From: Rex Rowan <rexrowan@gmail.com>
To: Alachua County birding report
On December 20th the 58th Gainesville Christmas Bird Count (or the 61st if you count CBCs performed by couples in 1924, 1927, and 1949) managed to tie the record of 162 species set in 2012. We almost beat it, because there was a possible Chestnut-sided Warbler at Lake Alice, but this was never confirmed, so 162 it is. At the end of the email I’ve posted the complete list of birds seen.
The most exciting bird seen on the count was a first-county-record Lesser Black-backed Gull found by the boat team (Andy Kratter, Peter Polshek, John Mangold, and Terry Cake) at Newnans Lake. John got a series of superb photos, two of which are linked below:
The Lesser Black-backed was seen from Palm Point on the 29th by Dotty Robbins, so it may be worthwhile to go out there if you haven’t seen it yet.
David and Kim Stringer live at Savannah Pointe, south of Williston Road just west of I-75. They’ve recently had hundreds of Sandhill Cranes in the fields behind their home. They write, “Folks are welcome to stop by to see or photograph. Call ahead: 352-332-6580.” Janet Jordan has been seeing a Whooping Crane at the Kanapaha Prairie, but unfortunately the Prairie is private property. However if the Whooping Crane sticks around till January 23rd, participants in Alachua Audubon’s Kanapaha Prairie field trip may get to see it.
Here’s something from David Sibley on estimating bird numbers. I should have linked to this before the Christmas Count! http://www.sibleyguides.com/2015/12/a-new-quiz-series/
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 551
Snow Goose 1 (near Kanapaha Prairie) https://www.flickr.com/photos/thermalin/23687706960/in/dateposted/
Muscovy Duck 266
Wood Duck 191
Gadwall 15
American Wigeon 1
Mallard 12
Mottled Duck 87
Blue-winged Teal 690
Northern Shoveler 17
Northern Pintail 3
Green-winged Teal 16
Redhead 1
Ring-necked Duck 354
Lesser Scaup 60
Bufflehead 7
Hooded Merganser 98
Ruddy Duck 16
Northern Bobwhite 11
Wild Turkey 30
Pied-billed Grebe 142
Horned Grebe 31
Wood Stork 68
Double-crested Cormorant 521
Anhinga 178
American White Pelican 1
American Bittern 7
Least Bittern 4 (all at Sweetwater Wetlands Park)
Great Blue Heron (including 1 Great White Heron at Sweetwater Wetlands Park) 147
Great Egret 166
Snowy Egret 216
Little Blue Heron 374
Tricolored Heron 87
Cattle Egret 93
Green Heron 17
Black-crowned Night-Heron 103
White Ibis 2,865
Glossy Ibis 154
Black Vulture 426
Turkey Vulture 983
Osprey 6
Northern Harrier 44
Sharp-shinned Hawk 12
Cooper’s Hawk 7
Accipiter, sp. 2
Bald Eagle 75
Red-shouldered Hawk 190
Red-tailed Hawk 48
King Rail 10
Virginia Rail 11
Sora 60
Purple Swamphen 2
Purple Gallinule 2
Common Gallinule 485
American Coot 2,892
Limpkin 66
Sandhill Crane 963
Whooping Crane 1 (flying over downtown Gainesville)
Killdeer 333
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Greater Yellowlegs 15
Lesser Yellowlegs 8
Least Sandpiper 34
Wilson’s Snipe 147
American Woodcock 10
Bonaparte’s Gull 2
Laughing Gull 1 (Newnans Lake)
Ring-billed Gull 286
Herring Gull 2 (Newnans Lake)
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 (Newnans Lake)
Forster’s Tern 3
Rock Pigeon 77
Eurasian Collared-Dove 21
White-winged Dove 1 (near Kanapaha Prairie)
Mourning Dove 370
Barn Owl 3
Eastern Screech-Owl 12
Great Horned Owl 35
Barred Owl 50
Eastern Whip-poor-will 1
Vaux’s Swift 14 (UF campus, present since mid-November)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 (NW Gainesville)
Belted Kingfisher 36
Red-headed Woodpecker 15
Red-bellied Woodpecker 304
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 111
Downy Woodpecker 118
Northern Flicker 64
Pileated Woodpecker 124
American Kestrel 44
Merlin 2
Least Flycatcher 2 (Cones Dike Trail)
Eastern Phoebe 453
Ash-throated Flycatcher 2 (Persimmon Point at Paynes Prairie)
Loggerhead Shrike 26
White-eyed Vireo 101
Blue-headed Vireo 103
Blue Jay 260
American Crow 609
Fish Crow 107
crow, sp. 140
Tree Swallow 170
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1 (Cones Dike Trail)
Carolina Chickadee 232
Tufted Titmouse 359
Brown-headed Nuthatch 6
Brown Creeper 1 (Tuscawilla Prairie)
House Wren 177
Sedge Wren 60
Marsh Wren 69
Carolina Wren 395
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 493
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 627
Eastern Bluebird 245
Hermit Thrush 54
American Robin 1,143
Gray Catbird 145
Northern Mockingbird 168
Brown Thrasher 15
European Starling 24
American Pipit 2
Cedar Waxwing 410
Ovenbird 6
Northern Waterthrush 7 (Cones Dike Trail)
Black-and-white Warbler 106
Orange-crowned Warbler 104
Nashville Warbler 1 (Chapmans Pond)
Common Yellowthroat 191
American Redstart 1 (Kanapaha Gardens)
Northern Parula 7
Palm Warbler 758
Pine Warbler 221
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2,111
Yellow-throated Warbler 50
Prairie Warbler 7
Black-throated Green Warbler 1 (west side of Paynes Prairie)
Wilson’s Warbler 2
Eastern Towhee 97
Chipping Sparrow 593
Field Sparrow 9
Vesper Sparrow 14
Savannah Sparrow 60
Grasshopper Sparrow 1
Henslow’s Sparrow 4
Fox Sparrow 2 (Prairie Creek Preserve)
Song Sparrow 32
Lincoln’s Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 233
White-throated Sparrow 8
Summer Tanager 1 (NW Gainesville)
Western Tanager 1 (NW Gainesville)
Northern Cardinal 627
Indigo Bunting 1 (Chapmans Pond)
Painted Bunting 4
Red-winged Blackbird 5,857
Eastern Meadowlark 169
Rusty Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 86
Boat-tailed Grackle 948
Brown-headed Cowbird 840
Baltimore Oriole 49
House Finch 94
American Goldfinch 451
House Sparrow 22