Some kind of record

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

If you haven’t seen the Bullock’s Oriole and you plan to, let me ever-so-gently remind you of something I wrote in an earlier post: “Dotty Robbins told me that she went north from the Goodmans’ and around the corner, and from the street was able to see the bird in a tree in the back yard of the yellow house at 3736 NW 65th Place. If you go looking, please stay on the street and don’t disturb the residents of the house, as the wife works at night.” Evidently some birders read those sentences and took in the address, but not the part where I wrote, “please stay on the street and don’t disturb the residents of the house,” because they did, in fact, disturb the residents of the house, who were consequently upset. So don’t do that.

Fred Bassett’s visit on the 18th and 19th revealed that things around here are even crazier than we thought. While capturing and banding 14 hummingbirds, Fred discovered that, in addition to the Calliope in High Springs, in addition to the expected Rufouses (Fred banded 8) and Ruby-throateds (3) scattered here and there, that there’s a SECOND Calliope in town, at Alan and Ellen Shapiro’s house, and that Hilda Bellot is hosting a Black-chinned! That’s (consults fingers) four hummingbird species at once!

Glenn Price captured a nice video of the Calliope, which you can watch here. Calliope is a Florida Ornithological Society “review species,” so if you get to see it, please complete the rare bird form at the FOS web site: http://fosbirds.org/content/fos-bird-records-species-documentation

Hilda Bellot has given permission for birders to peer into her yard to see the Black-chinned Hummingbird. She lives near the big hill on NW 8th Avenue. From 8th turn south onto NW 21st Street. Go almost two blocks and pull to the right, onto the shoulder, just before you reach NW 7th Lane. Ms. Bellot’s house will be on your left (corner of 21st and 7th Lane), and right there, in the side yard, probably in view before you even get out of your car, is an arbor with two hummingbird feeders dangling from it. The Black-chinned has been coming to these feeders. Please stand in the street to wait for the bird; there’s not much traffic. If you want to see the purple gorget feathers you might try to visit in the afternoon to get the sun in your favor, but Fred dabbed a spot of bright pink dye on its crown, so you’re not likely to mistake it for the Rufous Hummingbird that’s also visiting the yard.

On the morning of the 17th Mike Manetz found a Hairy Woodpecker at Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve. It’s frequenting the longleaf pine / turkey oak sandhill at the western end of the “red blaze trail,” marked R on the map here.

Okay, let’s review. These birds are all present in Alachua County right now:

1.   Bullock’s Oriole (please re-read the first paragraph of this report)
2.   Western Tanager (and maybe a second in Alachua!)
3.   Calliope Hummingbird (2 of them)
4.   Black-chinned Hummingbird
5.   Red-breasted Nuthatch
6.   Fox Sparrow (2)
7.   Snow Goose (3)
8.   White-faced Ibis
9.   Vermilion Flycatcher
10. Wilson’s Warbler
11. Painted Bunting (10!)
12. Common Goldeneye (2?)
13. Pine Siskin
14. Least Flycatcher
15. Rusty Blackbird (flock)
16. Hairy Woodpecker

There have been other remarkable sightings. A Summer Tanager is spending the winter at Adam and Gina Kent’s for the second or third year in a row. Frank and Irina Goodwin found a Blue Grosbeak along the Levy Lake Loop on the 12th. On the 17th Lloyd Davis found two Painted Buntings, a male and a female, in the weedy canal behind the parking area at the Hague dairy, and I know of at least eight others coming to local feeders. And on the 19th Adam Kent’s team found four Northern Waterthrushes along Cones Dike on the kids’ CBC. In case you are not inferring what I’m implying, it’s a really good winter to be a birdwatcher in Alachua County, maybe The Best Ever! Why are you sitting indoors at your computer, reading this?

On the 18th Adam Zions had one of the best days I’ve ever heard of at Cedar Key: “It was low tide as I arrived, and I figured the area should be popping with shore and wading birds. So I began at Bridge No. 4, as it’s always a good place to begin. A few groups of Bufflehead (everywhere in Cedar Key – I don’t think there was one spot I went to which didn’t at least have 2) were great to see. I was walking back along the north side of the bridge trying for either Clapper Rail or Nelson’s or Seaside Sparrows, but to no avail. Since it was peak low tide, I decided to go off the bridge and walk around some of the saltmarsh cordgrass and into the marsh not too far from where the bridge begins. After scaring up a Sedge Wren, I continued on and flushed a Yellow Rail!!! I almost stepped on the damn thing, as it flew up and nearly gave me a heart attack. There was no mistaking it. Short, stubby yellow bill, white wing patches, a smidge smaller than a Sora, and a mix of beige/dark brown scaled/barred plumage. It flew and landed only a few feet away, so I headed over to the spot quickly to see if I could relocate it and possible get a photo of it. Apparently the rail had other plans and I couldn’t flush it again. I tried playing some call recordings, but it didn’t want to respond to it. So the day was already off to a banging start. I pretty much checked most of the areas out to see what was there. Other highlights included a trifecta of scoters at the pier (Black, White-winged, and 7 Surf), 2 Nelson’s Sparrows (one at the airport and the other at Shell Mound), 7 Roseate Spoonbills, and 25+ American Avocets at Shell Mound.”

Fred Bassett is coming back through town on the 22nd. If you’ve got a hummingbird visiting your feeder regularly and you’d like him to band it, let me know and I’ll pass your request along to Fred.

Have you got your tickets to the Backyard Birding Tour yet? Well dang, what’s the matter with you? https://alachuaaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Backyard-Bird-Tour-Flyer-2014.pdf

Bullock’s Oriole, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Fox Sparrow

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

In case you haven’t heard, Florida’s first documented Violet-green Swallow was photographed in a flock of Tree Swallows at Flamingo in Everglades National Park this morning – by out of state birders. Why is it always out of state birders who find the best birds? Come on, Florida, show a little pride!

Closer to home, the Bullock’s Oriole was seen again on the 8th and the 9th, in both the morning and the afternoon. Dotty Robbins told me that she went north from the Goodmans’ and around the corner, and from the street was able to see the bird in a tree in the back yard of the yellow house at 3736 NW 65th Place. If you go looking, please stay on the street and don’t disturb the residents of the house, as the wife works at night; however the homeowner seems to be a genial fellow (though described by one birder as “eccentric”) and if he sees you he may well invite you to walk up and take a closer look.

Chuck Currey has pointed out that this Bullock’s Oriole was present last winter as well. He lives right around the corner from the Goodmans, and in December 2012 he emailed me about an oriole that looked to him like a Bullock’s. His description perfectly fits this bird: “It has a yellow-orange supercilium, black midline chin stripe, and prominent white patch on its wings (greater and median coverts).” Unfortunately I was in Jacksonville taking care of my sick father at the time and I wasn’t able to properly follow up on Chuck’s sighting.

And by the way, Bullock’s Oriole is a Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee “review species,” so if you see it, please take a few minutes and fill out an online rare bird form: http://fosbirds.org/content/fos-bird-records-species-documentation

The Red-breasted Nuthatch that was seen on the Christmas Bird Count is still there and was seen on the morning of the 10th by Mike Manetz. It’s just west of Westside Park. About the best thing you can do is stand at the corner of NW 36th Terrace and NW 12th Avenue and wait for the feeding flock to come through. Then watch the tops of the pine trees. Mike writes, “The pine tree closest to the street has a short, broken off stump of a branch, and it eventually perched there, which is where we saw it the day after the Christmas Count.”

Mike also says the mystery rail – a Black Rail? no one has seen it well enough to say – is still in exactly the same spot across from the 441 observation platform, as of the 10th.

Chris Burney found the winter’s second Fox Sparrow behind Prairie Creek Lodge on the 9th: “I was looking for the Henslow’s Sparrows (in fields NW of the lodge past the horse pastures) after lunch since Mike was interested in chasing them – didn’t kick them up, may need more birders. Past the first field you hit open woodland with several downed trees – Fox Sparrow was mixed in with flock of White-throated.” Andy Kratter found one along the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail on December 12th, but it hasn’t been seen since.

On the afternoon of the 8th the female Common Goldeneye was at her usual spot in the retention pond behind the Harn Museum.

I can’t imagine how I neglected to post these earlier, unless it was just senility, but here are the results of the Gainesville Christmas Bird Count, held on December 15th:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 312
Snow Goose 1
Muscovy Duck 207
Wood Duck 346
Gadwall 22
American Wigeon 1
Mallard 17
Mottled Duck 121
Blue-winged Teal 757
Northern Shoveler 20
Northern Pintail 7
Green-winged Teal 97
Redhead 2
Ring-necked Duck 602
Greater Scaup 1
Lesser Scaup 15
Bufflehead 8
Common Goldeneye 3
Hooded Merganser 75
Ruddy Duck 96
Northern Bobwhite 16
Wild Turkey 52
Pied-billed Grebe 78
Horned Grebe 8
Wood Stork 54
Double-crested Cormorant 618
Anhinga 220
American White Pelican 22
American Bittern 26
Great Blue Heron 115
Great Egret 402
Snowy Egret 216
Little Blue Heron 206
Tricolored Heron 40
Cattle Egret 260
Green Heron 28
Black-crowned Night-Heron 45
White Ibis 2,010
Glossy Ibis 516
White-faced Ibis 1
Black Vulture 481
Turkey Vulture 1,160
Osprey 9
Northern Harrier 38
Sharp-shinned Hawk 6
Cooper’s Hawk 8
Bald Eagle 65
Red-shouldered Hawk 141
Red-tailed Hawk 27
King Rail 9
Virginia Rail 8
Sora 97
Common Gallinule 127
American Coot 465
Limpkin 17
Sandhill Crane 2,984
Killdeer 346
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 18
Lesser Yellowlegs 2
Least Sandpiper 60
Wilson’s Snipe 242
American Woodcock 15
Bonaparte’s Gull 8
Ring-billed Gull 699
Herring Gull 3
Forster’s Tern 28
Rock Pigeon 13
Eurasian Collared-Dove 75
White-winged Dove 4
Mourning Dove 585
Common Ground-Dove 7
Barn Owl 1
Eastern Screech-Owl 4
Great Horned Owl 19
Barred Owl 45
Eastern Whip-poor-will 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3
Rufous Hummingbird 2
Belted Kingfisher 43
Red-headed Woodpecker 12
Red-bellied Woodpecker 222
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 63
Downy Woodpecker 105
Northern Flicker 64
Pileated Woodpecker 83
American Kestrel 39
Merlin 5
Peregrine Falcon 2
Least Flycatcher 2
Empidonax sp. 1
Eastern Phoebe 408
Vermilion Flycatcher 1
Ash-throated Flycatcher 1
Loggerhead Shrike 38
White-eyed Vireo 110
Blue-headed Vireo 70
Blue Jay 277
American Crow 492
Fish Crow 229
crow, sp. 40
Tree Swallow 12
Carolina Chickadee 242
Tufted Titmouse 290
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown-headed Nuthatch 4
House Wren 146
Sedge Wren 27
Marsh Wren 52
Carolina Wren 396
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 419
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 422
Eastern Bluebird 251
Hermit Thrush 34
American Robin 654
Gray Catbird 104
Brown Thrasher 29
Northern Mockingbird 220
European Starling 87
American Pipit 13
Cedar Waxwing 134
Ovenbird 9
Northern Waterthrush 2
Black-and-white Warbler 95
Orange-crowned Warbler 98
Common Yellowthroat 175
Northern Parula 4
Palm Warbler 1,259
Pine Warbler 190
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2,365
Yellow-throated Warbler 40
Prairie Warbler 3
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Wilson’s Warbler 1
Eastern Towhee 136
Chipping Sparrow 952
Field Sparrow 27
Vesper Sparrow 62
Savannah Sparrow 294
Grasshopper Sparrow 8
Henslow’s Sparrow 7
Song Sparrow 54
Lincoln’s Sparrow 4
Swamp Sparrow 581
White-throated Sparrow 55
White-crowned Sparrow 22
Summer Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 784
Painted Bunting 4
Red-winged Blackbird 3,307
Eastern Meadowlark 143
Rusty Blackbird 5
Common Grackle 325
Boat-tailed Grackle 750
Brown-headed Cowbird 137
Baltimore Oriole 19
House Finch 120
American Goldfinch 257
House Sparrow 40

The Wall Street Journal published an article on the 2nd discussing the increasing use of song playback in birding: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304244904579276551350667062

Last of all, remember the two Alachua Audubon events that are coming up: the Kids’ Christmas Bird Count on January 18th, and the Backyard Birding Tour on February 8th.

Last call for the Christmas Count

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

Adam Kent was invited to compete in Peru’s Birding Rally Challenge this month as part of a three-man team sponsored by Surbound Expeditions. There were six teams, and Surbound tied for second place, amassing 455 species in six days, about as many as I have on my entire life list. So, children, if you’re good, and you eat your vegetables, and you study your bird vocalizations, especially the Furnariidae, the Tyrannidae, and the Thamnophilidae, you can grow up big and strong and one day maybe you’ll be invited to join Peru’s Birding Rally Challenge!

On the 6th Benjamin Ewing found two female Common Goldeneyes in the pond behind the Harn Museum (note that there are two ponds behind the museum, one near the intersection of 34th and Hull and one nearer the building; the birds are in the latter). Both were still present on the 12th, when Matt Bruce got this picture.

Andy Kratter has a Fox Sparrow in his SE Gainesville neighborhood for the fifth year in a row: “Park at Boulware Springs Park off SE 15th Street, walk north on the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail, pass the entrance to Sweetwater Preserve (on your left), and about 100 yards further on the right (east) is a dirt track. Go down about 75 yards and see the beer can (Natty Lite tall boy) on a stick. Look here. There were a few towhees, White-throated and Chipping Sparrows as well. I scattered some seed there later this morning. There is a lot of habitat in this area, and the bird will probably be hard to find.”

Maralee Joos told me that she found a Wilson’s Warbler at Lake Alice on the 4th, on the wooden platform at the end of the boardwalk leading from the University Gardens to the platform overlooking the lake.

The Rusty Blackbirds are still being seen in the wetland behind Magnolia Parke, most recently on the 12th. On the 8th Graham Williams got an excellent photo and a video.

And the Snow Goose was seen again on the 12th at the UF Beef Teaching Unit fields on SW 23rd Street. Unfortunately the Ross’s Goose hasn’t been seen since the 3rd.

Gainesville’s 56th Christmas Bird Count will be held on Sunday and the twelve teams are pretty much ready to go. However there are two smaller Counts coming up in the next week, so contact the compilers if you can lend them your (no doubt considerable) talents:

Tuesday, December 17th – Ichetucknee / O’Leno / Santa Fe – compiler Ginger Morgan ginger.morgan@dep.state.fl.us

Thursday, December 19th – Melrose – compiler Jim Swarr jhschwarr@gmail.com

Speaking of the Christmas Bird Count, are any of you who live in Gainesville or immediately to the south hosting any good birds in your yards right now? Any hummingbirds, Dark-eyed Juncos, Painted Buntings, Pine Siskins, flocks of Baltimore Orioles, that sort of thing? Let me know and we’ll send a team to check it out on Sunday.

Christmas Bird Count results

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.

Major birdage

The last week has produced a few really remarkable days of birding.

You may remember that Dalcio Dacol saw a possible Ash-throated Flycatcher near the La Chua observation platform on the 29th. No one was able to relocate it, but on December 2nd Jonathan Mays photographed a definite Ash-throated at the end of the Bolen Bluff Trail. One might assume that it was the same bird as Dalcio’s – simply because, after all, how many Ash-throated Flycatchers could we possibly have on the Prairie at once? They’re a rare bird, right? So anyway, on December 4th John Hintermister, Howard Adams, Mike Manetz, and Jonathan Mays did a little Christmas Count scouting. They started at Persimmon Point, where they found … an Ash-throated Flycatcher. Then they went on to Cones Dike, and in the very spot frequented by two Alder Flycatchers in September, they found three … count ’em, three … Ash-throateds IN THE SAME TREE. And not just in the same tree, IN THE SAME BINOCULAR FIELD. So that’s four separate sightings, and five or six separate Ash-throateds, between November 29th and December 4th. (Other good birds seen on the same day included a Lincoln’s Sparrow at Persimmon Point and a Yellow-breasted Chat on Cones Dike. Normally these would be the stars of the show, but not on a Four Ash-throated Flycatcher Day).

A party consisting of Mike Manetz, Jonathan Mays, Adam Kent, Frank Goodwin, and Julia Willmott returned to Cones Dike on the 7th, and Jonathan was able to get a picture of two Ash-throateds perched in the same tree. The group also found a Least Flycatcher, a Virginia Rail, and a Fox Sparrow. (All three Ash-throateds were still present on Cones Dike on the 8th, according to Adam Zions and Sidney Wade.)

Frank Goodwin must be wearing American Birding Association aftershave laced with sparrow pheromones, because he’s been finding sparrows like no one’s business. On the 2nd he photographed a Henslow’s Sparrow in the big field at Gum Root Park, a traditional place to look for them. On the 8th he and his wife Irina had a ten-sparrow day along the fenceline trail near the beginning of La Chua, including three relative rarities: two Lincoln’s Sparrows, a Clay-colored, and a Fox. Irina also saw a female Painted Bunting at the beginning of the trail. All of this in about a quarter of a mile. Frank remarks that the fenceline trail is “fast becoming my very favorite winter birding walk in all of Alachua County (if not the entire U.S.).”

Red-breasted Nuthatches are still around, as witnessed by three birds on successive days this week: I saw one at San Felasco Hammock on the 3rd, Geoff Parks heard one near Blues Creek on the 4th, and one visited Pat Lanzillotti’s NW Gainesville feeder on the 5th.

On the 6th Andy Kratter saw a Limpkin at Lake Alice. One was seen there multiple times early this year, but no one could find it after April. It may have been in the vicinity, keeping to the extensive swamp east of the main lake. Anyway, John Hintermister visited Lake Alice on the 8th and got a picture of it.

The female Vermilion Flycatcher is still being seen at La Chua, most recently by Jason Fidorra on the 7th. Greg Stephens photographed it on the 5th.

The goldeneye behind the Butterfly Rainforest exhibit appeared to have a yellow bill in the original photo that I received. Barrow’s Goldeneye has a yellow bill. But later photos showed that it had a dark bill, typical for a Common Goldeneye.

I remember Tom Webber saying that he expects to hear Northern Cardinals singing right about the time of the winter solstice. I always thought they started later than that, maybe a week or so after New Year’s Day. But I’ve heard them singing in my back yard each morning since December 1st. What with this and the early arrival of Cedar Waxwings and American Robins, it’s a strangely advanced winter in some ways.

According to the American Birding Association, Nanday Parakeet AKA Black-hooded Parakeet is now countable in Florida (be sure to read the comments): http://blog.aba.org/2012/12/52-bird-species-added-to-aba-checklist.html

John Winn has a cousin who runs a bird rehab facility in Maine, and every December she compiles her favorite photos from the preceding year. You should look at these if only to see the downy American Woodcock chicks: http://www.avianhaven.org/avianhavenslides2012.pdf

Shirley Lasseter made me aware that the Duck Pond, where Muscovy Ducks formerly reigned supreme, is now the domain of Black Swans. They’ve been there about three weeks and haven’t killed anyone yet, and I understand that’s pretty good for Black Swans.

There are three local Christmas Bird Counts coming up after the Gainesville Count. All could use your help:
Tuesday, December 18: Ichetucknee  / O’Leno. Contact Ginger Morgan  Ginger.Morgan@dep.state.fl.us
Thursday, December 20: Hamilton County. Contact Jacqui Sulek  jsulek@audubon.org
Thursday, December 27: Lake City. Contact Valerie Thomas  v.thomas57@gmail.com

Audubon Holiday Social, and thrilling seasonal rarities!

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

Alachua Audubon will hold its annual Holiday Social this coming Friday, December 7th, from 6:30 to 9:00. Please join us for refreshments, a silent auction to benefit Alachua Audubon, and of course the customarily brilliant and high-toned conversation of your fellow bird enthusiasts. This year Audubon board member Lynn Rollins is opening her home for our festivities. Lynn lives in Colony Park, a little west of Gainesville High School. Here’s a map, with Lynn’s house marked by an inverted blue teardrop: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=203358630947857947932.0004cfcb2b711575242b3&msa=0&ll=29.668534,-82.342122&spn=0.007104,0.009645  We hope to see you there. In fact, if you don’t show up, we may come looking for you…

Myiarchus is a genus of flycatchers with five members in North America, all of which look pretty much alike: Great Crested, Ash-throated, Brown-crested, Dusky-capped, and LaSagra’s. The first three of these have been recorded in Alachua County. Great Cresteds are of course common from late March through mid-September. Ash-throateds have been recorded 15-20 times over the past twenty years. Brown-cresteds have been recorded twice, Dusky-cappeds and LaSagra’s not at all. On the 29th Dalcio Dacol wrote, “A bit before noon today I saw from the observation platform and on the same row of bushes that the Vermilion Flycatcher has been frequenting on the west side of the trail, a Myiarchus flycatcher which I think is an Ash-throated Flycatcher. I saw it from the platform with 10x binoculars, it had that washed-out gray tone with prominent and bright rufous patch on the wing edge and on the upper tail, it also didn’t look as robust as a Great Crested Flycatcher. I had a good, but short, view of the back and of the right side of the bird but did not see the underparts. It didn’t fly away but dove down into the thick vegetation cover. I waited around the area for about half an hour but didn’t see it again.” He went back on the following day and spent two hours, playing vocalizations of the four Myiarchus species, but he didn’t see the bird again.

On the 30th Frank Goodwin saw a Snow Goose from the La Chua observation platform. Mike Manetz walked out on the 1st and got a look at it, his 253rd species for Alachua County in 2012.

This morning’s Alachua Audubon field trip to the La Chua Trail didn’t find either the Snow Goose or the Myiarchus flycatcher, but did amass a list of 80 species, including the resident female Vermilion Flycatcher, a Merlin, and 10 species of sparrows (11 if you include Eastern Towhee, which – and you’d know this if you’d looked over the Alachua County checklist – is just as much a sparrow as the others), the best of which were 5 Vespers, a Field, a Grasshopper, and a Lincoln’s. The Whooping Crane seen on the 27th and 28th has not been spotted since then.

Doug Richard reported a female Yellow-headed Blackbird at the Hague Dairy on the 29th.

On the 1st Matt and Erin Kalinowski found and photographed a female Common Goldeneye on the UF campus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/74215662@N04/8235771567/in/photostream  At least I think it’s a Common. The all-yellow bill is a field mark of Barrow’s Goldeneye, but of western Barrow’s rather than eastern; the National Geographic Society field guide notes that female Commons’ bills are “rarely all-yellow.”

Yellow-breasted Chats are normally very reclusive birds, and it’s tough to get a picture of one even when it’s singing. On the 21st Greg Stephens got an outstanding shot of a chat that may well be wintering on Burnt Island at the south end of Lake Lochloosa: http://www.photographybygregstephens.com/p622066799/h4d9ddb42#h4d9ddb42