Alachua Avifauna: HOODED MERGANSER MITOSIS

On Friday evening I decided I would head out to La Chua the following morning in the hopes the whooping crane spotted recently was still hanging around. So when Saturday morning came, I decided to make a brief check-in at the Townsend retention pond by my house to see what was going on there. Usually I don't get a chance to check it out in the early morning, but perhaps I should more often. It was fairly birdy for the subdivision, at least compared to when I typically check on it in the evening time.

(Male and female hooded mergansers)

The hooded mergansers had seemingly undergone mitosis since the previous day. There were 22 individuals on Friday, and nearly double the amount (40) on Saturday morning. I guess they put the word out the retention pond was the happening spot.

(Male and female hooded mergansers)

Apparently no other waterfowl got the invite, but it's still early enough some others might show up, especially if the hooded mergansers remain during the winter.

Wading birds present included a great egret, snowy egret, little blue heron, and tri-colored heron. A pied-billed grebe, belted kingfisher, and 3 eastern bluebirds made for a nice count for the subdivision.

(Eastern bluebirds in a slash pine)

Then it was on to more pressing matters - finding a whooper. When I arrived at the trail, I noticed there were many other birders there. I then realized I had forgotten the Alachua Audubon field trip was taking place at the trail. Whoops, it goes to show I need to remember my calendar events. So I decided to tag along, as more seasoned eyes and ears are better than one set. In the end, 80 different species were observed by the group, a fantastic tally considering only one duck species was positively identified.

The group struck out on the whooper, but were treated to great views of the recurring female vermilion flycatcher, the female merlin perched atop her favorite snag and hawking (or perhaps more fittingly falconing or merlining?) dragonflies, seemingly endless amounts of sora, a covey of at least 15 bobwhites flushed near the barn at the end of the walk, and 11 different Emberizid species. These included eastern towhee and field, savannah, song, vesper, lincoln's, grasshopper, white-crowned, white-throated, chipping, and swamp sparrows - most of which you'd typically expect to find at La Chua this time of year.

(Female merlin perched on snag)

It was a fantastic walk, with most of the birds actively calling, singing, or foraging, which made for easy identification of most of the species. Other species highlights for me included Caleb Gordon (our fearless hike leader) using his acute auditory skills to identify an american pipit flying somewhere overhead, watching an adult great blue heron first steal an amphiuma/greater siren from the great egret who originally caught it and then attempt to eat it (photo below), listening to all the sora calling, and just taking in all the activity occurring around the observation platform. It was an excellent hike shared with great company, typical of the Alachua Audubon hikes.

(Great blue heron attempting to eat a siren or amphiuma)

(Sora - one of the vast multitude present in the prairie right now)

After La Chua I decided to check out a couple areas around Newnan's Lake. I checked out Palm Point to see if the Western Kingbird Mike Manetz had seen earlier in the week was still present. Alas, it was not there, but 17 Bonaparte's gulls and a couple of immature herring gulls were just off the point floating on the lake with some american coot. A murder of fish crows was pestering an adult bald eagle, while turkey and black vultures soared overhead. I did not observe any duck species with my bins, but if ducks were present they may have been hidden at the north end or gone elsewhere as it appeared many duck hunters had been on the lake during the morning as some were coming in for the day.

Then it was on to Gum Root Swamp, as I wanted to see if it would be possible to walk around the lake's edge again this year. To my dismay, it likely will not be possible since water levels are much higher in the lake this year (which is indeed very positive for health of the lake and surrounding floodplain wetlands). I'm not even sure chest waders would be of any use, as the floodplain near the mouth of the channels going to the lake are holding extensive amounts of water right now, likely meaning there is no lake edge to walk around, at least from this portion of the lake. It was still a beautiful winter walk in the late afternoon and seeing the transformation of the foliage in the swamp. A few birds were present, including at least 20-30 wood ducks in the channel, a group of great egrets and white ibis, and a yellow-bellied sapsucker giving its "meow" call.