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

30 Days in June: Day 27, La Chua Trail

Nap Time for Gators

Saturday took us back to La Chua Trail. How could we resist when someone had reported seeing a Whooping Crane there the day before? My husband and I took advantage of a rare free morning together and walked down to the observation platform, where we were able to see the Whooping Crane  with the help of fellow birders with scopes. Finally--a new bird for my list!

Fuzzy Picture of the Whooping Crane. It's the large, whitish mass to the left of the yellow Lotus patch, near the middle

It was a fun walk, mostly because there were so many familiar faces on the trail. I ran into several groups of birders, coming and going to see the Crane, and a fellow Museum docent and Master Naturalist who was leading a tour to down La Chua. It is so nice to have friends wherever I go! I will certainly miss that when we move and will have to work fast to build up a support group in Georgia. I wonder if there is a Georgia Master Naturalist program?

Pair of Black Bellied Whistling Ducks

We saw many nice things along the trail--butterflies nectaring on Nuttall's Thistle, Wild Horses, lots of alligators, beautiful lotus flowers, and a cute, photogenic Least Bittern. What a great way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday!

Cloudless Sulphur

Gulf Fritillaries and Skippers

Black Swallowtail

Wild Spanish Horse in the Grasses

Little Gator Crossing

American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea)

Least Bittern--now you see it...

…Now You Don't! Nothing here but a Lotus stem!

Bird Count: 93(3), 28 Natural Places Visited

Red Winged Blackbird

30 Days in June: Day 26, Bolen Bluff

Bolen Bluff Trail

I haven't been to Bolen Bluff at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park for years. I don't know if I got too many ticks one time, or if it was too hot some day long ago, or if it was just never part of my regular routine, but for whatever reason it had been too long. So, with early afternoon thunderstorms in the forecast every day this week, on Friday I made a morning trip across the Prairie.

Light Shining Through the Oak Leaves

The path at Bolen Bluff takes you through thick forest and then down into the bright sunshine and grass of the Prairie basin. It is not uncommon to see the wild horses or bison grazing in the open areas. I saw one lone horse off in the distance on the Prairie, but no bison this time. There is a loop through the forest and a straight walk to the platform. I decided to walk out using the right side of the loop and back on the left.

Path Through Dark Woods

I was hoping to fill in one or two of the birds I'm still missing on my June Challenge list, like a Wild Turkey or a Yellow Throated Vireo, but I didn't add anything new. I did see a beautiful Indigo Bunting, though, and that is always a good thing.

Indigo Bunting

Walking through the dark woods toward the Prairie, I enjoyed how peaceful and pleasant it was to be there. There was so much to hear and see. It was fun to watch a feeding flock of birds in the trees when the sun hit the higher branches and got the insects moving. I heard the scratchy sound of the Titmouse family, the scolding of the Carolina Wrens, the sweet call of the Chickadees and the "Quick, Gimme a Beer, Jack" of the White Eyed Vireo. The low rhythmic drone of the bullfrogs and the buzzing mosquitoes let me know I was near a swamp. A cuckoo clucked and made "kowp, kowp, kowp" sounds from a treetop. Pellets of caterpillar frass rained down as they munched on the tree leaves. I couldn't tell what kind of caterpillar, but they were big, judging from the size of the frass.

Big Oaks Full of Life

I looked up just as one deer and then another walked under a tree and stopped to look at me. They ran when they saw my camera. I had a nice private moment with a squirrel that was so deeply engaged with chewing on something that it didn't see me for a while.

Deer

Squirrel Concentrating

As I move along I have to try to remember to look up. I usually concentrate on scanning the ground for movement and color and forget that there is something to see above my head. When I do look up I see wonderful things like the soft Spanish moss hanging from the branches of the Oak Trees and patterns of leaves against the blue sky. Even after living in Florida for almost 30 years I am still surprised to see Palm Trees in the woods. But this is normal here on the edges of the Alachua Savannah.

Spanish Moss in the Treetops

Cabbage Palm in the Woods

I walked down the bluff and could see the sunny Prairie ahead. It's a straight shot out to the observation platform. The grass is tall and it is hard for a short person like me to see over it. I did see dozens of Palamedes Swallowtails, drifting and bobbing above the grasses, answering my question from the other day--it appears that the population is healthy, at least out on the Prairie.

Looking Out of the Woods

Across the Prairie to the Bluffs

Nuttall's Thistle (Cirsium nuttallii), Favorite of Butterflies

Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) Growing in the Wet Prairie

Pale Meadowbeauty (Rhexia mariana), a Bright Splash of Color in the Prairie

I climbed up the stairs to the platform and found a Green Treefrog taking shelter from the sun in the shade of the steps. Under the next stair some other critters, Paper Wasps, Mud Daubers and Spiders had also taken shelter. Maybe not as cute as the tree frog, but they needed shelter, too.

Green Treefrog Taking Shelter

Wasps and Spiders Taking Shelter, Too

The view from the platform is pretty marvelous. There is an unobstructed 360 degree view of the area. Looking back along the trail, you can see the bluff where the trail starts. Turning, you can see the University of Florida, downtown Gainesville, and the bluffs on the other side of the Prairie at La Chua Trail.

Pano View from Platform

I hurried back through the forest. I could hear thunder in the distance and didn't want to get caught in the rain. But a snake near a tree caught my eye. It had its head in a hole in the ground. At first I thought it was eating something. But I watched it for a while after it came out again and decided that this was a female Yellow Rat Snake burrowing underground to lay eggs. When she slid back down into the hole I could see that her body was thick and swollen, I presume with eggs. She was a real beauty.

Yellow Rat Snake, Head in a Hole

Yellow Rat Snake Head

Back in the Hole--See the Bulgy Middle?

Almost In

A Little More

Almost Gone

On the same tree where the snake was burrowing I saw a beautiful Click Beetle with big black eyespots. In the excitement of seeing the snake, it was hard for me to decide which animal to watch. I could probably have gotten better shots of it with my macro lens, but I could only hold so many cameras!

Eyed Click Beetle

The skies opened up just as I left the trail, but on the way out I was able to see a sweet Downy Woodpecker climbing upside down on a branch and it seemed like a nice end to a happy hike. I got into the car just in time.

Forest Hug

Pretty Orange Mushrooms

Katydid Nymph on Tread Softly (Cnidoscolus stimulosus)

Downy Woodpecker