by Rex Rowan
Leigh Larson found an Egyptian Goose at Sweetwater Wetlands Park this morning. It’s Alachua County’s first-ever sighting of this introduced species, which originally established itself as a resident breeding bird in South Florida and has slowly been expanding its range north. Locally, it was first observed in southern Marion County in 2012 and didn’t move from that area – Summerfield and The Villages – until this May, when four turned up at Tuscawilla Park in northern Ocala. Get out there to Sweetwater if you can and have a look. It’s mainly been in the long channel on the distant side of Cells 1 and 2. While you’re there, keep an eye out for the Caspian Tern, present for its second day now.