Purple Martins, Pine Siskins, Lincoln’s Sparrow

The first Purple Martins of the spring have checked in. Glenn Israel saw the first one at Sweetwater Wetlands Park on the 24th, and two more showed up at the Prairie Creek Lodge martin house on the 28th. This morning Carmine Lanciani saw one over his NW Gainesville neighborhood. I guess that means winter’s over and it’ll be nothing but dogwoods, azaleas, and sunny, sunny sunshine from here on out, right?

Start watching your feeders for Pine Siskins. I saw three at my tube feeder this morning, eating black-oil sunflower seeds.

Chris Burney, Jessica Hightower, and Caroline Poli found a Lincoln’s Sparrow in a group of Song Sparrows near the boardwalk at La Chua on the 31st.

Don’t know if you saw my blog post on trapping snakes with drift fences, but it’s here: http://fieldguide.blogs.gainesville.com/701/snake-trapping/