From: Rex Rowan <rexrowan@gmail.com>
To: Alachua County birding report
On the 16th Gallus Quigley and Gerald Walker found two Alder Flycatchers and a Willow Flycatcher at Lake Apopka Restoration Area (formerly called Zellwood) in Orange County. Mike Manetz saw the eBird report and wondered if it would be worth looking for Alder Flycatchers here too. After all, they were recorded at Paynes Prairie in each of three previous years. So on the 17th he and Lloyd Davis and I walked out Sparrow Alley, where they’d been found in August 2013 and August 2014. We saw 5 Yellow Warblers, 3 Prairie Warblers, an American Redstart, an Orchard Oriole, and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, but no sight or sound of an Alder Flycatcher. So this morning Mike went over to Cones Dike, where Alders occurred for three years in a row, and near the sign announcing the end of the trail (at the Camps Canal end) he discovered one. The bird was both calling and singing, and Mike made recordings.
I took Matt O’Sullivan’s grandparents out La Chua on the 14th, and though we didn’t get them all the birds they wanted (we missed King Rail and never got a really good look at Least Bittern) we saw a male Painted Bunting near the barn, family groups of Blue Grosbeaks and Orchard Orioles near the barn, single Mississippi and Swallow-tailed Kites, numerous adult and juvenile Purple Gallinules, and a summering Blue-winged Teal (one of two in the area, the other being at Sweetwater Wetlands Park).
Take that, drone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr-xBtVU4lg
Dr. Karl Miller of FWC writes, “We are recruiting birdwatchers who might be interested in helping look for color banded scrub-jays within Ocala National Forest. FWC has undertaken a multi-year survival and dispersal project, banding scrub-jays at four designated long-term study sites, then tracking their survival and movements over time. We are focusing our attention on all clearcut stands that are only a few years old. They are easy walking, and much of the surveying can be done from dirt roads. We use mp3 players to broadcast calls, bring them in close, and then record any bands we see. If you know of any birders who either visit Ocala NF periodically, or would like to do so in the future, and who would enjoy keeping an eye out for banded scrub-jays, please let me know! I can set you up with what you need to get started. Each of these re-sightings of a ‘lost’ banded bird on a new territory is extremely valuable to us! I can’t pay cash rewards, but perhaps I can repay the effort by inviting those who contribute to join us one morning when we band scrub-jays in September.” Contact Karl at karl.miller@myfwc.com or 352-575-8282.