Meet trip leader Felicia Lee at the trailhead of La Chua Trail on Camp Ranch Rd. La Chua is one of the area’s best birding hotspots and it supports a tremendous bird population including wading birds, waterfowl, raptors, warblers, and others.
Entry fee for the State Park is $4 per vehicle.
Difficulty: 3 (may involve elevation change, uneven terrain, and/or walking distances greater than two miles).
Meet trip leader John Hintermister at the Tag Agency on NW 34th St. just south of US-441 to carpool to the east coast. We’ll start at Fernandina Beach and work our way south. Possible Purple Sandpipers and scoters at Ft. Clinch State Park (entry fee $6 per vehicle). Then to Amelia Island for Red-throated Loon, scoters, Horned Grebes, and gulls. We’ll finish at Jacksonville’s Huguenot Park ($5 per vehicle) for shorebirds and other winter birds. Expect a full day of birding and some walking at various coastal sites.
Bring a lunch and warm clothes.
Difficulty: 3 (may involve elevation change, uneven terrain, and/or walking distances greater than two miles).
Would you like to outwit squirrels at your feeders? Would you enjoy a wider range of bird species in your backyard habitat?
Ron will discuss ideas and techniques that will attract the widest possible variety of bird species to your backyard. Topics include basic habitat design, squirrel proofing, the importance of providing water, the best ways to provide water, and special features and foods that will attract a broader range of species.
Wednesday, February 7, 2018. Social time 6:30, program 7:00 p.m.
Location: Millhopper Library, 3145 NW 43 rd St., Gainesville, FL
Meet trip leader Howard Adams at the trailhead of La Chua Trail on Camp Ranch Rd. La Chua is one of the area’s best birding hotspots and it supports a tremendous bird population including wading birds, waterfowl, raptors, warblers, and others. Resident species should be in the midst of nesting activities, and we may see a few migrants passing through.
Entry fee for the State Park is $4 per vehicle.
Difficulty: 3 (may involve elevation change, uneven terrain, and/or walking distances greater than two miles).
Come join us on Wednesday, April 11th at 6:30 pm for Alachua Audubon’s annual pot luck dinner celebration and help us welcome our newest AAS Board Members.
This event will be held at Bubba and Ingrid Scales’ house at 3002 SW 1st Way, Gainesville, located in the neighborhood across Williston Road from Sweetwater Wetlands Park (see map). Look for the AAS signs!
Bring some food to share and a beverage of choice, and enjoy visiting with Alachua Audubon members and the Board of Directors. This will be a fun gathering and an opportunity to share our more recent spring migration observations!
The Alachua Audubon Society is a volunteer organization. Officers of Alachua Audubon Board of Directors are: President: Debbie Segal, Vice President: Scott Flamand, Secretary, Felicia Lee, and Treasurer: Trina Anderson. Returning board members are Emily Schwartz, Bob Simons, Anne Casella, Mike Manetz, Barbara Shea, Karen Brown, Katie Sieving, Charlene Leonard, Adam Zions, Steve Goodman, Michael Brock and Alan Shapiro.
We would like to welcome our newest board members Jonathan Varol, Cindy Boyd, Eric Amundson and Brittany Kryder. We would also like to thank the outgoing Board members Sharon Kuchinski and Will Sexton for their time and effort in make this a successful organization.
Please join us on April 11th as we celebrate Alachua Audubon and welcome our newest board members.
Meet trip leader Rex Rowan at the Tag Agency on NW 34th St. just south of US-441 to carpool to Jacksonville’s Huguenot Park, where we’ll look for shorebirds, gulls, and terns, all in their breeding plumage, and migrant songbirds, including Painted Buntings, at Ft. George Island. Admission to Huguenot is $5 per vehicle, $3 (exact change only) if we get there before 8 a.m.
Difficulty: 3 (may involve elevation change, uneven terrain, and/or walking distances greater than two miles).
Florida’s Charismatic Microfauna
Presented by Paul Moler
Social Time 6:30, program 7:00 p.m.
Although the vast majority of Florida’s wildlife species are invertebrates, most receive little attention. The important roles played by bees and butterflies are generally well known, but many other species toil away anonymously providing important ecosystem functions. Still others may not be major players but are nonetheless behaviorally or morphologically fascinating (“cool”). This program will introduce a select few of the less familiar members of our local fauna.
Scott Flamand, retired science teacher from Buchholz High School and former president, current vice president of Alachua Audubon Society will tell about a recent trip with a nature guide through northern India. Scott was very excited to be able to take this trip and we will find this an outstanding presentation about what he saw and learned in northern India.
Social Time 6:30, program 7:00 p.m.
Meet trip leader Rex Rowan at the parking lot of the Watermelon Pond WEA on SW 250th Street 2.0 miles south of SW 46th Avenue. We’ll be looking for open-country migrants like Western Kingbirds as well as winter arrivals like Savannah and Vesper Sparrows (and the season’s first Yellow-rumped Warblers!). Fall wildflowers ought to be blooming, and hopefully we’ll encounter a Fox Squirrel or two.
Difficulty: 3 (may involve elevation change, uneven terrain, and/or walking distances greater than two miles).
Ginny Stibolt, a life-long gardener with a Master of Science degree in botany, will speak on topics from the book, Climate-Wise Landscaping: Practical Actions for a Sustainable Future by Sue Reed and herself. The book was published by New Society Press in 2018. The authors have taken an optimistic approach, with hundreds of actions that people can take to accomplish at least one of 3 objectives: 1) to help the landscape survive climate change, 2) to help wildlife survive climate change, and 3) to help mitigate climate change. Since moving to Florida in 2004, Ginny has written 4 peer-reviewed books on Florida gardening, all published by University Press of Florida. In addition, she has written hundreds of gardening and nature articles for various publications.
Social Time 6:30, program 7:00 p.m.
Meet trip leader Rex Rowan in the parking corral for the West Trail, on State Road 26 one mile north of the junction with County Road 329B. The 182-acre field on this property produced 13 species of sparrows last winter, including Henslow’s, Lincoln’s, and Clay-colored, and we’ll see how many of them we can find. Interesting western strays are also possible at this time of year.
Difficulty: 2 (may involve uneven terrain and/or walking distances one to two miles).
Meet field trip leader Barbara Shea in the SWP parking lot on Williston Road about ¾ of a mile east of US-441. This city park was created to improve water quality in Paynes Prairie and the Floridan Aquifer. It’s now a draw to a large variety of birds, with 237 species reported to eBird so far. We’ll look for ducks, American Bitterns, and other wetland birds.
Entry fee $5 per vehicle.
Difficulty: 2 (may involve uneven terrain and/or walking distances one to two miles).
Location map for Mill Pond Clubhouse
In place of the traditional Silent Auction, AAS will offer alternative fund raising activities. We will sell bird and nature-related books, CDs, and DVDs. Donate to AAS by contributing bird and nature-related media that you no longer need, and consider purchasing new additions for your library collection.
You may call 372-0754 to have your items picked up or you may bring them with you to the social.
A UF birding club, GREBE (Gators for Really Excellent Birding Experiences) will be providing the entertainment, possibly a bird calling contest similar to the one we had last year. Demonstrate your bird calling skills. Prizes will be given out to the winners. Amaze your friends with your Barred Owl and Screech Owl imitations!
Pease join us, support Alachua Audubon and enjoy food and drink with your birding friends. The holiday party will be held at the Mill Pond Clubhouse. Directions: From Newberry Road, turn south on NW 48th Blvd (across from GNV Health and Fitness Center). Drive south about 2 blocks. Look for tennis courts on the right. The Clubhouse is next to the tennis courts on the right. Look for our Alachua Audubon signs!
We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming Holiday Social!
For decades the fields north of Lake Apopka were cultivated for vegetables by the Duda family. About 20 years ago the St. Johns Water Management District bought those fields, and now they grow birds and other wildlife.
Join trip leader Howard Adams for a driving tour through the brushy wetlands of the Lake Apopka Restoration Area, one of the best birding areas in the state. Fulvous Whistling-Ducks are regular there, and rarities often show up; in 2017 a Fork-tailed Flycatcher was present for several months.
Meet in the Target parking lot on Archer Road just east of I-75.
Difficulty: 1 (trip within easy access of vehicle and/or level terrain one mile or less).
Meet trip leader Chris Burney at Powers Park on Hawthorne Rd. to carpool to the Alachua Conservation Trust’s 500-acre Prairie Creek Preserve. The Preserve encompasses a variety of uplands and lowlands, and we’ll sample several of them in search of sparrows and winter feeding flocks. Wear rubber boots or old shoes you don’t mind getting wet, as the trail can be soggy or even flooded.
Difficulty: 2 (may involve uneven terrain and/or walking distances one to two miles).
Southeast Asia has roughly 20,000 islands scattered throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and this talk provides an introduction to 2 of them, Bali and Borneo. Isolated, islands are hotbeds of speciation, and most birdwatching trips to the region focus on the endemics found throughout.
Join us as Chris Burney briefly gives a background of the islands with maps, and spend the bulk of the presentation covering the highlights with pics and illustrations from two months of travel.
Social Time 6:30, program 7:00 p.m.