​A pair of Spotted Sandpipers were active there.  This Anhinga surfaced with a large fish and managed to get it down after quite a tussle.  This photo was taken by Bob Ross. 
​Just before leaving this spot, a flock of Cedar Waxwings was spotted across the pond.  Here is part of our group looking at them as they (the birds) rested in a Long Leaf Pine.  

​Normally thousands of Sandhill Cranes on Paynes Prairie leave around Valentine’s Day.  This year they seem to be leaving two weeks early. We heard the unmistakable loud rattling bugle call of the Sandhill Crane.  Their call can be heard for miles.  Then someone said look over the tree line.  In the sky over Paynes Prairie, circling to gain height were hundreds of Sandhill Cranes.  They rose in the thermal, bugling all the way, until they gained enough height and formed up in large V’s to head north.  We all hoped that they have a safe journey to the North and not get caught by a sudden winter storm. 
It was a most enjoyable and productive morning.  In all, 60 species were recorded.

The weatherman warned of an incoming cold front for Saturday.  Possible rain in the early morning hours.  Sometimes that’s not all that bad.  After all, we have not seen many migrants from up north.  There were only a few Robins and some Cedar Waxwings on our Christmas Bird Count on January 4 so maybe this front could bring something good.  Well, while I slept Friday night the front came through with some clouds and rain.  The worst would be a northern wind predicted to be at 10 miles per hour.  When I woke at 5:30 it was cold and blustery, just as predicted.  But I was the field trip leader, so I felt obligated to be there.

​During the drive to Ocala things did not improve.  On the way I got a text from one of the field trip participants.  Was it a warning when he said he couldn’t make it?  But what if others showed up and I wasn’t there to greet them?  “Duty Calls”.
8:00 a.m. and on time.  Still an overcast day, cold and a bit windy.  With the temperature at 42, I said to myself that this is still a great birding spot.  Since no one showed up I took off to find what I could find.   Turns out the day was not as bad as it seemed.  The few birds that did venture out didn’t seem to mind the “bad birding conditions”

​At the museum, a number of migrants were seen, including Indigo Bunting, Prairie Warbler, American Redstart, and Summer Tanager.   These two photos courtesy of Karen Bender

This spot is at the Purple Martin house on the way to the Cemetery where we did see the martins and House Sparrows.
Courtesy Rey Wells

 ​After visiting several other hot spots, we ended the morning ended at the cemetery.  We took the boardwalk out through the marsh and encountered a friendly Clapper Rail that was preening.  It was only about ten feet away and cared not about our presence.​As we were working our way back toward the road, an Osprey flew up onto a branch with a foot long fish.  The fish appears be a Sea Trout.  Here’s a photo of the Osprey preparing to dine. Photo By Ken Spilios

Clapper Rail by Fred Hileman  Osprey by Rey wells

The highlight for many was a life bird A Gray Kingbird was photographed by Fred Hileman at the fishing pier which is on the way to the cemetery. The trip totaled 70 species. Great way to end the season.

​This turned out to be a great morning of birding with 54 species detected by several experienced bird folks.  It started auspiciously with a King Rail calling from a small marsh just left of the entrance drive.  Carol Yarnell and her friend got that.  It was warm, still, and humid (ugh) when the eight of us arrived at the parking area.  Sand fleas were there in great numbers.  After deeting up, we spent a bit of non-productive time behind the building and then headed for the tower.  

​The tower was awesome.  It was breezy up on top.  The bugs vanished, leaving us very comfortable to scan the thousands of acres of water, marsh, and hammocks that lay before us.  A number of species were seen including Northern Harrier, Spotted Sandpiper, and Clapper Rail.  Here is a shot of a Snowy Egret and a Tri-colored Heron that hunted their way up a channel below us.

Rey After enjoying an hour on the tower, we decided to skip the warm, woodsy, buggy, too-late-for-warblers loop hike and head for the coast instead.  We stopped at the salt water bridge on the way out and bagged some additional species.  They included many white pelicans and this Common Loon, which sports some breeding season plumage.  This would have been a much better photo had the bird been north of the bridge instead of south.
​We parked at the beach and scanned the Gulf.  We watched a Forster’s Tern dive many times.  An oystercatcher was foraging on a tiny oyster bar that was about to be submerged by the rising tide.  While most of us enjoyed the breeze in the shade of a small pavilion, Paul Smyth went into the woods and emerged with a Palm Warbler that we didn’t have.  Carol and her friend walked out to the boat ramp.  They added three eagles and a skimmer to the list.  It seemed that a fine time was had by all.
​Rey Wells

​Seventeen! – yes, seventeen bird folks enjoyed a great early morning out at the Beach in Crystal River.  Two of the notable species at a recent visit there (see below) were absent.  The rare Purple Sandpiper is likely working its way up the Atlantic coast.  Its most likely destination is the Canadian high arctic.  Royal Terns were not present either.  But there were other nice birds to entertain us.

​One of the cooperating species was the Least Sandpiper.  One of them is shown here.  The wide dark band between its eye and bill may be its most obvious field mark.  

​Another member of the small group of shore birds on the beach was the Sanderling.  One is shown here.  Right after this shot was taken, it plunged its bill down through the water to grab a morsel.
 
Other species of note included Common Loon, Bufflehead Duck, Horned Grebe, Clapper Rail, and Seaside Sparrow.  In all, thirty-seven species were identified.
​.Rey Wells

​I have been a birder in Citrus County since 1986.  In 1988 the first Citrus County Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held after Betty Smyth and I submitted our Audubon Chapter’s paperwork.  During this first CBC we found 4 BUOW.  In 1989 there were 6 BUOW.  In 1990 there were 2 BUOW.  None were found in 1991.  In 1992 there were 2 BUOW.  In 1993 there was 1 BUOW found.
1993 was the last year a BUOW was found on a Citrus County Audubon’s CBC.  A few BUOW may have been seen outside the CBC area and were talked about in the mid 1990’s but since this was before e-bird, the stories are anecdotal and not documented.  These birds were located on 491 near W. Cardinal Drive and on Stage Coach Trail near Sugarmill Woods.  There was also a reported BUOW on 486 near Brentwood.  A lone BUOW was seen on N. Annapolis Ave. in Citrus Hills.  All of these sightings were in the mid 1990’s.  I visited all these sites and verified the sightings.   I have not heard of a BUOW report in the last 20 years or more; that was until December 2020 when Jon Hoch and Tyson Miracle found a BUOW in a cow pasture adjacent to the new Oak Park North unit of the Withlacoochee State Forest.  This cow pasture is near the M & B Dairy and can be reached following the blue blaze trail starting at the Cowpen Trailhead off 491 for about 1.5 miles.
I have always suspected that Citrus Count still had BUOW and those that existed were probably found on ranch lands that were inaccessible to birders. It was only a matter of time before BUOW were again reported in Citrus County.  The property that Jon and Tyson were surveying when they found the owl is to the north of a past BUOW sighting off Stage Coach Trail near Sugarmill Woods.  Thanks to Jon and Tyson and after three trips to this area and many miles walked, on March 13, 2021 I found a BUOW in this cow pasture where it was first reported in 2020.  Ken Spilios