From: Rex Rowan <rexrowan@gmail.com>
To: Alachua County birding report
Geoff Parks notified me just before noon: “There were two Least Terns foraging in the sheetflow distribution channel at the Sweetwater Wetlands Park this morning. We watched them work their way back and forth for five minutes or so; I’m not sure if they stuck around or moved on.” I’m driving over to check it out as soon as I send this. Least Terns are rarely seen in Alachua County, and the origin of those that do turn up here is uncertain. For at least two or three years there’s been a nesting colony on the roof of the high school at Keystone Heights, but I can’t see why those birds would forage so far from their nests – Lake Santa Fe is much closer, and there are several smaller bodies of water in the Keystone Heights area. Possibly there’s another nesting colony nearby.
I was at Sweetwater Wetlands Park yesterday morning. Not many migrants are left, with the exception of “wintering” American Coots, which are plentiful. But a couple of birders saw a pair of Blue-winged Teal, and I saw three Bobolinks (others reported flocks) and five or six Spotted Sandpipers. Otherwise it was all resident species, including easy-to-see Least Bitterns and Purple Gallinules, and one adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron hanging around the mouth of Sweetwater Branch, where it empties into the wetland. Remember that the Park will be open on Memorial Day.
Hope you’re all polishing up your binocular lenses in preparation for The June Challenge. It begins one week from tomorrow, and I’ll lead the usual kickoff field trip beginning at 6:15 a.m. at the Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve parking lot.