Alachua Avifauna: TENDER AGE IN BLOOM

I just realized the last post I placed on this blog was well over a month ago. True it has been a busy stretch of time, but not so much this blog should have been neglected in this fashion. Instead of trying to prepare a montage of what has been occurring since the last post, I will just continue with what has been going on lately.

Since our wet winter has quietly transitioned into a blossoming spring, it only seems fitting to begin with the changes which have taken place recently. In Alachua County, as with most of the state, most of our wintering waterfowl has flown off to their summer breeding grounds. Our wintering passerines and raptors are slowly doing the same, and in the last couple of weeks we have seen our first waves of migrants coming in from their Central and South American wintering grounds. Species like green-winged teal, eastern phoebe, and american robin have slowly been replaced by an influx of others such as swallow-tailed kite, indigo bunting, and yellow-throated vireo.

Yellow-throated vireo (Vireo flavifrons) at the mulberry tree area at Fort De Soto Park

Two weekends ago found me in Pinellas County, so I did not waste the opportunity to check out Fort De Soto Park. It just so happened a strong storm front heading out of the southwest had nicely coincided with my arrival to the park. The severe weather abated late in the afternoon the night before which I kept telling myself might mean some interesting migrants might be lingering around in the morning trying to fatten up on food before shoving off. Boy did it turn out to be a solid assumption.

Male hooded warblers (Wilsonia citrina) were present just about everywhere at Fort De Soto Park

I arrived at the park fairly early, and the weather was sunny and beautiful. Somewhat strong winds were still present, which meant any birds brought down by the storm were likely to still be present, likely stuffing their bills with as much food and energy as possible for their next big push. As a swainson's warbler had been spotted the day prior at the north beach woods, I decided to start my expedition near there. I searched diligently, but the bird was not coming out of hiding for me. However, some great species more than made up for its absence. A pair of swallow-tailed kites were soaring overhead, as was a peregrine falcon a few minutes later. Black-and-white warbler, hooded warblers, northern waterthrush, white-eyed vireos, ground doves, and nanday conures were out and about. Hooded warblers were the bird du jour, as you couldn't go anywhere in the park without running into one. I don't think anyone would ever complain about seeing too many hoodies.

A male ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) pauses between drinks of nectar from a lantana (Lantana camara), a non-native plant species.

The mulberry tree area was not to be outdone by the north beach woods. Yellow-throated vireo, gray kingbird, ruby-throated hummingbirds, and hooded warblers were all present and active while I was there. Traveling onwards, I found myself at the east beach woods, where several hooded warblers, prairie warblers, louisiana waterthrush, yellow-throated warbler, orange-crowned warbler, and thanks to two kind and informative birders, a swainson's warbler were waiting to be found. I couldn't have been more elated to find this leaf-litter picking bird. It seemed to not care about my presence and went on about its business, leaving quickly to find another patch of thick vegetation to explore for fuel.

A nanday conure (Nandayus nenday) sits quietly perched on a snag at the north end of Fort De Soto Park, minutes after a peregrine falcon and a pair of swallow-tailed kites soared overhead.

Shorebirds were plentiful at the east beach turnaround, with willet, ruddy turnstones, red knots, black-bellied plovers, wilson's plovers, semi-palmated plovers, a piping plover, and other expected species hanging out at the shoreline as the tides lowered. All in all it was a fantastic way to spend a morning. Unfortunately I had to get moving and say goodbye to this wonderful migrant trap.

A banded red knot (Calidris canutus), TL7, searching for prey at the east beach turnaround area at Fort De Soto Park

A wilson's plover (Charadrius wilsonia) rests near the red knot

Fast forward to this past weekend, and migratory activity has certainly continued from last week. Even my backyard was experiencing this influx, with great-crested flycatchers, red-eyed vireos, prairie warblers, and even one breeding plumage eastern palm warbler (which is a pretty rare yard bird for where we live in the county) passing through or arriving for the summer. Our breeding residents are also quite active, with many species already on nests. This combination of migrants and local breeders makes for a great excuse to get out and check out some of the local haunts, which is exactly what I did.

On Saturday I headed over to Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve to see if the male hairy woodpecker was still lingering around. I figured I only had a brief window to find the bird, as if it wasn't paired up with a female, it might be leaving soon to find one. Heading through the recently burned patch of pine flatwoods/palmetto prairie, I quickly encountered singing yellow-throated vireo, great-crested flycatchers, and one bachman's sparrow. As I reached the junction to head to the campsite where the hairy had been frequenting as of late, I heard some downy woodpeckers and then saw a group of 4 take flight out of the edge of the cypress stand. A couple minutes later they flew back to the edge of the turkey oak/longleaf pine flatwoods, and lo and behold I heard a hairy woodpecker rattle call. I looked towards the sound and sure enough, there he was with his long bill, scrambling up the trunk of a snag. With the other 3 downy woodpeckers right around it, it made for great overall size and bill comparisons between the species. I figured the downies may be have been acting aggressive or territorial to it, but it really didn't seem to be the case. In fact, one of the female downies seemingly followed the hairy when it briefly left to the adjacent edge of the longleaf pine flatwoods. It was not acting aggressive towards it, which I found quite interesting. Right around this time I ran into the Ewing clan who were out looking for the same bird I was watching. Being the great birders they are, they were right on it, and we all were able to get some fantastic looks and listen to it call some more. Unfortunately I had to bid aideu to the Ewing clan, as I had to keep my plans to put in some state park volunteer hours for the avian data collection at Camps Canal and Cones Dike.

For the most part, Camps Canal was fairly quiet in the late morning. I started heading down Cones Dike, and the bird activity was picking up a bit. However, a felled mature sugarberry (Celtis laevigata) was laying completely across the trail, impeding any further excursion down the trail. Therefore, I decided to quietly and secretively make my way down Camps Canal to see how the wading bird rookery was doing. It was a good decision, because this part of Camps was alive with late morning/early afternoon activity.

Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) in full bloom along Camps Canal

For me a clear sign of spring in Florida is the flower of the prairie iris (Iris hexagona)

Northern cardinals were plentiful, and red-eyed and white-eyed vireos were making their presence known. As I approached the rookery, I was careful not to cause a disturbance or disrupt the birds. I stealthily hid myself behind some vegetation and tried to remain as motionless as possible. It worked very well, as the nesting egrets and herons tended to their nests and went about their daily routine. Hopefully I don't come across as too preachy here, but to anyone reading this, please remember these birds are in a part of the park which has restricted access. The only reason I was there was as a park volunteer to help with the avian data collection for the park. These birds would do best with minimal human disturbance (i.e. presence), especially as this a very sensitive time for them.

Sticking quietly in one spot even allowed me to watch several interesting species forage about a foot off the ground across the way. A breeding plumage eastern palm, yellow-rumped (with their breeding black facial masks coming in strongly), a prothonotary, and a worm-eating warbler were quite unaware of my presence and allowed me to observe them for awhile. It's not too often I get two of my favorite warbler species (the protho and wormy) in one field of vision, so I took in the moment as long as possible.

A prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea), which in my opinion is one of the most striking warblers you'll ever meet

All in all, the rookery appeared to be in good shape and it appeared some nests already had chicks in them. Seeing many different waders nesting is a welcome sign indeed. The influx of migrants and the presence of breeding birds are clear signs spring and its promise of change is upon us, and winter is yet again resigned to be an afterthought. It's certainly time to get outdoors and find the blossoming treasures which are waiting to be discovered.