Matt Bruce and I went kayaking on Newnans Lake this morning to see the congregations of shorebirds he’s photographed there before. We put in at Powers Park, headed over to the mouth of Prairie Creek, and started working our way north along the eastern shoreline. There were lots of Long-billed Dowitchers and Lesser Yellowlegs and Least Sandpipers, smaller numbers of Solitary Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs, and Killdeer, and a single Semipalmated Sandpiper. I was supposed to attend a presentation on tiger beetles by Jonathan Mays at noon, so as it neared 11:00 we gave some thought to turning around and heading back. But we figured we had just enough time to investigate the next cove to the north. And there we found a large shorebird with a black head, black breast, and black back, with black and gray and white mottling on the wing coverts and lower belly, and orange legs. It was Alachua County’s second-ever Ruff. The county’s first was also found at Newnans Lake during a period of low water, on January 12, 2000. It stuck around for two months. This one is a male coming into breeding plumage and en route to European nesting grounds, so it may not stick around quite as long.
The location was somewhere between half to two-thirds the distance from the mouth of Prairie Creek to Windsor. It *might* be possible to do it on foot (probably from Windsor), but you may end up having to walk part of the way in the woods. A kayak or canoe would be better, and it lets you get closer to the birds.
Matt got better pictures than I did, but here are two of mine, one showing Matt photographing the Ruff and one showing the bird itself.
