The second weekend of the June Challenge, or, Tern Tern Tern

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

Ted and Steven Goodman and Felicia Lee found a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at Possum Creek Park on the 9th, “off the trail in the extreme SE corner of the park in the sinkhole wetland where there are a few egret nests. The heron was in a maple tree with lots of moss.”

Tropical Storm Andrea brought us nothing whatsoever on Thursday evening, apart from some glorious weather. A few of us were at Palm Point on Friday morning as well, but there was little evidence that Andrea had ever existed. We saw one distant Least Tern, which probably would have been there storm or not, since they often visit Newnans Lake in June. And we saw a mid-sized tern that was probably a Forster’s, though we couldn’t positively identify it. That was all. Otherwise the same Laughing Gulls and American White Pelicans that have been there since June 1st.

I spent Saturday in Georgia on family matters, so I missed Jonathan Mays’s notification that he’d found a Caspian Tern at Newnans Lake in the morning. I don’t think it’s been seen since then.

Jonathan also found a Gray Catbird on the 7th, in the remote area of Paynes Prairie where he’s working. Anyone else seeing catbirds in the county? That’s a tough one to get in summer. They’ve nested here on a few occasions, but they don’t normally breed in Alachua County.

A Yellow-breasted Chat has been seen twice along Sparrow Alley, on the 2nd by Adam Zions and on the 9th by Jonathan Mays.

Ignacio Rodriguez and Francisco Jimenez saw 2 Whooping Cranes and 2 lingering Blue-winged Teal from the La Chua observation platform on the 9th.

Two Roseate Spoonbills were sighted on the 9th, one at Paynes Prairie by Jonathan Mays and one near Watermelon Pond by Samuel Ewing.

If you need American Kestrel for The June Challenge, they’ve been seen at Cellon Creek Boulevard and on County Road 232 just a quarter mile west of County Road 241.

Go ahead and add those exotics to your list: Graylag Geese at Red Lobster Pond, Graylag Geese and Black Swans at the Duck Pond. And don’t forget the parrot, a Blue-fronted Amazon, that has been visiting Scott Flamand’s feeder at 9312 NW 15th Place since January. Scott writes, “We would love to have people come by. It shows up virtually every day. However, it visits sporadically. When it shows up it is always on the tray feeder on the pole system in the front yard. It is usually not very shy. Nobody needs to email but I’m at flamans@gm.sbac.edu if they have any questions. I will let the neighbors know there may be people stopping by during June.”

The amusing title of Katherine Edison’s latest blog post belies its serious subject matter: http://earthteachme.blogspot.com/2013/06/thoughts-on-stepping-in-cat-poo-while.html