CORRECTION: One paragraph of yesterday’s email said I’d be at Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve on Wednesday to lead a June Challenge field trip. That’s wrong – obviously I meant Thursday, June 1st, at 6:15 a.m. See you then.
I did some scouting this morning, starting at 6:07 a.m. at Longleaf. The nighthawks were cooperative, but the Bachman’s Sparrows were not. I made a stop at Powers Park to scope the lake from the fishing pier, but didn’t see anything unusual – no shorebirds, no spoonbills – so I think we’ll skip that on the 1st and just go straight from Windsor to La Chua. I found a singing Yellow-breasted Chat where Sparrow Alley bends right just past the “ani field,” and a very surprising congregation of 19 Purple Martins on the power lines. Anyone know where they came from?
Beth Senn, who lives south of the Kanapaha Prairie, photographed a Rose-breasted Grosbeak at her feeder on May 19th, by one week a new late record for Alachua County: https://www.flickr.com/photos/74215662@N04/34538599320/in/datetaken-public/
Barbara Woodmansee, who lives in the same general area as Beth, spotted an American Redstart at her birdbath on the evening of the 26th. Redstarts often dawdle on their way north; there are eight or ten June records from Alachua County.
Here’s something for you county listers. I’m always curious to know what other birders have seen in Alachua County that I haven’t, and vice-versa. For instance. Mike Manetz has seen four species I haven’t: Red Knot, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Warbling Vireo. I’ve seen five species Mike hasn’t: American Oystercatcher, Pomarine Jaeger, Philadelphia Vireo, Connecticut Warbler, and Black-throated Gray Warbler. If you want to compare your Alachua County list with those of other birders, go to this page, type your name into the cell in Row 1, and then start putting 1’s next to every species you’ve seen in the county. The checklist will automatically tally them for you. Here’s the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sVSSm0cEbsRkpGOMGvSlKMrvQp2KJ78iXJeU5kidyY4/edit?usp=sharing
A bear! Adam Zions wrote on the 26th, “Thought you’d be interested in this observation I had last night (well technically early this morning) while Gina and I were coming back from a concert in Orlando. At 1:12 a.m. we were driving towards home along Archer Road and were coming up right by Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (KBG) and lo and behold an adult black bear ran across Archer and north up the easternmost road of the mobile home park which is directly adjacent to KBG. Gina didn’t see it run across Archer and didn’t believe me, so I pulled back around and onto the mobile home park road I’d seen it run up, and sure enough we saw it a couple hundred feet ahead as it climbed the short chain link fence and over into the KBG property.” I’ve heard that the population center for Black Bears in Alachua County is the swampland north of Lake Alto, so this was probably from somewhere else – Goethe State Forest, maybe? They’re usually pretty harmless, and will flee at the sight of a human being. But not always: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsCqmotxyME
Did anyone lose a pair of prescription glasses at Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve? Deena Mickelson found them along the Red Loop on the 25th. Let me know if you lost them and I’ll pass your contact information along to her. She also found a Hairy Woodpecker along the Red Loop on the 25th – “in the woods on the southern side of the service road, just before the red trail divides in two directions” – but it will be much, much easier to recover your glasses than to see the woodpecker. Deena took a camp chair along with her, set it up, and just waited the bird out. Not a bad strategy. Something to keep in mind for … The June Challenge! (Did I mention that it begins on the 1st? Maybe I did.)