Centennial Olympic Park: Downtown's Avian Oasis

When most people think of birding, the art of looking for and identifying bird species, they imagine treks through the woods, far away from the steel, concrete and asphalt trappings of city life.

But for Georgia birders, downtown Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park is considered to be the best spot to look for bird species from warblers to wrens to hawks.

That's because to birds flying overhead, the park something of an avian oasis against the backdrop of man's imprint of development, said Nathan Farnau a lifelong birder.

Farnau, an East Atlanta resident and senior biologist at the Georgia Aquarium is often in Centennial on his lunch breaks, cataloguing the different birds he spots.

East Atlanta Patch caught up with Farnau recently to get an insider's view on birding and what makes Centennial Olympic Park such a good spot for enthusiasts. (Listen to an excerpt from our audio interiew with Farnau and see images of birds captured by birding enthusiasts at Centennial Olympic Park by clicking on the video.)