RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Georgia >> Effingham County >> Birds >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Birds, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Birds and the surrounding area.

  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Birds:
    • 32.340748, -81.244000
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Birds
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Effingham County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Effingham County
    • Since Birds is near Jasper County and also Chatham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jasper County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chatham County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Birds

Communities Also Named Birds ...

We found five communities that are also named Birds.

Within Georgia, the name Birds is unique.

Beyond Georgia, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Larimer County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Birds [Larimer County].
    • Florida
      • Lake County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Birds [Lake County].
    • Illinois
      • Lawrence County
      • This Birds is located in Lawrence County and lies 575 miles [925.4 km]<2> to the northwest of the Birds that is located in Effingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Birds.
      • Will County
      • This Birds is located in Will County and lies 737 miles [1,186.1 km] to the north northwest of the Birds that is located in Effingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Will County community of Birds.
    • Texas
      • Tarrant County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Tarrant County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tarrant County community of Birds.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Birds ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Coldbrook
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Coldbrook is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldbrook
  • Dupies Ferry
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Dupies Ferry is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dupies Ferry
  • Ebenezer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Ebenezer is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebenezer
  • Groover Landing
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Groover Landing is located in Jasper County (SC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groover Landing
  • Mill Stone Landing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Mill Stone Landing is located in Jasper County (SC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Stone Landing
  • Mulberry Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mulberry Grove is located in Chatham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry Grove
  • Sisters Ferry
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Sisters Ferry is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sisters Ferry
  • Spring Branch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Spring Branch is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Branch
  • Two Sisters Ferry
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Two Sisters Ferry is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Sisters Ferry
    • Estimated population in 2019: 3,063 people

How Far From Birds to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Birds to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Birds and extending to:

  • Springfield, which is the Seat of Effingham County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Atlanta, which is the State Capital of Georgia, lies 206 miles [331.5 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Birds to Atlanta, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 510 miles [820.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,366 miles [10,245.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,053 miles [11,350.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,939 miles [7,948.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Birds could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Birds) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Birds, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<5>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Birds to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Birds. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.3407, Longitude: -81.2440       In this case, the coordinates for Birds have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.405 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.349 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.459 degrees.