Ron Pittaway’s “Winter Finch Forecast” predicted another invasion year for Red-breasted Nuthatches, and sure enough, Ryan Terrill heard one at the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail’s Sweetwater Overlook on the 9th: “I never got a look but it was fairly close and calling a lot. I first heard a nasal ‘eenk’ a few times, so I played Red-breasted Nuthatch and the bird came in close, giving ‘eenk’ calls rapidly. It then moved off quickly. I chased after it and got it to respond to playback a few times.” The remainder of the Winter Finch Forecast, which predicts Pine Siskins and Purple Finches moving farther south than normal this winter, can be seen here: http://www.jeaniron.ca/2016/finchforecast16.htm
John Martin got video of the Black-capped Petrel at Newnans Lake on the 8th that shows its dramatic, swooping flight style, well adapted for the high seas. The flight style is characteristic of this species and can identify it from a long distance away when you’re on a rocking boat in the Gulf Stream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thermalin/30081309042/in/dateposted-public/ And I hope that everyone saw Felicia Lee’s article about the petrel in the Gainesville Sun: http://www.gainesville.com/news/20161010/area-birders-welcome-unexpected-hurricane-evacuee
Linda Holt got a pretty great yard bird at her place east of Newberry on the 9th: “While watching a Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the dogwood trees in my yard a Black-billed Cuckoo flew up and perched nearby and I got good looks at it. It was a slender cuckoo with an all-black bill.”
More Peregrine Falcons than usual have been reported in Alachua County this fall, three from September 3-17 and another six in the last five days: Adam and Gina Kent saw one from Powers Park on the 7th, the Kents and Craig Faulhaber saw one soaring with Turkey Vultures on the 9th, Bob Carroll, Becky Enneis, and Linda Holt saw one while trying to relocate the Black-billed Cuckoo on the 9th, Adam Zions saw one at Chapmans Pond on the 10th, and Darrell Hartman saw two (!) at La Chua on the 11th. Of course the Newnans Lake and Paynes Prairie reports might pertain to the same two birds, but I think Hurricane Matthew forced some migrating Peregrines inland so maybe not.
The majority of Yellow-rumped Warblers arrive after the other migrants have passed on to the south, usually around October 20th. But we’ve had a handful of sightings already. The first of them showed up on the 9th, the day after the hurricane; there were three reports that day: Jordan Broadhead saw four along the La Chua Trail, Felicia Lee and several other birders saw three at Magnolia Parke, and Adam and Gina Kent saw one at their place in SE Gainesville. Laura Predny saw another at Lake Tuscawilla on the 10th.
The 9th also brought the season’s first Bay-breasted Warblers, and like the Yellow-rumpeds they appeared in multiple places that day: Jessica Hightower saw one at Newnans Lake State Forest, Keith Collingwood saw one in his yard in Melrose, and Chris Burney saw one at Prairie Creek. Some birds, like American Redstart and Prairie Warbler, have an extended migration that runs from July into early November, but Bay-breasted is just the opposite: if you want to see it, you have a brief window in mid-October, and then it’s gone.
The 9th ALSO brought the winter’s first White-crowned Sparrow, discovered by the Kents and Craig Faulhaber along the Bolen Bluff Trail. Matt O’Sullivan went out the next day and got a photo, which you can see on his eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31986312
Hey, eBirders: I’ve set up two eBird Hotspots for Newnans Lake State Forest, one for the east trail and one for the west trail. Please use these hotspots when you visit, so that all the observations will be collected in the same place. I blogged about Newnans Lake State Forest’s west trail almost a year and a half ago: http://fieldguide.blogs.gainesville.com/280/a-new-state-forest-in-gainesville/
Alachua Audubon will sponsor two field trips this coming weekend. They may be the last trips before migration falls off. Saturday we’ll walk the Bolen Bluff Trail, a perennial favorite. On Sunday at 8 a.m. we’ll join Trina Anderson in the parking lot of Kanapaha Botanical Gardens for a stroll through a variety of neatly-tended gardens, hardwood hammocks, sinkholes, and a man-made watercourse. This under-birded park can be excellent for migrating warblers. Participants will be admitted to the park for half price ($4), but MUST be on time to get the group rate.