From: Rex Rowan <rexrowan@gmail.com>
To: Alachua County birding report
Did you hear about the hipster who burned his mouth on some coffee? He drank it before it was cool.
Matt O’Sullivan found the fall’s first Cerulean Warbler at Bolen Bluff on the 21st, “about 200 feet before the fork in the trail.” I’ve seen Ceruleans in that general location two or three times over the years. I don’t know if there’s something about it that they (and other warblers) like, or if I just tend to linger there myself and consequently see more.
John Hintermister saw 2014’s only Brown Pelican so far at Newnans Lake on the 17th, flying past Palm Point.
We’re getting toward the peak of swallow migration. Mostly you’ll see Barn Swallows flying due south, but the last week of August gives you your best chance of seeing Bank and Cliff Swallows among them. Samuel Ewing has been keeping an eye to the sky at his NW Gainesville home and has already seen Cliffs on two occasions: one (previously mentioned) on the 15th, and two or three more on the 19th.
The Alachua Audubon Society has made a few changes in its field trip schedule, adding fall and spring Cedar Key boat trips (for which you have to sign up ahead of time). You can check out the in-progress events calendar, which includes both field trips and program meetings through October, here (note that the printable field trip schedule for the 2014-15 year is not available yet). If you want to see the programs only – the first one is on Mangrove Cuckoos – click here. In the near future I’ll announce a few late-summer field trips that aren’t on the schedule, for instance to the new sheetflow wetlands on Labor Day weekend. And this Sunday morning at 8:00, meet at the Barr Hammock Trail to do some birding (Mike Manetz, Adam Zions, and I saw two Alder Flycatchers out there at this time last year) and to see the section of the trail that’s being threatened with closure. To get to the trail, go south on US-441 to Wacahoota Road (across 441 from the Lake Wauberg entrance) and turn right. In a fraction of a mile you’ll cross over I-75, and as you come down from the overpass take your first left onto SE 11th Drive, a dirt road which you’ll follow to the Barr Hammock parking lot at the end. We won’t walk the entire 6.5 mile loop!
There’s an election for governor in November. One exceedingly important thing to keep in mind is that the winner of the election appoints the governing boards of the St. Johns River Water Management District and Suwannee River Water Management District, which set water policy for this area, including our springs. To get some idea of the important issues at stake, read this editorial from the Ocala Star-Banner on a couple of environmental heroes, one of whom, Karen Ahlers, has stepped into the shoes of Alachua Audubon’s legendary Marjorie Carr: http://www.ocala.com/article/20140817/OPINION/140819739/1183/OPINION?p=all&tc=pgall