Oklawaha Valley Audubon Society

Local Bird Sites & Sightings

Bird Sightings

Shirley Powers of Leesburg reports that she took this picture in March at the Venetian Gardens. The bird has been identified as an albino boat tail grackle. Thanks Shirley

On June 19th I saw an all white baby mockingbird on my street, it could fly and had at least one normal sibling and the parents were feeding both birds. It has a yellow bill, the eye appears black but I thought I saw red one time when viewing it with binoculars. The neighbor in whose tree it was born also said he thought the eye was red while it was still in the nest. I live in Highland Lakes, south of Leesburg. Judi Ross

 

At this point Frank Miller started a mini-contest to see who in OVAS could verify the sighting. The photo was sent to those on his Audubon email list. Four responses were recieved. Both Val Hitt and Alysse Rasmussen thought it was a juvinile red-bellied woodpecker. Elizabeth Ballard said she didn't know. Bernie Yokel said he couldn't download the photo. Well, Don sent a followup email saying: "I sent an email to the Phoenix Zoo and the Arizona Audubon Society. I just got an answer from the zoo. They too believe this to be a Gila Woodpecker. I have no idea how it got to Florida, I seem to attract unusual birds."

Raven Spotted in Florida   A raven was seen in Sanford, FL by Don A Bailey on Friday, June 20, 2002. As Don reports: "I saw a "raven" at my bird feeder yesterday. According to everything I have read ravens don't get this far south. P.S. I was stationed in Goose Bay, Newfoundland and we had ravens everywhere so I am familiar with what they look like. The bird I saw was a good 18" long and had a thick black beak and black eyes."

Whooping Crane   The Whooping Cranes have made quite a few birders happy this winter and spring. The most famous, according to all the press they have received, are the couple of Whooping Cranes who gave birth to two babies. One chick was grabbed by a local Bald Eagle the second day after hatching. The other chick was quickly moved by its parents to a protected nest. The chick was over a foot tall in late April. The family are supposed to be nonmigratory so observation is expected as long as they live.

Black Necked Stilt   Black necked stilts were seen on the Emeralda Interpetive WildLife Drive in mid March. OVAS members and others in another birding club saw the beautiful stilts during their week long stay.

Have you seen an unusual bird? You may want to vist the USGS's Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter. For a quick guide to water birds of our area, see Bob Roger's Bird Identification Chart or click on the button above

For those desiring to find rare bird, get started by looking for those on the National Audubon's Watch List.

Need a bird check list? A special Check List for the Emeralda Interpretive Wildlife Drive has been prepared. Click to view and print out a copy of this list that is good for the many species in the Emeralda Marsh and the Lake County Region.

Click here to view the Field Checklist of Florida Birds from Audubon of Florida.

Below are the best birding sites around Lake County and the OVAS birding region. Check them out.

Good Luck and Good Birding.

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Local Birding Spots

The Center has a 1000 foot long boardwalk into Trout Lake, interpretive trails and a nature education center. Birding is excellent along the trail and boardwalk as they wind their way through forest and wetlands. Newly completed Newell Hall, a separate meeting center with a localized gift shop, is a central location of Oklawaha Valley Audubon Society activities. OVAS was a key leader in founding the Center and is now in the process of integration with the Center as the memberships have an 80% overlap.

The Center is open October through April; Fridays and Saturdays from 9:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M. and Sundays from 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. Admission is free. Contributions are accepted and memberships are tax deductible. For visits at other times and information call (353) 357-7536.

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A major section of the Great Florida Birding Trail is composed of the loop drive in the southern portion of Emeralda Marsh. This 4.3 mile driving trail is open from Friday of the third week in February through May on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only, from 8 to 5.

The Emeralda Marsh has been declared a National Natural Landmark and is owned and operated by Florida's St. Johns River Water Management District. It is part of the Upper Ocklawaha River Valley waterways improvement project. Hundreds of acres are being used to filter Lake Griffin water to return it to a more original state after 50 years of farming and polution.

Our chapter takes a group cruise every Spring to see the canal and young nestlings along the shores of Lake Harris and Lake Eustis. Last year a mother Wood Duck was seen snuggling her 6 babies as river otters played near by.

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DeLeon Springs is located on US Highway 17, about half way betweenDeLand (US Highway 92) and Barberville (State Road 40). Take US17 to DeLeon Springs; then, turn west on Retta Street and proceed one block; turn left (south) on Grand Avenue; proceed approximately a mile to the Refuge headquarters; or proceed directly to the Public Use Area by turning right (west) on Mud Lake Road, take this all the way to the end where the Public Use Area parking lot is located.

Endangered species at the refuge are Woodstork, snail kite, West Indian manatee. Threatened species are the bald eagle, eastern indigo snake, osprey, and scrub jay. Numerous wading birds, including herons, egrets, ibis, and limpkins, are regular residents. Alligators and turtles are also abundant. Deer and turkey inhabit the uplands. Raccoons are plentiful. Wood ducks are year-around residents, with blue-winged teal present during the colder months.

The 2,200-acre Lake Woodruff is located at the center of the Refuge. More than 11,000 acres of marshland (primarily cordgrass and sawgrass) surrounds the perimeter of the lake. More than 5,000 acres of hardwood swamps form the transition between marsh and upland. There are 1,200 acres of upland at Lake Woodruff Refuge, primarily pine flatwoods.

Wildlife observation (primarily bird watching), walking and hiking, photography, biking, wildlands observation, fishing, boating, and deer hunting by Refuge permit. During the cooler months of late fall through early spring bird watching is at its peak as many migratory birds visit the Refuge.

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Sunnyhill Farm contains "Blue House", the original farmhouse, where the St. Johns River Water Management Area has established a small museum and educational center for nature and conservation. The center is open on Sundays, 1 PM to 4 PM. The conservation area is open all week.

Birding at Sunnyhill Farm is excellent and easy as paths along the top of dikes allow hiking, horseback riding and bicycling to interior areas abundant with forest and wetland birds. OVAS regularly schedules field trips to this area. Some field trips are supplimented with a SJRWMA naturalist to add to the observations.

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Wekiwa Springs State Park comprises approximately 7,000 acres of wild scenery that offers an opportunity to see how areas of central Florida looked when the Timucuan Indians speared fish in the spring-fed creeks and stalked the uplands. They left a number of mounds that are still visible today. The main spring pumps approximately 42 million gallons of water each day. Wekiwa Springs State Park opened to the public in 1970.

The streams created by two springs form the northern and eastern park boundaries. Rock Springs Run and Wekiwa Springs Run merge to form the Wekiva River, which flows into the St. Johns River fifteen miles to the northeast. Witherington Springs, located near the center of the park, forms Mill Creek, which flows into the swamp bordering Rock Springs Run. Photos and text from Florida State Parks site.

OVAS conducts bird field trips through the park annually and members participate in a bird banding program that is active throughout the year.

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The word Ocala is thought to be a derivative of a Timucuan Indian term meaning fair land or big hammock. The Ocala's vegetation lives up to its name, as you will discover towering palms, large live oaks and scrubby sand pines dominating forest's scrub oak ecosystem. Native to the Ocala, the sand pine is the only tree capable of growing to a usable timber size in this forest's dry, sandy soil. The Ocala's sand pine scrub ecosystem is the world's largest continuous forest of this type.

A wide variety of wildlife, plants, and trees can be seen along the trail where one may even catch a glimpse of a white-tail deer. On a calm morning more than a dozen alligators may be sighted on the lake from one of three observation points. Bald eagles may be seen soaring over the area, perhaps waiting to steal a freshly caught fish from an osprey. Text and Salt Springs photo from the Ocala NF web site.

Alexander Springs, Lake George, Salt Springs, Silver Glen Springs, all are excellent birding sites.

Page Revised 9/10/02