From: Rex Rowan <rexrowan@gmail.com>
To: Alachua County birding report
This morning I was finishing a walk at John Winn’s lovely LEAFS property in Waldo when I saw a Downy Woodpecker with an unusually large bill. That’s what I figured it was, anyway. It was moving the same direction as I was, though, and kept catching my eye. It struck me that the bird itself seemed larger than a Downy. So I followed it until I could get a look at its white outer tail feathers. No black bars. It seemed to have less, or smaller, white spotting than a Downy. And it was keeping to tree trunks and large branches. Finally, I noted the two clinching details. First, it had a black mark curving downward onto the side of its breast from the shoulder. And second, it (finally) called, a rattling sound all on one note, not descending like a Downy’s. This is the second Hairy Woodpecker sighting in the county this spring, the other involving a pair of birds seen by several birders on the western edge of Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve’s “Red Loop” in late March. Directions to LEAFS: From Gainesville go north on SR-24 to Waldo. Once inside the city limits turn right on Cole Street (Shell station on corner) to US-301. Turn right onto 301 and go 2.5 miles to CR-1469. Turn left onto 1469 and then immediately left again onto CR-1471 and go 0.4 mile to the parking area on the right. The Hairy was near the parking area, but it probably moves around quite a bit.
I also saw a noisy family group of Brown-headed Nuthatches at LEAFS this morning.
Adam Zions is covering San Felasco Hammock for the Breeding Bird Atlas, and he went out there on Sunday: “Along the Creek Sink Trail south of Millhopper Road there were Hooded Warblers present, along with plenty of Red-eyed Vireos which were allowing good looks. North of Millhopper Road there were even more Hooded Warblers to be seen, along with Yellow-throated Vireos. Along the sandhill portion of the trail, I had some Eastern Wood-Pewees and nesting Red-headed Woodpeckers (in the NW corner of the trail system, the portion north of the Sandhill Cutoff Trail; it’s a long walk back there for them).” Alan Shapiro found Eastern Wood-Pewees along the White Loop at Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve in late May, which is not quite so extended a journey.
Andy Kratter had an American Kestrel in Evergreen Cemetery this morning, an unexpected location for a bird that normally nests only on the outskirts of the county, mainly along the ridge running from High Springs to Archer. Ria Leonard suggested another spot, an occupied kestrel house on NW 56th Avenue east of County Road 241, “about a mile up the road on the left hand side, right after you see the two big wood pillars designed as an entrance on the road with cut out horses on the top of them.”
Andy also reported Northern Rough-winged Swallows on the south side of the big Depot Park site, where he found the Western Kingbirds last year. I drove over there this afternoon and waited around till the swallows showed up. I also saw a Killdeer and a couple of Common Gallinules. I was hoping for a Pied-billed Grebe but didn’t see one in the pond (admittedly there’s a lot of shoreline vegetation obstructing the view).
Ria Leonard writes, “If anyone is having trouble finding Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks (which I was until this morning, since they weren’t at Red Lobster or at Hague Dairy on Saturday), I just saw one fly into its nest hole on a large oak tree across from the Santa Fe College Downtown Campus (west side of road) on SW 6th Street.” And sometimes the birds come to you. Bill Enneis of Alachua writes, “I was standing out on my back porch when I noticed something walking through the far back yard. Upon further investigation with binoculars, it was a pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, one in the lead, about 6-8 striped ducklings in the middle, and one in the rear. I could not believe my eyes. Where they came from and where they were headed, I dunno. They slowly waddled into the thick underbrush and trees and disappeared. I went out a few minutes later to see if I could find them, but they were gone, hunkered down somewhere or gone somewhere else.”
I mentioned that Bob Carroll was in Alaska, but in case you forgot: http://bobsgonebirding.
I’m a bird lover, but this may be taking it a little too far: http://metro.co.uk/2011/06/08/
Cornell’s talking about that “Master Set” of bird sounds: http://us2.campaign-archive1.