This a feel good story provided by CCAS members Effie & Mike Smith. They both have been monitoring Bluebird boxes in many locations  since 1998. They have monitored the fledging  of more than 5000 Bluebirds!  They are still going strong with 3 routes..
          2 Mile Prairie
​​We went to 2 mile prairie this morning. This beautiful bluebird was on our 1st box. They were building a nest. We had several nests started. Box 12 was run over last year and as we were deciding whether to put up a new box a bluebird kept flying over the spot. I guess she said, “Here comes the landlords, maybe we’d better let them know our house is gone”. We put one up and didn’t even get the car door shut and the male was on the box and inside the box. Made our day.

You know the adage, "Let sleeping Bats lie." Oh, maybe that's another adage we can adopt.
​This little guy was in Box 9. We let him sleep.

Fred Hileman for Mike & Effie Smith

The field trip had been scheduled for Friday which was the first day after duck season was over that driving in was allowed. The inclement weather took precedence. But to not be outdone, four hardy bird folks were treated to a great Saturday morning  at Emeralda.  The number of species (thirty-seven) could have been higher with calmer winds and more eyes.  But some of the species seen were uncommon and a joy to behold.
​A Snail Kite in the air was initially mistaken for a male Northern Harrier.  Both have a white patch at the base of the tail.  A bird photographer at that stop told us that a male and female Snail Kite are there. 

​At the same stop we watched a Caspian Tern diving for fish.  Not far from the tern, a raft of sixty American White Pelicans entertained us.  What a sight with the sun at our backs!  Then some of them took to the air in small groups.  One rode the thermals and circled over the lake with about eight Ospreys.

 
Other species of note were Marsh Wren, Northern Parula, and Song Sparrow. 

​Rey Wells

Citrus County Audubon member Rey Wells did the presentation.

​A group of seven dodged a weather bullet by one day.  Our day was clear, still chilly, and still breezy, but nothing like the day before.  We have seen more birds in the past here, but there were enough to be very interesting.  Thanks, in part, to Ken Spilios having scouted there the previous morning, we tallied fifty species.  

​It’s always nice to get two species in the same photo.  Here are a Common Gallinule and what is likely an immature Purple Gallinule. 
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​Other good gets included Prairie Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, Northern Flicker, Sora, and Wood Duck.  The biggest miss of the day was probably a Blue Jay.  
Rey Wells

​It was a picture perfect morning at the Halfmoon Wildlife Management Area.  Jim Meyer and Eileen Riccio came over from the space coast to be with another seven bird folks.  Since they knew the property better than any of the rest of us, they led our caravan of vehicles to the locations for stops.  Walkie talkies kept folks informed of sightings as we slowly motored along between stops. 
 
An early great sighting while moving along the main road was this Barred Owl that was well off into the woods.  Even though it was a ways off, it did not suffer our presence long and departed.  

​At the WMA headquarters, a Black and White Warbler and a Blue-headed Vireo were spotted in close proximity in the large oaks there.  Later, while the group hiked to a boardwalk over a creek in a beautiful bottom land forest, one of us stayed behind and sat.  An Eastern Towee and a Downy Woodpecker were added to the list.  The sitter was entertained by this male Red-bellied Woodpecker that alternately trilled and drilled into a potential new nest hole for a half hour straight.  Unfortunately, that hole is out of view.  When the group of eight returned, they reported just one new bird.  But they enjoyed a great nature walk and good company.
 
On their way out of the WMA, Jim and Eileen bagged Savannah Sparrows and the best bird of the day, Northern Bobwhite.  The total for the morning was 42 species.
​Rey Wells

​11 bird folks arrived at 8:00 AM on the morning of January 8th at the entrance to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive.  A good deal of time was spent at the entrance because of a large number of species there that were unlikely to be found out in the wetland.  In addition to many common ones, there was reported to be the Ash Throated Flycatcher, which still winters at that spot, and a recently spotted Least Flycatcher.  Unfortunately, we could not find either.  The most unusual bird spotted there was a Song Sparrow.

​One highlight of the drive was coming across a Great Blue Heron that was struggling to down a large catfish it had caught.  If finally did.  Barely two minutes later, it resumed hunting and immediately caught a foot long largemouth bass.  It wolfed down the bass.  An amazing feat, especially considering that it was 10:30AM.  Surely, this bird had also eaten a few critters before that.

​Toward the end of the outing, Rey Wells was at the end of the caravan and got stopped by the sound of a commotion taking place in the canal below the right side of his car.  He got out, peeked out from behind the car and witnessed two male Boat-tailed Grackles fighting in the water.  The battle raged in the water for a full minute.  It included beak locking, spearing, and kicking.  As Rey was clicking away on slow burst, he came to realize that his exposure setting was way too low.  So, he ducked back behind the car and quickly jacked up the exposure setting.  He then shot the rest of the battle.  One of the second set of photos is included here.   

It was a shame that Ken Spilios’ camera became inoperative right at the beginning.  So, he concentrated solely on leading and spotting.  Here are the ducks spotted:  Ringed-neck, Black-bellied Whistling, Fulvous Whistling, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Mottled, and Ruddy.  It was a great day for ducks!

​In all, sixty-two bird species were identified.  It was a great outing.

Rey Wells and Ken Spilios held the McKethan Lake field trip along with five others who ventured afield on a chilly morning (38 Degrees at start of day.) Lucille Lane from Hernando Audubon joined us. Ken took the lead on foot. Rey had a knee issue and manned the stationary watch, finding birds we missed while roaming. The forest trail gave us a Sapsucker and an adult Bald Eagle soaring over the lake. One of the best birds for the day was this dark morph Short-tailed Hawk. This hawk which is hard to find in the winter months was a welcomed "count week" bird for Hernando Audubon who held their Christmas Bird Count the next day.

We found thirty-four species as the morning warmed. Later Ray & Ken went on to the Big Pine area and added this photo of a Red-headed Woodpecker. The best birds of the day was the Short-tailed Hawk and an Orange-crowned Warbler. Everyone had a safe and enjoyable time while social distancing and wearing masks due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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It was a bright morning and likely the coolest in months.  So, the birds stayed pretty active for the entire three hour outing.  Unfortunately, only Rey Wells and Ken Spilios ventured afield.  The action started immediately with the sighting of a Yellow-throated Warbler.  It was in a palm tree at the front entrance of the Lecanto Post Office!  That’s where we met up.  We then caravanned to several spots with differing habitats to give us a chance at as many species as possible.  We tallied 44 species and had a good time doing it.  Here are two photos taken that morning.
 
Submitted by Rey Wells

​Citrus County Audubon members united in a Zoom meeting on October21 to view a PowerPoint presentation. There were 15 participants who had contributed their choice photos. Each member was provided the opportunity to describe the photo, naming the bird and where it was taken. The gathering started at seven and concluded at about eight-fifteen. There were 25 attending the gathering. It was conducted without a hitch. We are encouraged and intend to introduce other speakers. Our upcoming Zoom session will be on November 18 and will have Gina Kent hosting her presentation on Swallow-tailed Kites. I will be providing the link in due time. Thanks to all who participated. 

18 birders joined in a fun trip to ECO. This is usually the first of the season, and due to the present social distancing guidelines, we were successful in pulling it off. The morning fog made it difficult for quite some time to see any of the small birds plainly. We could see them in the canopy, but could not ID many of them. It took some time to  finally be able to definitely discern their identity. We had 3 woodpecker species, Red-eyed & White-Eyed Vireos, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, House & Carolina Wrens, Black & White, Palm, Pine, and Yellow-throated, Prairie Warblers. We heard Indigo Buntings. The most exciting birds were two Ovenbirds. 

​This Pileated flew in near where Ken and I were finishing up the trip and gave us a good sendoff. Thanks to Ken and Effie for their photos. We had 34 species. Here is the eBird Link to the list  https://ebird.org/checklist/S74599867
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