Tag: Black-headed Grosbeak

Winter is coming

Posted on by Rex Rowan

From: Rex Rowan <rexrowan@gmail.com>
To: Alachua County birding report

We’re going to try something new for field trips: carpooling via the Audubon web site. First go to the field trip schedule: https://alachuaaudubon.org/classes-field-trips/ Click on a field trip, and the information bar will expand. Click on the button that says, “Read more.” Try it on the O’Leno trip; you’ll end up here: https://alachuaaudubon.org/event/oleno-state-park-3/?instance_id=349 Scroll down the page a bit, and you’ll see a gray box that says, “Leave a reply.” If you need a ride, or you’re willing to provide a ride, use the “Leave a reply” box to say so. Don’t wait till the last minute. I know how you can be.

What may turn out to be Alachua County’s sixth-ever Black-headed Grosbeak had a fatal collision with a window at UF’s Bartram Hall on the 9th (photo here). It was an immature bird, and Black-headed Grosbeaks of that age can be difficult to distinguish from Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Andy Kratter will be prepping the specimen in the next week or so, and should be able to determine its identity then. Meanwhile, watch your feeders!

The arrival of Bay-breasted Warblers and Black-throated Green Warblers during the second week of October normally signals the last wave of neotropical migrants. This year the first Bay-breasted was extraordinarily early: Barbara Shea saw one at Sparrow Alley on September 21st, by thirteen days a new record. From the description it was in breeding plumage – they normally molt into winter plumage on the nesting grounds, before heading south – but that may be connected with its early arrival here. Jonathan Mays saw another relatively early Bay-breasted in his SE Gainesville yard on the 5th, and on the more typical date of October 9th Matt O’Sullivan saw one at Bolen Bluff and Dean and Samuel Ewing saw one in their NW Gainesville yard. Chris Burney spotted the only Black-throated Green that’s been reported this fall, on the 4th at Prairie Creek Preserve.

Jerry Krummrich had a nice day on Bellamy Road on the 3rd: “Was drawn to my favorite trail today and it was kinda birdy. Trail was wet but walkable and always interesting habitat changes from flooded woods to wildflowers in sandhills in a 50 yard stretch. Best bird was a Swainson’s Warbler along the trail with flooded woods in background. He was repeating call notes I was unfamiliar with – unlike Ovenbird, clearer and less frequent, less agitated attitude. He was cooperative and hopped up on limbs about 10 feet away/5 feet off ground. Had 11 warblers total including Blue-winged and Golden-winged in same tree, a dozen Ovenbirds, 1 Redstart and a Magnolia. Had a Merlin and a Cooper’s over scrub open woods. Several Empidonax and Veerys.” I asked Jerry where along Bellamy Road he was, and he replied, “I was referring to the Interpretive Trailhead, a portion of O’Leno SP located/accessed off 441 just south of main entrance road to O’Leno. You turn on Bellamy here (is a sign on highway), drive east and enter parking area trailhead. Trail connects to Sweetwater Branch Trail. I enjoy birding here because of habitat diversity – sandhill, scrub, and floodplain – it’s the area on top of the underground Santa Fe River which turns into a meandering slough during rainy periods – lots of tree species. Trail also connects to marked horse trails – lots of edges. Yes – sorry – it’s in Columbia County.” So now you’ve got a new birding spot to check out, or just a pretty place to take a walk.

Mike Manetz and I spent a couple of hours birding at the Powers Park fishing pier on the 9th. We saw no Ospreys, which is normal for October, but no Limpkins either, which was very surprising given their abundance at Newnans over the past couple of years. We did, however, see a Peregrine Falcon come cruising along the southern shore of the lake at treetop level, veer out into the open at the mouth of the boat channel to give us a nice close-range look, and then head in the direction of Paynes Prairie. Samuel Ewing didn’t have to go to Powers Park to see a Peregrine; he photographed one flying over his yard on the 11th: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121511542@N02/15322086547/in/photostream/

The Alachua Audubon field trip to O’Leno on the 11th had only middling success. Warblers were sparse, and overall we didn’t see many birds of any sort. However we came across two fruiting tupelo trees that attracted thrushes of three species (Wood, Swainson’s, Gray-cheeked) and tanagers of two species (Scarlet, Summer). The day was beautiful, the trail was beautiful, and the mosquitoes were few. On the way home Mike and I spent a few minutes at the Hague Dairy because it’s getting to be time for Yellow-headed Blackbirds. They often travel with big flocks of Brown-headed Cowbirds, but today cowbird flocks appeared to be nonexistent.

Ron Robinson photographed the fall’s first Wilson’s Warbler at his backyard bird bath on the 7th: https://www.flickr.com/photos/74215662@N04/15287033897/

As the migration of neotropical species draws to a close, the winter birds are starting to show up. The first Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, two of them, were seen by Matt Bruce at Palm Point on the 4th. The first Blue-headed Vireo was seen by John Hintermister at Bolen Bluff on the 5th. The first American Goldfinch – a very early bird – was seen by Andy Kratter in his SE Gainesville yard on the 6th, and it was Andy who saw the first Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Bolen Bluff on the 7th. The first Yellow-rumped Warbler (!), another early bird, was seen by Mike Manetz at Palm Point on the 9th. And I saw the winter’s first sparrow, a Savannah, at the Hague Dairy on the 11th.

Speaking of winter, Ron Pittaway’s annual Winter Finch Forecast has been posted on the eBird web site: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/wf1415/

When we visit the Cedar Key cemetery, we always park in the shady grove of sand pines at the north end. Until this week there was a thick border of palmettos and scrubby vegetation growing along the driveway. Now it looks like this. Migratory birds have one less bit of shelter on this island, which has become too popular for its own good. If you’d like to protest this action, and say a few words on behalf of the birds (and remind those in power that birders often visit Cedar Key, and spend money there), write the Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 610, Cedar Key, FL 32625 AND Mayor Dale Register, P.O. Box 339 Cedar Key, FL 32625.

Remember: carpooling via the Alachua Audubon web site!

Bronzed Cowbird at Hague Dairy, Red-breasted Nuthatches persisting

Posted on by Rex Rowan

When I go birding with Mike Manetz and Jonathan Mays, I feel like a not-too-smart seven year old who just can’t keep up – who can’t see anything they’re looking at, can’t hear anything they’re hearing, and who needs to have each bird pointed out to him. The words most often out of my mouth on these trips are, “Um … where are you seeing this? Could you point, please?”

That’s the way it was this morning, at the Tuscawilla Prairie. We arrived at 6:30 and stood under a starry sky as mosquitoes feasted on us, waiting for the first dim light that would send the American Woodcocks flying off the Prairie, back to the woodland thickets where they’d spend the daylight hours. At 7:00 Jonathan called Mike’s attention to a woodcock flying over – Mike’s 250th bird in Alachua County in 2012. Another one flew over five minutes later, which only Jonathan saw. I missed them both.

But it was a great morning. The mosquitoes dispersed after the sun came up, and we were left with blue skies and temperatures in the high 60s. We splashed around the trails in our rubber boots and saw 54 species of birds. A few migrant and summer species were still around – an American Redstart, a Blue Grosbeak, a Summer Tanager, a couple of dozen Indigo Buntings, fifteen or twenty Barn Swallows – but the winter birds had taken possession of the place: House, Marsh, and Sedge Wrens, Swamp, Savannah, and Song Sparrows, Palm and Orange-crowned Warblers, Eastern Phoebes, and our first American Robin of the fall (though Anne Kendall had one in her NW Gainesville yard on the 19th). There was one nice surprise. Jonathan heard a soft chuck-chuck sound that he recognized as a Yellow-breasted Chat, and we coaxed the bird into view for a few seconds. I think that’s the first chat I’ve ever seen outside of nesting season.

Here’s a picture from this morning’s trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/74215662@N04/8117478536/in/photostream

Mike found a good bird at the Hague Dairy on the 22nd: “There were about 450 cowbirds at the dairy this morning, and among them a Bronzed. I spent three hours squinting into the sun and chasing this flock back and forth between barns, behind the barns, and around to the driveway and back again. When they all flew and landed on a roof in horrible light I was about to give up. I turned around and saw about 20 cowbirds on a wire behind me in good light and there he was … larger than the other cowbirds around him, all black, including head, with much larger bill than the Brown-headeds. The eye showed dirty reddish. I watched it for about three minutes before it flew off to join the larger flock.” John Hintermister couldn’t find it this morning, but it may still be around.

Greg Hart of Alachua had a Red-breasted Nuthatch in his yard on the 21st, and the two in John Killian’s yard have been present now for four days.

Another irruptive species, Pine Siskin, may be headed this way too. New York birder Shaibal Mitra did a count of siskins flying over Long Island on the 20th and tallied 20,275 of them in five and a half hours. (Thanks to Pat Burns for forwarding that report.)

An adult male Rufous Hummingbird visited Bob Wallace’s farm south of Alachua on the 21st.

I was late in learning about the deaths of two distinguished members of Gainesville’s birding community. Dr. John William “Bill” Hardy was the Curator of Birds at the Florida Museum of Natural History from 1973 to 1995. He was also the founder of ARA Records, which produced the first collection of Florida bird vocalizations, “Sounds of Florida’s Birds.” That’s how I learned bird songs in the late 1980s, by popping the cassette version into the tape player whenever I had a sink full of dishes to wash. Here’s Hardy’s obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gainesville/obituary.aspx?n=john-william-hardy&pid=160278607&fhid=6683#fbLoggedOut

Dr. Frank Mead was a founding member of the Alachua Audubon Society, and was the organization’s official photographer for many years. In March 1955, five years before Alachua Audubon came into existence, he photographed the county’s first-ever Black-headed Grosbeak, which showed up a few blocks east of the UF campus. Here’s Frank’s obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gainesville/obituary.aspx?n=frank-waldreth-mead&pid=160454312&fhid=6683#fbLoggedOut