Local rarity update

Did anyone find a pair of Nikon Monarch binoculars at the La Chua parking lot? Beverly Campbell of Tampa drove away on the 18th with hers on the bumper of her car. If you’ve found them, please let me know and I’ll send you Beverly’s contact information.

Sandhill Cranes seem to be heading home already. Steve Zoellner noted that, beginning on the 15th, “there have been a few large formations of cranes flying north.” On the 18th Donny Griffin saw a flock of 45 going north over the Osceola National Forest. And on the 25th I saw a flock of about 30 circling and calling over the intersection of NW 13th Street and 23rd Avenue.

The Peregrine Falcon photographed by Marvin Smith on the 1st was rediscovered by Lloyd Davis on the 18th where the powerlines cross the marsh south of Sparrow Alley. It’s still there as of the 27th.

As is the Dickcissel at La Chua. It’s moving around a little bit, though. On the 27th it was sighted near the trailer at the end of the boardwalk and on the far side of the canal running from Little Alachua Sink to Alachua Sink. Tina Nauman got several photos on the 26th.

Barbara Stewman, who rediscovered the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher north of Newberry on the 13th, saw it again on the 21st, and John Middleton photographed it on the 25th. No other Scissor-tailed has ever stayed nearly this long (though I’m not sure how many were checked and re-checked after the initial sighting). The previous record holder, out of a total of 16 sightings, remained along a dirt road near Archer and Parker Roads for 7 days (22-28 October 2013). This one has now been hanging out for at least 55 days.

Rusty Blackbirds are still being seen at Magnolia Parke. Cindy Boyd saw 7 on the 27th, but up to 62 have been reported there this month.

Birders have noticed a white-headed and white-breasted Red-tailed Hawk around Sparrow Alley, and several of them are eBirding it as a “Krider’s” Red-tailed. Apparently it’s not a Krider’s. Back in 2012 I asked Jeff Bouton, who spent two seasons as the official counter at the Cape May Hawk Watch (see Jack Connor’s great book Season at the Point) about Krider’s, and here’s what he said: “Krider’s is one of those goofy ‘boxes’ that to fit into perfectly you need to have all elements spot on. A big problem with Red-tailed is that it is SOOOO prone to leucism, albinism, and light extremes. They are just way more variable than other birds so harder to put definitive labels on confidently as a result.” Mike Manetz has noted that the tail on this bird is entirely red, which is not right for Krider’s.

Speaking of Red-tailed Hawks, Jeff also had something interesting to say about dark Red-taileds, such as that reported by Austin Gregg at the Levy Lake Loop on the 8th: “This is a fairly regular plumage type in Florida’s peninsular race of Red-tailed (Buteo jamaicensis umbrinus), seen in ~10-15% of individuals. You won’t find this in print anywhere so this is my take on it solely. The umbrinus Red-tailed is one of the least described (and most poorly described) subspecies I’ve ever encountered. Even in specialty raptor guides they warrant a one sentence description similar to ‘FL subspecies (umbrinus) similar to western calurus…’ or similar. This is what I call the ‘dark morph’ of the umbrinus subspecies which can show an all-dark breast which ranges from an almost chestnut to a dark reddish brown with a fairly solid and notably darker belly band. The unique part though is unlike other ‘dark forms’ is the lower belly, undertail, and thighs are more like typical light morph. As I said it’s never been described in any guide but I did send Richard Crossley an image of a bird similar to this that he inserted last minute in the ‘Florida’ page of his raptors guide but again, no real description. Another neat/interesting part about umbrinus that bucks the trend of the expected is that they are notably larger than the northern borealis race.” For what it’s worth, 10-15% seems too high in my experience. Assuming that Jeff is correct, I’d say it’s no more than 1-2%. But who are you going to believe, me or a real hawk expert?

Some of you eBirders may know this and some of you may not: You should individualize your “shared checklists” because differences between two (or more) versions of a shared checklists are highly valuable to eBird statisticians. So if you go out birding with your friend(s), don’t enter separate checklists. One person should enter what they recorded and then share the checklist with the other(s), and – this is the important point – the other(s) should adjust the checklist to agree with their own records or memories, deleting birds they didn’t see and altering numbers as they see fit. Don’t just accept them, unaltered, into your eBird account.

Remember the Backyard Birding Tour, scheduled for Saturday, February 25th: https://alachuaaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/FOURTH-ALACHUA-AUDUBON-TOUR-FLYER-1.pdf