Up to the Challenge

Acadian Flycatcher in the treetops

We're well into July and I think I'm finally getting back into my normal routine. But for the month of June, I was somewhat possessed, after immersing myself in this year's June Birding Challenge. Everything but the pursuit of my list of target birds took a back burner--family, garden, friends, laundry, bills, cleaning, eating, and even personal grooming! I became single minded, scarfing meals on the run while I tracked reports on ebird and mapped my daily excursions. Most nights I dropped off to sleep, completely exhausted after walking for hours in the heat, binoculars and camera around my neck. And I had a blast! Luckily my husband was out of town for a chunk of this, or he would have felt ignored. I know the dog did.

Walking the Trails through the Woods

For those who have not read about this in my previous posts, the June Challenge is a friendly birding competition put on by the Alachua County Florida Audubon chapter. The goal is to see (not just hear) as many wild bird species within the county limits as possible. Because it is a friendly competition, people share information when they find a special or rare bird and the more experienced birders lead several field trips to help everyone see as many as possible. It's a lot of fun and I looked forward to June when I lived in Florida. Since moving to Georgia, I have tried to keep participating on my own but have (so far) not been able to convince anyone to join me. Maybe one of these years I'll get some converts and this can become a thing in Athens, too.

American Kestrel

For the past few years I had assumed that I was at a disadvantage birding up here because Clarke County is so much smaller (about 1/10th the size) than Alachua County, so I allowed myself to expand the search territory. But this year I looked on ebird at the list of birds that might be found here in June and was delighted to see that the numbers were higher than I had thought. If I managed to see every bird on the list (extremely unlikely) my numbers could be pretty respectable. Of course, the folks in Gainesville will always be way ahead of me. They have a whole lot more birds available down there, especially the wading birds, and lots of expert birders, and I am no expert. But I decided to give it a try, sticking just to my county, and anyway, as I remind myself every year, the experience is so much more than just checking birds off my list.

Orb Weaver

As always with the June Challenge, I found new parks and natural areas to explore. This year I spent a lot of time on the North Oconee River Greenway and in Southeast Clarke Park and visited the Lake Herrick/Oconee Forest Park several times a week. And I finally bought an annual pass to Sandy Creek Park, one of our county nature parks. I am coming to appreciate that for a small county, we have a wonderful number of natural areas. I have more to explore in Junes to come.

Box Turtle peeks out of the English Ivy

We may not have all the fancy and abundant wading birds up here that Florida has, like the Spoonbills and Ibises, or water birds like Anhingas and Gallinules, but we have our own specialties. Grey Catbirds and Brown Headed Nuthatches take a little planning to find in Gainesville but I have them both in my backyard feeders. Canada Geese poop all over the fields near my house--not so common for the Alachua folks. Robins--we have Robins a-plenty, all year. People get excited when they find them down in Florida in June. And I see a Hairy Woodpecker just about every year, which I never did in Florida. But I think the only unique bird I had that they won't find down there at all is the White Breasted Nuthatch, another one that visits my yard feeders.

Canada Geese

Robin

White-breasted Nuthatch

On my excursions (BTW, I averaged about 10,000 steps daily for the month, even though there were days I did not go out birding) I encountered not only birds, but rabbits, deer, beavers, a groundhog, armadillos, squirrels, turtles, snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, a salamander, spiders, butterflies, bees, wasps, fungi and slime mold. I found living things and dead. I saw things that were funny and strange and sad. I saw beautiful wildflowers and fireflies and heard the sounds of the cicadas and baby owls. I was out in the sun and rain with walkers and runners, dogs and children. I birded in the morning and evening but mostly in the heat of the day because I can never get my act together for an early morning outing. But the most important thing was that I was outside enjoying nature just about every day. What a great diversion from all the bad news these days. It made me feel so alive and in love with the world.

A Turtle with a Drafonfly on its nose

Great Blue Heron photobombed by a Beaver

Just the Head of an Opossum. Nothing else. Probably from an owl or hawk meal.

This Juvenile Owl and its sibling hissed so much that I finally saw them. Otherwise, my June would have been Owl-less.

In all I counted 75 birds. I tried but never did see a Scarlet Tanager, even though there was one in my yard in May. I expected to find a Nighthawk, but never heard one. I know I see them flying around the football stadium during night games in the fall. And I tried to find Eastern Meadowlarks, but learned that their habitat in our county is disappearing and was unsuccessful. My big scores were the Prothonotary Warbler that I heard then saw on the Greenway and the American Kestrel (rare bird) that I tracked using reports from another birder. I'm pretty happy with my list. I think I am improving each year. A lot of the birding here in Athens in the summer is in thick forests and learning bird sounds is really helpful. I found lots of birds by tracking their sounds and looking for movement. Birds such as the Wood Thrush, Black and White Warbler, Yellow Billed Cuckoo, Northern Parula and Summer Tanager. Of course, when I saw the Alachua County results, I came in at the back of the pack, but I'm ok with that. It's the journey. I plan to take the challenge again next year. If you're in the area, feel free to join me! If you are interested in seeing an album of photos I took during the month, click here.

Sunset over the lake

Here's my list:

1) Northern Cardinal
2) Chimney Swift
3) American Robin
4) Common Grackle
5) House Finch
6) Downy Woodpecker
7) Brown Thrasher
8) Mourning Dove
9) Gray Catbird
10) Blue Jay
11) Ruby-throated Hummingbird
12) Carolina Wren
13) Eastern Towhee
14) Eastern Bluebird
15) Northern Mockingbird
16) Tree Swallow
17) Tufted Titmouse
18) Fish Crow
19) Carolina Chickadee
20) Brown-headed Cowbird
21) Chipping Sparrow
22) White-eyed Vireo
23) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
24) Red-eyed Vireo
25) Barn Swallow
26) Brown-headed Nuthatch
27) Pine Warbler
28) Wood Thrush
29) American Goldfinch
30) Turkey Vulture
31) American Crow
32) House Wren
33) Acadian Flycatcher
34) Red-bellied Woodpecker
35) Hairy Woodpecker
36) Louisiana Waterthrush
37) Common Yellowthroat
38) Indigo Bunting
39) White-breasted Nuthatch
40) Summer Tanager
41) Red-shouldered Hawk
42) Yellow-throated Vireo
43) Coopers Hawk
44) Great-crested Flycatcher
45) Black Vulture
46) Killdeer
47) European Starling
48) Great Blue Heron
49) Green Heron
50) Eastern Phoebe
51) Red-headed Woodpecker
52) House Sparrow
53) Eastern Kingbird
54) Red-tailed Hawk
55) Yellow-billed Cuckoo
56) Eastern Wood Pewee
57) Rock Pigeon
58) Mississippi Kite
59) Canada Goose
60) Mallard
61) Northern Rough-winged Swallow
62) Pileated Woodpecker
63) American Kestrel
64) Broad-winged Hawk
65) Hooded Warbler
66) Belted Kingfisher
67) Blue Grosbeak
68) Barred Owl
69) Osprey
70) Prothonotary Warbler
71) Great White Egret
72) Northern Parula
73) Black and White Warbler
74) Cliff Swallow
75) Bank Swallow

Ramble On

Tight Tendrils gripping Wingstem

I have a group of friends, the Nature Ramblers, who get together each week at the State Botanical Gardens in Athens to learn about nature. We are led by excellent guides, who often focus on botany, but the members of the group are interested in just about everything and we do not miss an opportunity to appreciate a mushroom or butterfly or toad that we might find along the walk. The motto for the group is "seeking what we find" and usually the group does find something interesting about every 5 feet or so. We don't walk very far, but we make up for lack of distance with excellent content.

Redbud Leaf

Today was a Ramble day, but I had a prior commitment in the morning and arrived about an hour late. I texted a friend to see where the group had gone. You'd think that a big, slow moving group would be easy to find, but there are a lot of trails at the gardens and they could be just about anywhere. While I waited for an answer to my text, I headed in what I thought was the likely direction and tried to find some more birds to add to my June Challenge list as I walked.

Young, Eastern 5-Lined Skink

(For those of you who are not familiar with it, the June Challenge is a friendly birding competition set up by my old birding community in Alachua County, Florida. The goal of the challenge is to actually lay your eyes on as many birds within the county boundaries as you can. The birding is fun and group oriented and people share sightings and locations with everyone who wants to try to add a tough to find bird. The winner gets to keep a huge trophy for the year and is celebrated at the end of June potluck. Not wanting to miss out on all the fun, I'm doing my own version here in Athens, with a couple of rule changes. First, I am allowing myself to bird outside of my county. Athens-Clarke county is small--121 square miles, vs. 969 in Alachua County, so I made my birdable region a 30 mile radius from home. 2nd, because I am the only one participating here and I don't have any teams to help me, I'm allowing myself to count some tough birds I only heard but didn't see, like the Bob White Quail or Barred Owl. It will be fun to see how many I can find.)

Katydid munching on Jewelweed

Anyway, as I was walking to find my fellow Ramblers, I heard a Barred Owl call and stopped to try to see it and maybe even get a photo. It sounded pretty close and I hooted back to try to get it to respond, but it never did. Then I looked down and saw a familiar plant at my feet--Virginia Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria), which is a host plant for Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies. I probed the soil around the little plant looking for the tiny flowers that sometimes grow just under the soil, but didn't see any. It was a good find, anyway. I never did see the owl, but a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers flew out of a tree just ahead and I followed them for a while. Acadian Flycatchers were hopping back and forth in the branches overhead. A Buckeye Butterfly landed in front of me, flashing its big eyespots. It was getting later and later and at this point I had missed most of the walk but I decided that I was enjoying myself. So when I got the text from my friend telling me they were nearby, I walked over to say hi, then turned back and continued my solo ramble.

Virginia Snakeroot

First I walked along the powerline cut to see the prairie plants and look for butterflies and other insects that like heat, sun and flowers. It seems I had chosen to come to the hottest and sunniest part of the garden just when the sun was getting strongest, and I was starting to melt. But my hunch was right and I saw some good bugs--Delta Flower Beetles on Queen Anne's Lace and Daisies, a couple more butterflies and a tiny spider hiding in a Wild Onion flower.

Delta Flower Beetle on a Daisy

Skipper on Bee Balm

Tiny Spider in the middle of the Wild Onion flowers

Next I headed down to the river for some shade and to see if I could find anything interesting in the woods. We've had a lot of rain and the river was rushing and the water sounded cool and calm. It was much cooler there, but the mosquitoes found me and were eating me alive so I turned back out of the deep shade. Luckily, the rest of the trail I followed was still shady, though not as buggy. Walking the path back towards the garden, I saw Indigo Buntings and a Hooded Warbler. Then I watched as a pair of Black and White Warblers hopped up and down the branches of a tree, then one sat still and preened. They looked ruffled like they'd been bathing in the river.

Black and White Warbler

Green Caterpillar (Skipper?) blends in with the green stems 

I think it's nice sometimes to not have an agenda and to just go where the opportunities take you. I wafted down the trail, turning over leaves here and probing rotting logs there. The recent rains that brought out the mosquitoes also brought out the mushrooms and other fungi and right ahead of the Black and White Warblers was a beautiful Eastern Box Turtle, standing on the trail and eating mushrooms. After I took its picture, I moved it out of the way so it wouldn't get stepped on by runners.

Chanterelle

Fungus that looks like fingers
(Which is where it gets its name, I guess! I'm told it is called Dead Man's Fingers, Xylaria polymorpha) 

Big floppy tree fungus with a slug

Eastern Box Turtle with mushroom on its face

Everywhere I went I found something interesting--a red beetle, an Ebony Jewelwing damselfly, a katydid, bullfrogs, a grasshopper. I found a spider hiding behind a Wingstem plant, and chased a small toad around a tree. Though I missed the expert information and camaraderie of the real Ramble, I had a very satisfying morning just going wherever the trail took me. And I'll be back again to join the group next week.

(Read the Nature Rambling blog by clicking this link)

Red Beetle

Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly

Big, Camouflaged Katydid

Grasshopper that looks like granite

Big spider hiding behind a Wingstem stalk

Toad trying to hide from me

30 Days in June: Day 30, Wrapping Up

Rosegentian (Sabatia sp.)

Well, here it is. The 30th of June and the last day of the June Challenge, and the last day of my personal challenge to trek all over the county and beyond to say goodbye to some of my favorite natural areas. I have had a blast! It's been satisfying and exciting. And exhausting! I can't even say how many times this month I've looked out and said "I can't believe how beautiful this is". I've seen so many wonderful places and things and have spent time with my favorite people. This month of journeys has given me memories to last a lifetime.

Delta Flower Beetle on Carolina Redroot (Lachnanthes caroliniana)

On this final day I decided to visit several locations where I thought I could catch some of the birds I was still missing on my list. There are some places that I can go to again and again and they never get old. I made an early morning trip to La Chua Trail, which was still dewy and fresh after a morning morning rain.  The butterflies were active and the spider webs sparkled in the sun.

Palamedes Swallowtail

Variegated Fritillary

Golden Silk Orbweaver

Black and Yellow Argiope Orbweaver

I was hoping to see a Yellow Breasted Chat and thought I'd actually done it until I got home and looked at my photos on the big screen. My Chat turned out to be an Orchard Oriole. It was very far away, but I should have caught on when I saw a pair in a bush closer to the road. Oh well. No Chat.

Adult and Juvenile Orchard Orioles

The Lotus is still blooming and they are so gorgeous that I can't help but take more photos every time I see them.

Beautiful!

American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea)

Down at the observation platform, I met up with fellow birders and we chatted about birds that we wish we had for our June Challenge list. They helped me find a Blue-winged Teal, and then a Wood Duck flew past us, giving me 2 new birds for my list. We looked in vain for the Scaup, but the Roseate Spoonbills were putting on a show and I spent a long time watching them and visiting with friends at the platform. The temperature was really cool and pleasant, almost the best weather I've experienced all month!

Roseate Spoonbill Flyover

Snowy Egret, Roseate Spoonbills and Black-necked Stilts

Later in the afternoon, I met Maralee and we drove to the other end of the county to visit Watermelon Pond and the Newberry Cemetery. We hoped to see Chuck-will's-widows and Fox Squirrels at Watermelon Pond but didn't see any. The trip to the Cemetery was more successful. We found 2 Great Horned Owls and a brilliantly colored pair of Red Headed Woodpeckers.

Great Horned Owl

Red-headed Woodpeckers

Driving down the road to Watermelon Pond, we saw what we were both hoping was a Northern Harrier, but were pretty sure was not, since that sighting would be very unusual. But it would have been very exciting. (During June, everyone wants to be the one to report something unusual or rare.) Later, on the same road, we actually did see a Northern Bobwhite out in the open, dozens of Eastern Kingbirds on the utility wires, and a Bachman's Sparrow that was just singing and singing. We also found a Glass Lizard squiggling across the dirt road.

Kingbird on the Wire

Glass Lizard

We headed home under the light of a beautiful full moon. We forgot to look for planets, though! The storm clouds that had threatened passed right by us and the Nighthawks buzzed overhead. It was a perfect end to a perfect month. Now it is time to clean my camera, put away the rubber boots, wash the car, spend some more time with my husband and dogs, and get packing for the move. I feel like I have said a proper goodbye to Florida and I think I'm ready to leave now. And I have a photo journal and blog to help me remember when I start to feel homesick.

Nighthawks on the First and Last Day

Full Moon

June Challenge Bird Count Grand Total: 100 Birds (96 ABA Countable/4 not countable)
Places Visited: 30, some more than once (See previous blogs!)


My June Challenge 2015 Bird List:
Black Bellied Whistling Duck
Muscovy Duck
Wood Duck
Mottled Duck
Blue Wing Teal
Northern Bobwhite
Pied-billed Grebe
Wood Stork
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-heron
Yellow-crowned Night-heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Swallow-tailed Kite
Mississippi Kite
Bald Eagle
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Purple Gallinule
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Limpkin
Sandhill Crane
Whooping Crane
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Laughing Gull
Rock Pigeon
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Acadian Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Purple Martin
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Northern Parula
Pine Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Bachman's Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
House Finch
House Sparrow
Black Swan
Mallard
Greylag Goose
Swan Goose