‍Thank you for supporting our chapter. Please enjoy the latest birding and conservation updates from Duval Audubon Society.

Fun Fantastic Global Big Day Birding Weekend

by Jessica Dyszel, Field Trips Director

‍The weekend of May 9-10 was a top birding weekend for the books! I should preface this story by stating that I had originally planned to go to Mongolia that week and when I very reluctantly cancelled those plans, I planned to go out to the Pacific Northwest. Due to lack of sufficient time off to do the trip I wanted, I was also forced to cancel those plans. Lastly, I had also missed peak migratory birding days and phenomenal moments this spring due to my work schedule and was coming into this weekend a bit bummed and crestfallen.

Celebrating Global Big Day on Saturday, I was attempting to see as many species as possible that day with a plan to start at Hanna Park and end at Spoonbill Pond. Something about “the best laid plans…” Predictably my day came to a screeching halt when two birding friends Jeffery Graham and William Hoeck came across a suspected Bicknell’s Thrush. Of course, I derailed my day in search of this rare and extremely difficult to identify elusive migratory bird.

‍Years ago, my friends Jeff Graham, Marisa Martinez, and I stumbled across one in migration. I was still relatively new to birding and did not get photos or audio of this typically quiet bird. Since my goal is to obtain and photo and audio of all the birds I see, I would need to see it again, but it was unlikely that I would ever get it again in Florida. If I would hope to see it again, my best bet would be to travel to the mountains of Vermont and spend my days trekking through the deeper denser parts of the woods. I couldn’t imagine a chance that good to get another during migration.

‍Fast forward, I spent Saturday afternoon searching desperately for this bird with menacing clouds darkening overhead and rolling thunder moving towards me. Time was running out. Alas, the storm hit, and no bird. But I couldn’t give up. Whatever broken hardwiring in my brain exists, I was determined to keep trying despite being down-poured on and foolishly traipsing through the woods while thunder crashed around me because experience taught me if I give up now there might not be a chance tomorrow. If I wanted this bird, I needed to get it today.

The search continued! I was rewarded for my endeavors when this elusive bird came out to forage on the path 5 feet away from me, seemingly unbothered by my presence. I sat for hours in the rain quietly watching it while being dumped upon and I could not have cared less about the how wet I had gotten. The thrill of watching this thrush was worth it. I got drenched but I got my photos and my audio despite the rain.

‍But…as everyone knows, I’m also a natural born klutz. So, when I got home smiling from ear to ear with my incredible experience, I realized I had somehow reduced my shutter speed to 50, a setting I couldn’t easily pay attention to in the pouring rain. My pictures were horribly exposed and blurry…not remotely identifiable. Crushing! And my audio was obscured by the rain falling and road noise of passing cars. But I was not easily defeated. I would go back first thing in the morning to try again, hoping this rare elusive thrush would stay to enjoy itself in a beautiful coastal hammock and soak up some legendary Florida sunshine before continuing to the northeastern mountain forests for the summer.

Pay day! Sunday, I woke bright and early with hopeful determination. I spent the morning tracking down this skulky bird. I was able to get much better photos before it tucked away into dark dense tangles for the day. I was leaving the park when I saw my birding friend Brook Byrnes also looking for the bird so I backpedaled to try to help her find it. I walked up to see her smiling from ear to ear. I assumed she had gotten the bird and was stunned to learn she had not gotten it but had just gotten a Kentucky Warbler, another beautiful but very elusive bird and rare springtime migrant.

‍Together we were working to relocate this bird when I looked up at a mixed flock of warblers in the canopy. One particular bird caught my eye as familiar yet unexpected. I honed in on its unusual behavior of hanging upside down to pick through a small clump of dead leaves. It struck me as an odd chickadee as it usually does and that’s when I saw golden wingbars and a distinctive black and white facial pattern of a Golden-winged Warbler. I called out to the group of birders so others could appreciate this very uncommon spring migrant when I saw another bird with a flash of yellowish wing bars. I couldn’t believe there were two, but this one was behaving differently. I chased it down while the group continued to enjoy the Golden-wing when I noticed this bird had a white eye-ring and slight greenish flush along its back…not another Golden-wing, but a Chestnut-sided Warbler. Incredible! Another very unlikely spring migrant. I called it out for the group and we all tried to stay on the bird. As anyone who bird watches knows staying on a single warbler in a migratory feeding flock is like trying to herd feral cats. While we followed these extremely flighty birds another bird flew into our view, mostly gray with white wingbars and a striking flush of chestnut brown in its flanks. No. Freaking. Way. A Bay-breasted Warbler, another unexpected spring migrant. Meanwhile, the bird that brought us all there continued to forage around us and our brains were overwhelmed with the excitement. Four rare migratory birds all in the same area! Absolutely unbelievable and incredulous! I was reeling! I could barely find words to describe how insanely awesome it was in that moment. The unbelievable bam bam bam of rare birds.

The insane excitement carried me through the day! I may not have achieved my Global Big Day goal and I cancelled my Mongolia/Pacific Northwest trip plans I had for that week, but it was all worth it for this crazy brilliant birding weekend! 

The checklists of my day!

ebird.org/checklist/S336904237

ebird.org/checklist/S336767520

ebird.org/checklist/S335923518

‍Lake Apopka Loop Trail

by Randy Reagor, Guest Contributor

As a bird watcher, we’re not supposed to disturb the wildlife, but what if it disturbs us? On a recent morning visit to the Lake Apopka Loop Trail that happened to me more than once.

I had cycled only a couple hundred yards on the trail when I stopped to photograph a large Osprey, only to have a bigger one fly right over me, so close I almost dropped my phone. About a mile later a Great Blue Heron walked right in front of me and about 30 minutes later the largest one I’ve ever seen gave me a threatening stare as I passed within three feet of him. These species can reach a height of 4 ½ feet and I saw several that were close to that height. 

‍A couple pedals after I stopped to photograph the Osprey, I backtracked because my peripheral vision had caught something big on the lakeshore to my left. When I went back there was an alligator, at least 12 feet long, with part of his body on land. On African safari adventures seeing animals that large is common, but in Florida not so much. Yet here I was, 15 feet from the massive reptile, sans a guide and a jeep. It was unsettling, to say the least.

In the first hour on the trail, I saw 11 alligators and I’m sure there were more, but I was focused on the birds (so much so that I forgot I was wearing binoculars). When I encountered Cindy with the St. Johns River Water Management District, which manages the trail, I asked her the largest one she’d ever seen and she immediately responded “14 ½ feet,” adding that in her 19 years there she’s also seen two panthers!

‍The trail is 17.2 miles each way, and although I only did seven miles of it, I counted 41 different kinds of birds. I didn’t realize until I returned that it was peak migration season in the area, but since eBird reports 235 total have been identified in Orange County that is still a big number. I was also able to add the Gray-headed Swamphen and Yellow-crowned Night Heron to my life list, and I also heard an Indian Peafowl.

Anhingas are normally solitary birds, but since it is breeding season, I saw many close to each other. In one tree there were three stacked on top of each other--albeit on separate limbs--and I also saw a nest within 15 feet of a Great Blue Heron one. I saw at least 30 Ospreys (several with fish in their mouths), a Bald Eagle, several Snowy Egrets, and various types of gallinules, grackles, and ducks. Like Red-winged Blackbirds? There were so many and so loud I had trouble recording other species on my Merlin app. 

There were so many birds on the trail I felt claustrophobic and sensed one might land on me if I stayed still long enough. With Lake Apopka on one side and swampland on the other it was not uncommon to have 50 birds in my view at once. With all due respect to the Big Cypress Preserve and Sweetwater Wetlands, this is the best birding spot I’ve visited in Florida.

Not only that, the birds won’t care you’re there.

The Lake Apopka Loop Trail is primarily made of hard-packed limerock and gravel along former agricultural levees. The first half-mile from Magnolia Park is paved, and there are three other entrances to the trail (if you’re coming from the north via I-95 Magnolia Park will be your closest access).

In my experience the best way to view wildlife is via a bicycle because it causes less vibration than walking, your speed is such that you can get close before the animals have a chance to respond, and if things go awry, you can use your cycle as a barrier.

For more information about the trail go to: https://www.sjrwmd.com/lands/recreation/lake-apopka/

For more information about the area go to: https://discoverlakefl.com/

‍The Feather Wars: a Book Review

by David Doran, Youth Outreach Director

‍I imagine if you are reading this, you are an admirer of birds and wildlife much like myself. You may have a bird feeder in your backyard, own a pair of binoculars to get a closer look at birds at the park, and enjoy visiting birding trails and nature preserves. It is not uncommon to see others in your neighborhood with feeders in their yards, or people walking in your area with a large camera and a pair of binoculars hanging around their neck, but it wasn’t long ago when a bird enthusiast’s preferred  birding trail was a hunting ground, and their favorite tool– a shotgun.

Until modern wildlife conservation movements began in the late 19th century, the conservation movement was like the wild west– gangs formed, bribery and exploitation were rampant, and people killed on both sides. The Feather Wars by James H. McCommons takes the reader on a historical journey detailing the history of humans’ brutality towards wildlife, and the people who tried to put a stop to it. From the curious child shooting birds to get a closer look at them, to market hunters that massacred birds by the thousands, this book does not shy away from exposing the atrocities that humans have inflicted against our feathered friends throughout recent history.

‍Perhaps my favorite story from the book was that of the Snowy Egret, a common bird for any of us in Florida. The species went nearly extinct, and likely would have gone extinct, if not for the son of the Tabasco sauce company’s founder, Edward McIlhenny, saving them. The Feather Wars details how Edward noticed a great decline in Snowy Egret populations, due largely to poaching for the fashion industry, and decided to take matters into his own hands:

“In 1896, when few egrets were left in Louisiana and survivors were being hunted by plumers for their breeding feathers and by ornithologists seeking specimens, McIlhenny combed the saltwater marshes around Bayou Teche and Avery Island, removed six fledglings from their nests, and caged the egrets at a pond next to his home. Over several years, the birds multiplied into flocks of tens of thousands that repopulated the Gulf Coast and still return - more than 120 years later - to breed on Avery Island.”

Now, every time I see a Snowy Egret on my way home from work I wonder whether that bird descended from one of the egrets that Edward McIlhenny saved. I can’t look at a bottle of Tabasco without thinking about Snowy Egrets, either.

The Feather Wars is a must-read for bird enthusiasts, conservationists, and history lovers. Not only does the book tell the story of each bird, but it also highlights the people and their extraordinary efforts to try and save the innocent lives they loved and appreciated. Much can be learned from this book, both about our own history with wildlife and about our future efforts to preserve them.

Keep On Birding This Summer - Take the June Challenge

by Carol Bailey-White, Editor

We all know that birding during the summer months in Florida can be challenging. Excessive heat, energy-sapping humidity, unpredictable weather, and the (what seems like) millions of mosquitoes can dissuade any birder from venturing outside to find cool birds. But some of our area's most interesting bird sightings have occurred during the summer months. It's a great time to spot Bobwhite Quail, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Black-necked Stilts, Hudsonian Whimbrels, and nesting Least and Black Terns, to name just a few.

‍Enter the June Challenge! The June Challenge is a friendly competition designed to keep us birding through the summer heat while non-birders retreat indoors and miss all the fun. The aim of the competition is for individual contestants to see as many bird species as possible within the boundaries of their county between June 1st and June 30th.

The rules are simple: try to see (heard-only birds don't count for the challenge) as many different bird species in your home county as you can during the month of June. (Doing more than one county is permissible, but each must be reported separately.) At the end of the month, report your species totals on the June Challenge website, where you can see the results a few weeks later. 

The fun starts June 1st, so get outside and go birding!

N‍ew! Lights Out Northeast Florida on Social Media

by Carol Bailey-White, Editor

‍We're thrilled to announce that our Lights Out Northeast Florida initiative (in partnership with the Jacksonville Zoo & Botanical Gardens and St. Johns Regional Audubon) now has its own dedicated Facebook page! Our new Facebook page joins the Lights Out Northeast Florida Instagram page introduced last year.

On both pages, our goal is simple: raise awareness, share solutions, and help make Northeast Florida safer for birds. Through community science, education, and conservation action, we can all play a role in protecting the birds that connect our neighborhoods to ecosystems across the hemisphere.

Follow along as we share local projects, migration updates, bird-friendly tips, and ways you can help. Together, we can make a difference—one light and one window at a time.

Please like and follow our Lights Out Northeast Florida Facebook and Instagram pages!

‍Summer Break

Our chapter is taking its annual Summer Break during the months of June, July, and August, and even though we won't have much in the way of scheduled activities, our Board of Directors will be working diligently over the summer months to plan engaging programs and exciting field trips and continuing to make critical conservation connections to help both migrating and resident birds in Northeast Florida.

Hope you have a super summer! We look forward to seeing you in September! 

Events may be added after the publication of this newsletter, so be sure to check our Calendar of Events for the most up-to-date listing of our activities.

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