Green Birding in Southwest Volusia County, June Challenge 2015

Last month I did my own version of the June Challenge. The idea of the Challenge is to see as many bird species as possible in a single county during the month. The Challenge was first issued 12 years ago as a way to encourage Florida birders to get out and bird during a hot month relatively lacking in exciting bird activity. In my version, I only counted “green” birds, and I counted heard-only birds. The complete list is at the end of this post. Here are some photo highlights from the month, plus some birding stats from my green effort for June 2015.

Cattle Egrets at Festival Park, 01-JUN-15

Turtle at Green Spring Park, 03-JUN-15

I completed 26 checklists during the month, and ended up with 77 species. I went to 13 different local birding spots, plus counted birds at home and as I was biking in several locations. I ended up biking over 170 miles and walking at least 30 miles. My two biggest rides were to two new “green” locations for me: Festival Park in Deltona (about 21 miles round trip) and the Brickyard Slough tract of the Lake Monroe Conservation Area (about 20 miles round trip).

Juvenile Green Heron at Lake Monroe Boat Ramp, 03-JUN-15

Baby Common Musk Turtle at Gemini Springs, 05-JUN-15

Eastern Bluebird at Quail Lakes Powerline Trails, 08-JUN-15

The moon from Gemini Springs, 09-JUN-15

Best birds of the month were Eastern Bluebird (juveniles and adults at both Festival Park and Quail Lakes Powerline Trails); Least Terns at Konomac Lake and Gemini Springs; Black-necked Stilts at Konomac Lake (scarce at Gemini Springs this year); a surprise Laughing Gull at Lake Monroe Boat Ramp; Bachman’s Sparrow and Blue Grosbeak at Brickyard Slough (both new to my all-time green list); Northern Flicker along the East Regional Rail Trail; Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at Audubon Park; and Least Bittern at Lake Monroe Boat Ramp. The Least Bittern was seen on my sixth try when I didn’t even travel to the location for birding. Arthur and I biked out to watch the SpaceX launch. Before the launch I saw a bittern fly from the reeds to the shore and disappear — it was a really lucky sighting. Bummer launch though. 🙁

Red-tailed Hawk at Gemini Springs, 09-JUN-15

Great Egret at Lake Monroe Boat Ramp, 10-JUN-15

Laughing Gull at Lake Monroe Boat Ramp, 10-JUN-15

Boat-tailed Grackles at Lake Monroe Boat Ramp, 10-JUN-15

Record shot of Blue Grosbeak at Brickyard Slough, 15-JUN-15

I did try to see as many of the species as possible. Birds like Red-eyed Vireo and Pine Warbler started out as heard-only, but I managed to see them and a few other skulkers. Five remained heard-only, though: White-eyed Vireo; Northern Bobwhite; Common Yellowthroat; Yellow-throated Warbler; and White-winged Dove. I really tried to catch a look at a bobwhite who sounded like he was calling from underneath my feet, but he never came into view. The other species also remained frustratingly hidden in thick foliage.

Eastern Towhee at Brickyard Slough, 15-JUN-15

Marsh Rabbit at Lake Monroe Boat Ramp, 17-JUN-15

Limpkin at Lake Monroe Boat Ramp, 17-JUN-15

Southern Black Racer at Dewey Boster Park, 22-JUN-15

Juvenile Loggerhead Shrike at Dewey Boster Park, 22-JUN-15

Juvenile Barred Owl at Gemini Springs, 23-JUN-15

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck at Audubon Park, 26-JUN-15

My biggest miss was Brown-headed Nuthatch, which I had hoped to see at Brickyard Slough. I had hopes of seeing Roseate Spoonbill at Trout Lake, but it was completely dead there with poor conditions for waders. In all I’m pretty pleased with how I fared during a month with near-record temperatures noted each week.

Anhinga at Lake Monroe Boat Ramp, 26-JUN-15

Raccoon at Audubon Park, 29-JUN-15

Ring-necked Snake at Audubon Park, 29-JUN-15

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at Audubon Park, 29-JUN-15

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