jury said a Jacksonville, Fla., man lied when he told wildlife officers he was bitten by a black mamba during an alleged sale gone awry near a Kingsland Wendy’s in 2011. DNR rangers later videoed John Kenneth Rosenbaum, 24, confessing that he had actually been bitten at home by his pet Egyptian banded cobra.