From: Rex Rowan [rexrowan@gmail.com]
Subject: Alachua County birding report
Hey, make a note if you’re planning to join the January 5th field trip to Alligator Lake: the driving directions on the Alachua Audubon web site are wrong. Here’s what they should say: “From I-75 take US-90 east through Lake City and turn south on Old Country Club Road (also known as SE Avalon Avenue or County Road 133). Entrance to parking area is 1.5 miles south on the right side of the road.” Thanks to Tom Camarata for pointing out the mistakes to me.
We’ve got some gifted photographers around here, and some of you may be interested in the 2013 Wildlife and Nature Photography Contest being held by Audubon of Martin County. They’ve put together a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcd38dEvbAs
Speaking of photographers, Adam Zions found and photographed some uncommon birds in the conservation lands north of Newnans Lake on the 30th. He started at Gum Root Park, where he saw two Henslow’s Sparrows in the big field, then drove a couple of miles east on State Road 26 to the Hatchet Creek Tract, where he found a Red-breasted Nuthatch (not to mention a Brown-headed Nuthatch, which is resident at Hatchet Creek but can be hard to find).
I haven’t heard of any definite sightings of the Groove-billed Ani recently, though visiting Tennessee birder David Kirschke and his daughter thought they heard it on the 27th, “about half way between the Sweetwater Overlook turn off and the next bend in the trail.” If you see it, please let me know. The last positive sightings were by Lloyd Davis and Adam Zions on the 23rd, when Adam got a picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76166204@N08/8302688762/in/photostream
Mike Manetz found a big flock of ducks off the crew team parking lot on the 18th, and Andy Kratter saw them in the same place on the 23rd: “300+ Ring-necked, 25 or so Lesser Scaup, 8 Redhead, 5 Canvasbacks, and a bunch of American Coots. Four Red-breasted Mergansers were quite far offshore, as were 2 Horned Grebes.” I found most of the same birds still present in the late afternoon of the 24th, but by the 30th they’d dispersed and their place had been taken by Ruddy Ducks and Bonaparte’s Gulls, plus one hunting decoy.
Here finally are the results of the December 16th Gainesville CBC:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 207
Muscovy Duck 90
Wood Duck 821
Gadwall 34
American Wigeon 6
Mallard 29
Mottled Duck 89
Blue-winged Teal 81
Northern Shoveler 14
Northern Pintail 64
Green-winged Teal 1
Canvasback 5
Ring-necked Duck 252
Lesser Scaup 312
Black Scoter 6
Bufflehead 4
Common Goldeneye 1
Hooded Merganser 125
Red-breasted Merganser 4
Ruddy Duck 500
Northern Bobwhite 13
Wild Turkey 46
Common Loon 3
Pied-billed Grebe 74
Wood Stork 28
Double-crested Cormorant 772
Anhinga 187
American White Pelican 137
American Bittern 12
Great Blue Heron 134
Great Egret 206
Snowy Egret 177
Little Blue Heron 163
Tricolored Heron 77
Cattle Egret 211
Green Heron 17
Black-crowned Night-Heron 79
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1
White Ibis 2,013
Glossy Ibis 528
Roseate Spoonbill 1
Black Vulture 343
Turkey Vulture 1,144
Osprey 8
Bald Eagle 82
Northern Harrier 42
Sharp-shinned Hawk 12
Cooper’s Hawk 12
Red-shouldered Hawk 164
Red-tailed Hawk 64
King Rail 2
Virginia Rail 5
Sora 252
Common Gallinule 82
American Coot 883
Limpkin 6
Sandhill Crane 3,009
Killdeer 247
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 54
Lesser Yellowlegs 55
Least Sandpiper 2
Wilson’s Snipe 398
American Woodcock 7
Bonaparte’s Gull 30
Laughing Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 330
Herring Gull 2
Forster’s Tern 30
Rock Pigeon 70
Eurasian Collared-Dove 9
Mourning Dove 495
Common Ground-Dove 7
Groove-billed Ani 1
Barn Owl 5
Eastern Screech-Owl 16
Great Horned Owl 55
Barred Owl 64
Eastern Whip-poor-will 2
Selasphorus, sp. (probably Rufous Hummingbird) 1
Belted Kingfisher 38
Red-headed Woodpecker 32
Red-bellied Woodpecker 284
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 61
Downy Woodpecker 118
Northern Flicker 38
Pileated Woodpecker 129
American Kestrel 56
Merlin 3
Least Flycatcher 4
Eastern Phoebe 580
Vermilion Flycatcher 1
Ash-throated Flycatcher 10
Loggerhead Shrike 38
White-eyed Vireo 203
Blue-headed Vireo 44
Blue Jay 276
American Crow 621
Fish Crow 297
crow, sp. 45
Tree Swallow 6
Carolina Chickadee 204
Tufted Titmouse 248
Red-breasted Nuthatch 4
Brown-headed Nuthatch 4
House Wren 236
Winter Wren 1
Sedge Wren 52
Marsh Wren 129
Carolina Wren 420
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 387
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 405
Eastern Bluebird 173
Hermit Thrush 27
American Robin 2,583
Gray Catbird 205
Northern Mockingbird 180
Brown Thrasher 15
European Starling 43
American Pipit 124
Sprague’s Pipit 2
Cedar Waxwing 54
Ovenbird 2
Northern Waterthrush 6
Black-and-white Warbler 69
Orange-crowned Warbler 105
Common Yellowthroat 292
Northern Parula 3
Palm Warbler 830
Pine Warbler 204
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1,910
Yellow-throated Warbler 28
Prairie Warbler 8
Wilson’s Warbler 2
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Eastern Towhee 187
Chipping Sparrow 488
Field Sparrow 20
Vesper Sparrow 57
Savannah Sparrow 515
Grasshopper Sparrow 20
Henslow’s Sparrow 2
Le Conte’s Sparrow 6
Fox Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 74
Lincoln’s Sparrow 6
Swamp Sparrow 455
White-throated Sparrow 62
White-crowned Sparrow 35
Summer Tanager 4
Northern Cardinal 832
Indigo Bunting 2
Painted Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 9,915
Eastern Meadowlark 382
Common Grackle 585
Boat-tailed Grackle 727
Brown-headed Cowbird 12,798
Baltimore Oriole 29
House Finch 72
American Goldfinch 372
House Sparrow 11
We’ve gained two minutes of daylight since the solstice! Two minutes! Yes! And the first Purple Martins should be back within three weeks, maybe four. So it’s nearly spring. Watch your feeders for Pine Siskins and Purple Finches, which tend to show up after January 1st.
The management and staff of the Alachua County Birding Report, Inc., TM, LLC, LOL, ROTFLMAO, would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a Happy New Year.