The massive June Challenge trophy has a new home. Despite being a relative newcomer to Alachua County and spending the first week of the month in Maine, Jonathan Mays beat everyone else to win The Tenth Annual Alachua County June Challenge! An amazing performance. And if you look at the following list, you’ll see quite a few performances that are only fractionally less amazing. We had 48 participants this year and sixteen of them saw 100+ species. Of course the point of The June Challenge is not to win, or to get a big list, the point is to have fun, to get out in the fresh air and (when you can find it) sunshine and to see some beautiful birds, and I hope every participant considers himself or herself a winner in that respect. Here are the final standings:
Jonathan Mays 116 (114/2)
Rex Rowan 114 (112/2)
Howard Adams 113 (111/2)
Lloyd Davis 113 (111/2)
Adam Zions 113 (111/2)
Barbara Mollison 112 (110/2)
Ron Robinson 110 (108/2)
Anne Kendall 109 (107/2)
Marie Zeglen 109 (107/2)
Frank Goodwin 105 (103/2)
Danny Shehee 105 (103/2)
Chris Cattau 104 (102/2)
Maralee Joos 103 (101/2)
Ria Leonard 103 (101/2)
John Martin 102 (100/2)
Anne Barkdoll 102 (99/3)
Barbara Shea 101 (99/2)
Samuel Ewing 97 (96/1)
Dean Ewing 96 (95/1)
Bob Carroll 96 (94/2)
Irma Harris 91 (91/0)
Phil Laipis 91 (91/0)
Felicia Lee 90 (89/1)
Helen Warren 89 (87/2)
Sharon Kuchinski 88 (87/1)
Becky Enneis 88 (86/2)
Judy Bryan 87 (87/0)
Tina Greenberg 86 (85/1)
Elizabeth Martin 84 (84/0)
John Hintermister 83 (83/0)
Steven Goodman 83 (82/1)
Conrad Burkholder 82 (80/2)
Erin Kalinowski 81 (78/3)
Matt Kalinowski 81 (78/3)
Ignacio Rodriguez 80 (78/2)
Debbie Segal 79 (79/0)
Barbara Woodmansee 76 (75/1)
Francisco Jiminez 72 (70/2)
Geoff Parks 67 (65/2)
Mary Landsman 65 (65/0)
Nora Parks 65 (63/2)
Bob Knight 64 (64/0)
Emily Schwartz 64 (64/0)
Sidney Wade 63 (61/2)
Carol Huang 61 (59/2)
Owen Parks 44 (42/2)
Bill Enneis 42 (42/0)
Kathy Fanning 34 (34/0)
And here’s the complete list of the 129 bird species recorded (by at least one person) in the county in June:
- Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
- Swan Goose – Anne Barkdoll, Duck Pond, June 12
- Graylag Goose – Duck Pond and Red Lobster Pond, several observers and dates
- Black Swan – Duck Pond and Red Lobster Pond, several observers and dates
- Muscovy Duck
- Wood Duck
- Mallard
- Mottled Duck
- Blue-winged Teal – La Chua observation platform, throughout the month
- Lesser Scaup – John Hintermister, Rex Rowan, Newnans Lake, June 25
- Ruddy Duck – John Hintermister, Rex Rowan, Newnans Lake, June 25
- Northern Bobwhite
- Wild Turkey
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Horned Grebe – John Hintermister, Rex Rowan, Newnans Lake, June 25
- Wood Stork
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Anhinga
- American White Pelican
- Least Bittern
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Little Blue Heron
- Tricolored Heron
- Cattle Egret
- Green Heron
- Black-crowned Night-Heron
- Yellow-crowned Night-Heron – a pair nested and produced three young at Possum Creek Park
- White Ibis
- Glossy Ibis
- Roseate Spoonbill – La Chua observation platform, pretty much throughout the month
- Black Vulture
- Turkey Vulture
- Osprey
- Swallow-tailed Kite
- Mississippi Kite
- Bald Eagle
- Cooper’s Hawk
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Broad-winged Hawk – five observers, four locations, June 10-23
- Short-tailed Hawk – Adam Zions, Jonathan Mays, Marie Zeglen, Palm Point, June 29-30
- Red-tailed Hawk
- American Kestrel
- King Rail
- Purple Gallinule
- Common Gallinule
- American Coot
- Limpkin
- Sandhill Crane
- Whooping Crane
- Killdeer
- Black-necked Stilt
- Greater Yellowlegs – Samuel and Dean Ewing, Powers Park, June 14
- Laughing Gull
- Ring-billed Gull – Anne Kendall, several other observers, Powers Park, June 5-7
- Least Tern – Rex Rowan, Mike Manetz, Andy Kratter, Palm Point, June 8
- Caspian Tern – Jonathan Mays, Powers Park, June 8
- Forster’s Tern – Jonathan Mays, Palm Point, June 27
- Rock Pigeon
- Eurasian Collared-Dove
- White-winged Dove
- Mourning Dove
- Common Ground-Dove
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Barn Owl
- Eastern Screech-Owl
- Great Horned Owl
- Barred Owl
- Common Nighthawk
- Chuck-will’s-widow
- Chimney Swift
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Belted Kingfisher – Irina and Frank Goodwin, Lake Alice, June 16; several observers, Newnans Lake, June 25-30
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker – Rex Rowan, Adam Zions, Jonathan Mays, LEAFS, June 10-23
- Northern Flicker
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Eastern Wood-Pewee
- Acadian Flycatcher
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Eastern Kingbird
- Loggerhead Shrike
- White-eyed Vireo
- Yellow-throated Vireo
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Fish Crow
- Purple Martin
- Tree Swallow – Lloyd Davis, Palm Point, June 2
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Barn Swallow
- Carolina Chickadee
- Tufted Titmouse
- Brown-headed Nuthatch
- Carolina Wren
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Eastern Bluebird
- Gray Catbird – Jonathan Mays, Paynes Prairie, June 7
- Northern Mockingbird
- Brown Thrasher
- European Starling
- Cedar Waxwing – Judy Bryan, Lake Lochloosa, June 4
- Prothonotary Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Hooded Warbler
- American Redstart – Ron Robinson, at his backyard birdbath, June 1-2
- Northern Parula
- Pine Warbler
- Yellow-throated Warbler
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Eastern Towhee
- Bachman’s Sparrow
- Summer Tanager
- Northern Cardinal
- Blue Grosbeak
- Indigo Bunting
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Eastern Meadowlark
- Common Grackle
- Boat-tailed Grackle
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Orchard Oriole
- House Finch
- House Sparrow
No one found a Wood Thrush this year, and there were no early fall warblers (though we had one spring-migrant American Redstart at the beginning of the month). Water levels were higher than usual, so there were almost no shorebirds. Our single tropical storm was unproductive. Under these circumstances, 129 species was impressive.
We weren’t the only birders doing The June Challenge this year. I’ve heard that 54 other birders in 24 other Florida counties participated as well. And there were June Challenges in other states and in England. The founder of The June Challenge, Becky Enneis, went on a birding trip to Alaska with Linda Holt and Bob Carroll, and did a Challenge during the first eight days of the month; you can drool over their list, thick with life birds, here. Former Gainesville birder Steve Collins organized a Challenge in Texas. I haven’t seen the complete results yet, but Steve sent me his own results for Lubbock County, which can be seen here. Matt Hafner organized a Challenge in Harford County, Maryland, and has tabulated the results on the Harford Bird Club’s website. Jay Keller of San Diego County, California, exceeded our winning total by 108 species (!!!) and posted his list here; you can see photos of some of his June discoveries on his Flickr page. And farthest afield, our one international entry, from Kim Tarsey and Sue Cooper of the county of Norfolk, England, who tell me they had a bad year but ended up with 121 species.
All I can say to Jonathan Mays is, “Congratulations. And wait til next year!” To everyone else, I hope you had half as much fun as I did. Now … did I just hear a Louisiana Waterthrush? It must be time for fall migration….