From: Rex Rowan <rexrowan@gmail.com>
To: Alachua County birding report
Remember that Alachua Audubon leads a Sweetwater Wetlands Park walk every Wednesday morning. We’ll meet at the shelter just off the parking lot at 8:30 a.m. on January 6th for the first Wednesday Wetlands Walk of 2016.
Also, mark your calendars for Adam and Gina Kent’s talk on “Imperiled Birds of Central Florida” next Tuesday, January 12th. More details here: https://alachuaaudubon.org/programs/
The Brown Creeper found at the Tuscawilla Prairie on the Christmas Count is still there, though it’s mostly hanging around the parking lot at the Native American Heritage Preserve north of the road. Dalcio Dacol posted an excellent photo in his eBird checklist from the 4th: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26674039
The Vaux’s Swifts are still here, though they’re not perfectly reliable. Visiting Clay County birder Steve Raduns reported 16 on the 2nd, but Mike Manetz didn’t see any between 4:30 and dark on the 3rd. On the 4th, however, they were back, and visiting Tennessee birder Thomas McNeil posted the following note on his eBird checklist: “Appeared overhead at 5:47 pm. They circled for a few minutes and dropped into the right chimney. I attempted cellphone videos. The phone playback of the two separate videos appears to show 17 birds going into the chimney (although I could have missed a bird coming back out). My wife counted 16 (don’t ever argue with your wife).”
On the 2nd, writes Bob Carroll, “I spent a delightful 90 minutes in a slight, on-again off-again drizzle at Palm Point from about 4:00 to about 5:30. The delightful part had a lot to do with about 40 Bonaparte’s Gulls that spent the entire time just off the Point feeding from right to left and then circling back. They were fun to watch. Periodically another group of larger gulls circled in to check out the activity. Most were Ring-billed Gulls, but there were also at least one Laughing Gull and one Herring Gull among them. Then just about 5:15 another gull flew over that I believe was the Lesser Black-backed Gull. Fortunately, it circled for a couple of minutes before heading north. Everything I saw matched the photos you’ve posted, especially the pale ring on the nape, the extensive black on the upper wings, black bill, wide black band at the end of the tail and what seemed to be a smudgy rump. Because of the rain, I didn’t have my camera out, so I got no photos. Still, I’ve never had a five-gull day in Alachua County, so it was a great way to start the year.”
Harry Jones saw two American Redstarts at Bolen Bluff on the 4th, as well as a Wilson’s Warbler. The Wilson’s is the fifth of the winter; Adam Zions had two at Cones Dike on the 2nd, there’s been one at Chapmans Pond since the 14th, and Scott Robinson saw one at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens on the CBC. And at least one Nashville Warbler is still hanging around the west side of Chapmans Pond, seen most recently on the 4th by Lloyd Davis. Mike Manetz got a couple of photos on the 2nd and embedded them in his eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26609816
Summer Tanagers are wintering around Gainesville in unprecedented numbers. Just for the sake of comparison, between 1969 and 2005 a grand total of 13 or 14 Summer Tanagers were reported wintering in Gainesville. That’s 13 or 14 over the course of 46 winters – whereas 11 or 12 were reported in the past month!
Sandhill Crane numbers were pretty low on the Christmas Bird Count, but maybe that’s because most of the birds were dawdling up north. On the afternoon of the 1st Ron Robinson saw several groups flying south over his place at the western edge of Gainesville, and on the 2nd Donny Griffin saw cranes going over the Osceola National Forest. If these birds are just now arriving, it’s by far the latest fall migration I’ve ever heard about.
By contrast, it’s my impression that Cedar Waxwings are early this winter. Normally they start building up in January and peak from February through April. But they’re already being seen in large numbers all across town. Sam Ewing saw a flock of 1,000 near Shands Hospital on the 3rd.
We’ve got some unfinished 2015 business to attend to. First, fourteen birders tallied 200 or more species in Alachua County in 2015:
Mike Manetz 240 (ties the fourth-highest total ever; Mike also owns first place, with 255 in 2012, and he’s twice gotten 241, once in 2000 and again in 2013)
John Hintermister 232 (sixth-highest total ever)
Rex Rowan 225
Adam Zions 224
Lloyd Davis 223
Debbie Segal 217
Matt O’Sullivan 213
Howard Adams 210
Trina Anderson 209 (tie)
Sam Ewing 209
Andy Kratter 204
Jennifer Donsky 203
Jonathan Mays 202
Barbara Shea 201
Congratulations, all! And we’re off to a good start in 2016, with Lloyd Davis and Adam Zions vying for first place with 83 species each as of the 3rd.
Among Alachua County birders, here are the ten largest Florida state year lists for 2015:
Lloyd Davis 304 (tie)
John Hintermister 304
Adam Zions 303
Mike Manetz 287
Jonathan Mays 277 (three-way tie)
Matt O’Sullivan 277
Debbie Segal 277
Phil Laipis 272 (tie)
Charlene Leonard 272
Adam Kent 267
Every year Adam Zions comes up with his list of Top Ten Birds of the Year. Here’s this year’s edition. Take it away, Adam:
Another year has passed and the earth has nearly made another complete revolution around our brightest source of light. You know what it means. Time to figure out the Top 10 Most Intriguing Birds observed in Alachua County for 2015. And here I thought recent years proved difficult to determine this list. 2015 may yet be the most difficult year for me since I’ve moved up here.
Here are my candidates in taxonomic order (please feel free to add any I may have overlooked):
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Black Scoter
Purple (Gray-headed) Swamphen (for better or worse)
Red-necked Phalarope
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Groove-billed Ani
Vaux’s Swift
Alder Flycatcher
Shiny Cowbird
Bullock’s Oriole
Others which didn’t make the above list (and it speaks to how many great birds passed through the county this year), but which are nonetheless excellent observations in themselves for the county:
Greater White-fronted Goose
Red-breasted Merganser
Magnificent Frigatebird
White-faced Ibis
Whooping Crane
American Avocet
Least Tern
Vermilion Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
The Cave and Cliff Swallow combo (right next to each other) which Mike Manetz found
Winter Wren
Canada Warbler
Lark Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Western Tanager
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Bronzed Cowbird
Purple Finch
Thanks, Adam. Please submit your votes for Ten Best Birds of 2015 and I’ll post the winners in a future email.
See you at Sweetwater on Wednesday morning and at Prairie Creek Lodge for Adam and Gina’s talk on the 12th.