Bob's Gone Birding: AAS and a CBC

Bubba and Scott talk while others check out the auction items.

I'm very fortunate to be living in an area with a really active chapter of the National Audubon Society. The Alachua Audubon Society (AAS) is filled with terrific people and expert birders. It runs one or two field trips nearly every weekend from early September through late March. It sponsors the June Challenge, a friendly birding contest that has spread to many states and a few countries. It also sponsors a number of educational/informational activities including presentations, classroom learning kits, and a Backyard Birding Tour. It's all fantastic stuff, but it sure can keep me busy. Several of you have been nice enough to inquire about the lack of a blog entry in the last month. I blame AAS.

Our Holiday Social and Silent Auction was so much fun. There were probably about 40 people, lots of great food, plenty of holiday libations (I enjoyed the wine!), and too many laughs to count. The auction offered some really interesting pieces of art, some books, framed photos, massages, birding tours, and so on. I got out bid on the bird-by-boat trips around Cedar Key, but was successful in getting the Madge and Burn book on Waterfowl. During the party I was approached by three people who wanted to ride with me to the next week's field trip, so I ended the night with a full car as well.

Purple Gallinule at Circle B Bar Reserve

The following week I led a field trip to Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County near Lakeland, Florida. It's a 272 mile round trip, and I was really pleased to have Felicia Lee, Glenn Price and Sharon Kuchinski with me to share the ride. We talked about everything from birding in California to educational testing in Florida. And we laughed a lot! The time whizzed by.

The trip itself was very successful. We were joined by a local birder, Cole Fredricks, who acted as our guide, and by Dave Goodwin, president of the Florida Ornithological Society. We spent about three hours walking along the wetlands and ponds, tallying about 56 species. There were more Limpkins that I've ever seen in one spot, including a couple of moms with their fuzzy little babies. There were a few spectacular Purple Gallinules, lots of Roseate Spoonbills, a gorgeous Green Heron, and many more.

One of the Tour yards.

I mentioned that AAS sponsors a Backyard Birding Tour. It's a terrific event that is the brainchild of Ron Robinson. Each year we feature six homes, each of which has yards and gardens specifically designed to attract birds. Volunteers at each site talk a bit about the specific plants, water features, feeders, etc, that the homeowner uses to bring in the birds. This year we also have volunteers from the Native Plant Society and the Master Gardener program who will be at two of the sites to share their perspective. For $10, you can spend a great day touring yards and learning how to attract birds to your own place.

One of the tasks that must be done to prepare for the event is to create a good map and set of directions to each site. We also need to decide where to place directional signs that can guide participants to out-of-the-way houses. To that end I joined Ron one afternoon to drive the route, check the directions, and plan for the signs. I'm so glad I did. Ron is one of the world's really good people. I enjoyed the two hours immensely. We talked non-stop, laughed quite a bit, and found that we have had a lot of similar experiences. Again, the time flew by and the task got completed. I'm really looking forward to the Tour on February 8. (You can buy tickets at Gainesville's Wild Birds Unlimited starting on January 1.)

Lincoln's Sparrow on Kanapaha Prairie

And then there was the Christmas Bird Count. For my non-birding friends, the CBC is an annual event that occurs all over North America. In short, there is an assigned territory, and on a specific day a bunch of birders cover that territory as thoroughly as possible, listing every bird species that we find and counting every individual bird. Here in Alachua County, our team (Team #7 led by Rex Rowan) starts at 4:00 AM counting owls and ends when it gets too dark to see at night. It's an awesome and exhausting experience, and I love it.

This year, we began in a rainstorm that didn't let up until late morning. The rain and wind hampered our search for owls. Where we usually get three species and six to nine owls, we got one this year. On more than one occasion we were caught away from the car in a heavy downpour. Two of our team members were in a canoe on a local lake during the worst of the storm. I got soaked to the skin once. And yes, I had a ball! Once the rain cleared up, the birding got better too. I was fortunate enough to photograph a Lincoln's Sparrow and a Grasshopper Sparrow, two birds I see infrequently and had never caught on film. Our team also found a Snow Goose in a cow pasture, a Common Goldeneye in a retention pond at a post office, and a White-winged Dove and seven Baltimore Orioles in a single yard ... after a Sharp-shinned Hawk left its perch in a tree above the feeders.

So December has been a busy, busy month with the Alachua Audubon Society, highlighted by a terrific party, a very successful field trip, and a memorable Christmas Bird Count. But throughout the month, the constant has been the great people I get to call friends.