Though a couple of American Redstarts seem to have wintered here – one at the Hague Dairy and one at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens – the spring’s first seems to have been one that Jennifer Donsky found at Depot Park on the 20th.
Prairie Warblers are also moving through. The one Karl Miller saw at the Wildlife Research Center on the 10th was followed by one that Jonathan Mays saw at La Chua on the 16th, one that Howard Adams saw at Sweetwater Wetlands Park on the 22nd, and one that was singing in my neighbor’s NE Gainesville back yard this morning (the 23rd).
Indigo Buntings are moving in. Setting aside as a probable wintering bird one that Ken Spilios found along Sparrow Alley on February 14th, the spring’s first was a male that Carol Wooley photographed at her NW Gainesville feeder on March 7th. About eight more have been reported since.
I don’t normally expect Great Crested Flycatchers until the last week of March, but increasingly they’ve been showing up earlier. This year’s first was one that Matt Bruce heard vocalizing steadily for three minutes at Kanapaha Botanical Garden on the 19th. Jessica Hightower heard another calling for a minute at Newnans Lake State Forest on the 20th. eBird shows two additional reports on the 21st and eight more on the 22nd. So I think they’re here.
Summer Tanager, another species that normally shows up at the end of March, doesn’t seem to have arrived yet, though a few wintering birds are still around.
Chandler Robbins died on the 20th. He was the creator of the Breeding Bird Survey and the primary author of the Golden Guide (1966), the first field guide to compete with Peterson’s. The Golden Guide was a required text in my college ornithology class, and because it was a softcover that fit easily into my back pocket it was the one I took with me in the field during the first years of my birding career. It’s the only field guide to inspire a separate book devoted to its mistakes – Rich Stallcup’s Birds For Real (1985) – but Stallcup’s criticisms were aimed primarily at Arthur Singer’s illustrations (“Sprague’s Pipit: On page 257 it appears that maybe the specimen or photo used to paint the picture was the wrong species”) rather than Robbins’s text. Laura Erickson posted a nice remembrance of Robbins that combines her personal experience of Robbins’s great kindness with an account of his remarkable accomplishments. The photo of his binoculars is worth clicking the link all by itself: http://blog.lauraerickson.com/2017/03/chandler-robbins-19182017.html
Bob Carroll and I birded the Little Orange Creek Preserve on the 6th. It’s a nice place, and I expect it will be especially good in fall migration. As you follow the two-mile trail out, you’ve got marshy Little Orange Creek on your left and uplands (in the process of restoration) on your right. There are two observation towers along the way. A trail map is here (map on page 2 of the PDF) and our checklist for the morning is here. eBirders, please use the existing hotspot if you check it out yourself.
The Rise of the Hipster Birdwatcher, from London’s Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/rise-hipster-bird-watcher/ (I’ve always believed that I was cool before cool was cool.)
The UF College of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation sponsors an “Osprey Cam” overlooking an Osprey nest at the UF baseball field. On January 28th the Ospreys showed up at the nest site, and according to The Independent Florida Alligator, “The second egg came three days after the first one, which was conceived [?!] on March 9.” I suspect the reporter meant the egg was laid, rather than conceived (kids these days!). Anyway, you can watch the progress of the Ospreys here: http://www.wec.ufl.edu/extension/ospreycam/
If you’ve got Nandina AKA Heavenly Bamboo in your yard, you might consider removing it. It’s been implicated in the death of Cedar Waxwings: http://www.decaturish.com/2017/03/invasive-bushes-in-decatur-killing-cedar-waxwings/ (Thanks to Steve Hofstetter of the county’s Environmental Protection Department for alerting me to this.)
On Saturday morning you’ve got a tough choice. You can join Deena Mickelson and Alachua Audubon on a field trip to the Mill Creek Preserve. Or you can attend the Bird Walk and Gallery Talk, hosted by Ernesto Reyes, which is part of Bulla Cubana, “a celebration of arts and culture, promoting the exchange of ideas and inspiration between Cuba and the North Central Florida region.” The Bulla Cubana Bird Walk will begin at Sweetwater Wetlands Park at 7:30 a.m., and it will be followed by the Gallery Talk at 10:30. Cuban coffee will be served at the latter event. You need to make a reservation for Bulla Cubana here. If you’re a competent birder and you’d like to help Ernesto guide people around Sweetwater, contact Bubba Scales by tomorrow night by emailing him at fodderwing@bellsouth.net
Put it on your calendar. Alligator Lake Festival in Lake City on Saturday, April 8th: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4E7iNkfaDyUNU55aFgwaUhxeWxXTG8xWjJDWGc2dGhMN3pv/view?usp=sharing
The festival schedule looks like this:
8:00 – Bird Walk
10:00 – Kids’ Bird Walk
11:00 – Butterflies with Mark Minno
12:00 – Meet the Eagle
1:00 – Butterflies with Marc Minno
3:00 – Time to go home