From: Rex Rowan <rexrowan@gmail.com>
To: Alachua County birding report
Craig Faulhaber saw the first Swallow-tailed Kite of the spring flying over Hawthorne Road at Prairie Creek on the 15th. This was the second-earliest in the county’s history; the earliest was seen on February 6, 1954.
Jonathan Mays saw a Winter Wren while running along the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail just west of Prairie Creek on the evening of the 16th. It’s late for a Winter Wren in Alachua County, and the bird may have been on its way north; at any rate, no one was able to relocate it on the following day.
Likewise, the Ash-throated Flycatcher found by Dalcio Dacol on the 14th has not been relocated.
On the other hand, the Red-breasted Nuthatch continues to visit Steve Zoellner’s yard a few blocks from Westside Park. Matt O’Sullivan got a nice picture of it on the 18th. He wrote, “I first heard it about 2:25-2:30 and it arrived in the yard at about 2:40, it came to the feeder about 5 times but it spent most of the time foraging in the big oak in the above the feeders. It hung around for about an hour until right before I left. It was NOT SHY and even came to feed when I was only a yard or so away from the feeder. Fantastic little bird!”
The second edition of The Sibley Guide to Birds is due out in about three weeks: http://www.sibleyguides.com/2014/01/the-second-edition-is-in-hand/
Speaking of David Sibley, those of you who saw the Snowy Owl in Jacksonville may be particularly interested in this offer he’s making: http://www.sibleyguides.com/2014/01/snowy-owl-print-to-benefit-project-snowstorm/
Debbie Segal forwarded an open invitation from the Water and Land Legacy Campaign: “The Water and Land Legacy Campaign, together with the Alachua Audubon Society and the Alachua Conservation Trust, invites all North Central Florida volunteers and donors who contributed to the successful petition drive to please join us as we celebrate the colossal accomplishment of collecting enough signatures and funding to meet the rigorous requirements of being added to the November 2014 ballot! Please join us to celebrate this enormous accomplishment. It is a potluck menu so please bring a dish of your choice. Drinks will be provided by Alachua Audubon. Prairie Creek Lodge is one mile south of the intersection of County Roads 2082 and 234, and six miles north of Micanopy. For more comprehensive directions, please visit Prairie Creek Lodge. We look forward to enjoying fine friends and their partners for an evening of celebrating a job well done! Please be sure to RSVP today! or reply to campaign@floridawaterlandlegacy.org and tell us how many will attend. If you have questions, please call Tom Kay with ACT at (352) 373-1078.”
Ranger Howard Adams, a Paynes Prairie institution, is retiring from the Park Service at the end of this month after 36 years. How anyone can survive a third of a century of state employment without heart and soul turning to dust and blowing away on the first light breeze is beyond my ability to comprehend, but I hope you’ll send him your best wishes at howardadams2011@gmail.com and attend his retirement party at Prairie Creek Lodge on March 2nd: http://www.prairiefriends.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1684451&eventId=851291&EventViewMode=EventDetails Howard will also be leading a farewell walk on the 22nd, for which you can register here: http://www.prairiefriends.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1684451&eventId=850754&EventViewMode=EventDetails