We’ve lost a minute of daylight since the solstice. How depressing.
I think I stumbled across a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers on the morning of the 27th. I was working on the Breeding Bird Atlas (Waldo quad) and while driving slowly along County Road 1471 in search of an Eastern Kingbird I heard a series of high-pitched calls from two birds chasing around in some pecan trees. All the vocalizations sounded like Hairy, not like Downy, the birds seemed on the large side, and the quick glimpse I got when one bird gave me a profile looked like a male Downy/Hairy with what *may* have been a long bill. Then both birds flew east across 1471, across the field, and toward a huge stand of dead trees on the back side of the field (the western edge of the Santa Fe Swamp Conservation Area). I’m not counting them on my June Challenge list, because Downies may have some vocalizations I’m not aware of, but I’m 98% certain they were Hairies. I waited by the side of the road for another 45 minutes, hoping they’d come back, but they never did. If you’ve got Google Earth, you can see where I was at 29° 48.534, -082° 07.789. If not, take County Road 1471 (the one that runs up the east side of Lake Alto) north to NE 134th Avenue, the entrance road to Lake Alto Park. From that point, continue north 2.1 miles on 1471. You’ll pass two houses with addresses out by the street: 17015 on the right, 16784 on the left. The woodpeckers were chasing each other through the trees at 16784. I’d say your chances of seeing them aren’t great, but it’s the best lead we’ve had for the species this June. Two or three years ago we had a pair of Hairies a few miles south on 1471, at John Winn’s LEAFS property. This present location is situated between the big swamp north of Lake Santa Fe on the east and the big swamp north of Lake Alto on the west.
Speaking of the big swamp north of Lake Alto, until yesterday I was completely ignorant that it’s a state-owned conservation property. It’s called the Lake Alto Tract of the Santa Fe Swamp Wildlife and Environmental Area, and it’s 1580 acres in extent. On spying the sign along County Road 1471, I pulled into the parking lot and tried to find a trail, but the whole place was very overgrown and I saw no blazed trees. Recreation on the site is under the authority of the Suwannee River Water Management District. The web site for the WEA is here, with a map here. The map shows a trail system, so I phoned the WEA’s biologist at SRWMD this morning to ask about it, but he wasn’t in his office. Water Management Districts aren’t getting much support under the Scott administration, I know that, so it’s quite possible that they simply don’t have the money for maintenance.
Lloyd Davis writes, “As I entered O’Leno State Park this morning at about 8:15 I heard a Broad-winged Hawk about 100 yards beyond the entrance ranger stop. Of course it is in the wrong county (Columbia), so I didn’t pull over to look for it. I went there to check for Louisiana Waterthrush but didn’t find one.” If you were to stand on the hanging bridge at O’Leno – and you were to have a bit of luck – you might see a Broad-winged circle over the Alachua County side of the river.
I tried for Louisiana Waterthrush at Gum Root Swamp this morning, but without success – though I did see three River Otters, which is success of a kind.
Frank Goodwin and Jane Brockmann independently confirmed two singing male Gray Catbirds at Tumblin Creek Park on the 26th. Jane wrote, “One was singing in plain view (woods to the north of the Picnic pavilion) and the other was deeper in the woods to the west of the Picnic Pavilion (both could be heard singing at the same time).” On the previous day Trina Anderson and Howard Adams saw a third catbird there: “Saw two together on the sidewalk while hearing one farther down the hill, which was confirmed by Howard Adams.”
On the subject of Black-crowned Night-Herons eating other birds, Josh Watson of the Santa Fe Zoo writes, “This is an issue when you see them in captivity as well. I know of one aviary that struggled with that very thing. The herons would roost at the very top of the building, and were therefore almost impossible to remove.” And Rob Bowden sent this photo of a Black-crowned preying on a Yellow-billed Cuckoo: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153971559853751&set=pcb.1043952955653430&type=3&theater
Remember, the La Chua Trail should be open again on the 30th, and the water levels seem to be dropping, so there may be a few early-returning shorebirds visible from the observation platform.
June Challengers, send me your final totals by midnight on the 30th. Go ahead and list the number of AOU-countable birds and then list the non-countable exotics. If, for instance, you’ve seen 99 countable birds and the only non-countable exotics on your list were Black Swan and Helmeted Guineafowl, send me this: “99 + Black Swan, Helmeted Guineafowl.”
Speaking of Helmeted Guineafowl, here’s a question for those of you who have it on your June Challenge lists. Are these free-roaming birds? Lloyd Davis saw them south of the Mill Creek Preserve the other day and he said they were within a fenced yard. If they’re captive and not free-flying (or free-running) birds, they probably shouldn’t be counted. Let me know if you’re counting them and where you saw them; it doesn’t really matter to me, I just want to be sure that everyone’s playing by the same rules. If one person is counting them, everyone should.