Our paltry migration seems to be winding down. I’ve always thought that Gainesville’s spring migration peaks in the last few days of April, but a look at eBird reveals that this year the largest variety and numbers (relatively speaking) passed through much earlier, during the nine days of April 15-23. The high point was April 16th, when the cumulative total of migrants reported to eBird included 3 Cape May Warblers, a Blackpoll Warbler, 4 American Redstarts, 16 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 11 Worm-eating Warblers, 1 Louisiana Waterthrush, 8 Northern Waterthrushes, and 4 Prairie Warblers. Only three Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were reported this spring, and all occurred during the same April 15-23 window.
Interestingly, a handful of unusual backyard birds departed during that same nine-day span. A Hermit Thrush that visited Rich Lewis’s NW Gainesville feeder almost daily beginning about February 10th, dining on chopped suet and bark butter, was last seen on April 20th. A White-crowned Sparrow that Ron Robinson first noticed at his west Gainesville feeder on March 21st left on April 21st. The Western Tanager that returned for a third year to Jack and Mary Lynch’s High Springs back yard on March 2nd was last seen on April 20th (same as last year), and the one that Sarah Raynierson first noticed at her SW Gainesville home around March 15th was last seen on April 17th.
There are still some migrants around. American Redstarts are still fairly common; eBird shows 6 reported on the 30th and another 6 on the 1st. The only two Scarlet Tanagers found in the county were fairly late: Adam Kent saw one in NW Gainesville on the 28th and Jonathan Mays saw one in SE Gainesville on the 1st. Bobolinks, whose passage normally peaks a little after most migrants’, showed high counts of 290 by Dean, Ben, and Sam Ewing on the 27th, 350 by Caroline Poli on the 28th, and 220 by Cindy Boyd on the 29th, all at Sweetwater Wetlands Park.
Jonathan Mays found six species of shorebirds at Sweetwater on the 30th, though the numbers were less than impressive: 2 Semipalmated Plovers, 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 2 Spotted Sandpipers, 1 Least Sandpiper, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, and 1 Killdeer. Shorebirds are usually fairly late migrants, though – their tundra breeding grounds are still frozen, so they’re in no particular hurry – and we may see more of them during the next two weeks. In fact, White-rumped Sandpipers often don’t make their first appearance until May.
Andy Kratter’s loon-migration watch posted its smallest total ever, with a final count of 395 loons. Andy comments, “I think that the warm winter may have kept some birds from reaching the Gulf, as was true for ducks, etc.” His second-lowest total was 507 in 2009; the highest he’s recorded was 895 in 2014. The median passage date this year was April 4th, a little late; the average is March 30th.
The Vaux’s Swifts seem to be gone. eBird clearly shows how interest in these birds waned as time went by: in December, birders submitted 92 Vaux’s-related checklists, in January they submitted 57, in February 22, and in March only 6. The last positive sighting at Dauer Hall came on the evening of March 21st, when Ben Ewing estimated 10 Vaux’s calling among a larger group of Chimney Swifts. There were only two later attempts to see the birds: Wendy Meehan and Bonnie Jenks reported three swifts whose “vocalizing sounded different…faster, high pitched,” on April 10th, and on the 15th Graham Williams looked for them but found that he couldn’t hear anything over the construction noise! Afterward there were two sightings at Sweetwater Wetlands Park, three birds reported on April 6th by Dean, Sam, and Ben Ewing, “foraging over cell one with Tree Swallows, identified by distinctive vocalizations,” and three reported by Danny Rohan on April 21st that “vocalized very clearly.”
Cedar Waxwings are still around in small numbers. They arrived early this winter, with several flocks reported in November, but their numbers struck me as low all season long. Most sightings involved flocks of fewer than 100 birds, and the few really large counts (500-1000) were restricted to January.
Charlie Pedersen, biologist at Goethe State Forest, writes, “Two Red-cockaded Woodpecker clusters on Goethe State Forest near the Great Florida Birding Trail site are nesting now. I’d prefer people didn’t visit until they hatch, but from the weekend of May 7th on it should be fine; that is after predicted hatch day. You can tell the nest trees because they are wrapped in tin foil. The clusters are #67 on Beehive Road by the metal interpretive sign and Boo-boo Cluster on the the corner of North Gasline Road and Beehive Road. If folks have questions they can look on the Great Florida Birding Trail web site or call the Goethe State Forest office at (352) 465-8585.” Charlie thoughtfully provided this illustrated driving tour for those who might wish to visit: “This Great Florida Birding Trail sign is located at 29.160528 North and -82.598953 West on Goethe State Forest’s North Gasline Road. If you stand next to the sign and turn west you will see this adorable forked tree handsomely wrapped in tin foil. That is the nest tree for the Boo-boo Cluster. If you hop back in your car and follow that Birding Trail sign, you will go down Bee Hive Road until you come to this interpretive sign where you will find the #67 Cluster nest tree.”
There are still a few Alachua Audubon field trips this spring: Loblolly Woods with Sam Ewing on the 7th, Sweetwater Wetlands Park with Debbie Segal on the 8th, Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve with Michael Drummond on the 14th, and a Breeding Bird Atlas trip with Adam Kent on the 15th; and then on June 1st I’ll lead the June Challenge kickoff. That’ll be it until September. The field trip schedule may be perused here: https://alachuaaudubon.org/classes-field-trips/
The Wednesday Wetlands Walks at Sweetwater Wetlands Park will continue every Wednesday through the end of May. Just show up at 8:30 and join us. May 2nd was the first anniversary of the park’s opening, by the way.
Bob Carroll invites you to Stick It To The Workin’ Man by attending his Third Thursday Birding Club, which will be meeting this month on the *FIRST* Thursday: “Our final Third Thursday for the season will be a Breeding Bird Atlas field trip/demonstration led by Adam Kent. We’ll meet at 7:30 on Thursday morning, May 5th, in the southwest corner of the Target parking lot at Archer Road and I-75. Adam says, ‘We will learn about atlasing and look for evidence of breeding birds. It’s a fun way to get a new perspective on birding.’ Adam says we should be finished and back in town by 11:00. We will then go to Peach Valley for a late breakfast/early lunch. Please let me know if you’re coming. I’d like to give Adam an idea of how large the group will be.” Contact Bob at gatorbob23@yahoo.com
This is a beautiful drone video showing aerial photography of the La Chua Trail: https://vimeo.com/163424320
There’s a great “birder photo” on this blog post, but I’m not sure I’d ever show it to a non-birder. The post tells of a Swainson’s Warbler found in Manhattan’s Central Park a few days ago, and the photo shows a bunch of birders sprawled on the walkway, trying to see it inside a hedge (third photo down): http://welshbirder.blogspot.com/2016/04/swainsons-warbler-in-central-park.html