Pasco Audubon News

January 2024 Newsletter - Christmas Bird Count Report

December 2023 Newsletter

November 2023 Newsletter

October 2023 Newsletter

Audubon of Florida News Blog

Chapter News

October 2023 - West Pasco Audubon is now Pasco Audubon.

As the only Audubon Chapter in Pasco county the board made the decision to change our name to reflect that. The board has been busy this summer making the necessary changes at Federal, State and County levels. Our goal is to become more representative and inclusive of the whole County. This won't happen over night and the name change is but the first step. We welcome Audubon friends in Eastern Pasco and ask they reach out to join us and bring your suggestions.
Email our President with your thoughts: Christine Rowland

Sept 2023 Newsletter

JULY NEWSLETTER

While summer has arrived and most of us are trying to stay cool and comfortable we still have a walk for you this Saturday, and will share our planned events for next season too. But even in the heat and humidity some of our volunteers are still out there checking on Bluebird boxes regularly. In this month's newsletter Bob Burkhard gives us some history about the recovery of the Eastern Bluebird population and some useful resources for those who'd like to explore further.

UPCOMING EVENTS

2023-4 PROGRAM SCHEDULE

We now have a preliminary program of events available for the new season. Mike Kell has already posted it online! Pat Goldberg has prepared the trifold of events and you can download it from our activities page at the link below.

Link to our online schedule here!

EASTERN BLUEBIRDS - A COMEBACK STORY

By Bob Burkhard

Everyone loves a comeback story where a hero triumphs over adversity and achieves a major victory, and in my mind, the Eastern bluebird is a perfect example of a great comeback story. Due to several factors, the Eastern Bluebird population plummeted by 90% between the 1920s and 1970. Habitat loss, the removal of dead trees that provide nesting sites, the introduction of House Sparrows and European Starlings that compete with bluebirds for nesting sites, and the accidental introduction of fire ants all contributed to this major decline in the population.

Even though people became concerned that Eastern Bluebirds could go extinct in the 1950s and 1960s, it wasn’t until the formation of the National American Bluebird Society in 1978 that the tide began to turn. The Society embarked on a very enthusiastic mission to recover the Eastern Bluebird by educating the public and providing bluebird nesting boxes. This gradually led to a reversal and numbers began to recover. Across America people worked together to bring this species back, and today the population has risen to an estimated 23 million breeding bluebirds.

One of our nests at Starkey Park.

Bluebirds are secondary cavity nesters, which means that a bluebird’s beak is not strong enough to chisel out its own nesting cavity in a tree. Historically, bluebirds and other secondary cavity nesters used cavities created by nature and old woodpecker nesting cavities. When forests were cleared, these cavities disappeared, and bluebirds were left with no places to build their nests.

One of the ways that people helped to bring back the Eastern Bluebird population was to provide nest boxes. I began to see bird boxes all over the countryside when I was a teenager growing up in the Northeast, and luckily for us and the bluebirds they readily accept bird boxes as artificial tree cavities when natural nesting cavities are not available. This type of support for bluebirds is a very effective way of helping.

Ready to Fledge at Jack Mitchell Park

You should be proud that Pasco Audubon’s Bluebird Project currently lead by J Mike Kell installed and monitors over 40 bird boxes in 16 locations, and that the project members continue to ensure that these boxes are repaired/replaced/cleaned as needed. I encourage you to check out the historical nesting results on the West Pasco Audubon Website: Bluehttps://www.westpascoaudubon.com/pascoaudubon/Bluebirds/NestBoxes.html

I recently joined the Bluebird Project and feel privileged to assist with monitoring the boxes at Jay B. Starkey Park and W.H. Jack Mitchell Jr. Park. We have 3 active nests, and I will be working with Mike to relocate the Bird Trail boxes at Starkey Park and to replace some of the boxes that were vandalized earlier this year.

In addition to our Pasco Audubon website, these are great resources for learning more about Bluebirds:
Florida Bluebird Society: https://www.floridabluebirdsociety.org/history/
North American Bluebird Society: https://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/
The Bluebird Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds by Donald Stokes, Lillian Q. Stokes

Another clutch from Starkey Park

Copyright © West Pasco Audubon 2023, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
president@westpascoaudubon.com

The National Audubon Christmas Bird Count Dec. 14, 2023

What is the Christmas Bird Count (CBC)?
The fun of a scavanger hunt. The thrill of competition and the best of Citizens Science.
One day is picked in the weeks around Christmas and for 24 hours all the birds seen heard and identified in the 15 mile diameter circle are counted. The number is the most seen at any one time in a location. If you see one cardinal at three different times during the day in the same place, it is still one cardinal. Count how many you see of a species at one time in one location.
The fun is finding as many birds and as many species as possible in that 24 hour period. Birds heard can be counted if identifible. So at 12:01 AM people are out listening for owls. The Christmas bird count has been ongoing for 120 years. It represents 120 years of data about birds. Where they are and where the aren't.
The count circle gets divided up in to areas and normally teams search their area for the birds. Scouting is done in the weeks before to locate places where the birds like to gather. In the last several years it is becoming obvious from the count that the birds are staying farther north for the Winter.
If you want to become involved contact Christine Rowland.
The West Pasco Audubon bird circle is centered on the old Magnolia Valley Golf Course and extends into the gulf a couple miles. Backyard bird counts will be especially important this year. People can count in their back yard and turn that in to Christine Rowland president@westpascoaudubon.com

West Pasco Audubon and
Pasco Fine Arts Council
Photography Contest 2023

Congratulations to all of our winners!
2023 Photo Gallery -- All contest entries !

June Challenge 2014

Day 1: 45 birds on the way to breakfast.
Laurie and I were up early and headed out to do birding and breakfast before my afternoon tee time.
17 birds in the back yard and the highlight was a Black Skimmer fishing on the pond.
Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Wood Stork, White Ibis, Anhinga, DC Cormorant, Little Blue Heron, Northern Cardinal, Bluejay, Common Grackle, BT Grackle, Fish Crow, American Crow, Laughing Gull, Muscovey Duck, Moorhen(17)
Sun Toyota:
Glossy Ibis, Killdeer, Eastern Blue Bird, Mottled Duck, Least Tern, Pigeon/Rock Dove, Sand Hill Crane
Holiday Park:
Osprey, Loggerhead Shrike, House Sparrow(28)
Anclote pier:
Eurasian Collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Gray Kingbird, Tricolor Heron, Snowy Egret, Reddish Egret in both white and blue morph fishing just up from the pier, Brown Pelican, R.W Blackbird, Monk Parakeets, Mocking bird, Starlings(40)
Green Key:
White winged Dove, Ground dove, Great Blue Heron, Yellow Crowned Night Heron(45)
Not counted one probable Priarie Warbler (it was mostly yellow)
6/1 afternoon
Tufted Titmouse, Black Crowned Night Heron, Red Shouldered Hawk, Great Crested Flycatcher, Hummingbird, Green Heron, Red Bellied Woodpecker(52)
6/3
Turkey Vulture, Downey Woodpecker, Pie Billed Grebe, Swallow Tailed Kite, Common Loon, Green headed Mallard(58)
6/4 Carolina Wren
6/7 Starkey Park Bird Walk
Chimney Swift, Wood Ducks, Yellow Throated Warbler, Blue Gray Gnatcher, Ruby Throated Humming bird (dupe), Carolina Chickadee, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Parula (66)
6/8 Power Line Rd trip
Burrowing Owl, Eastern Meadowlark, Red Tailed Hawk, Purple Martins, Red Headed Woodpecker, Black Necked Stilts, Black Belly Whistling Duck, Kestrel (74)
6/9 Starkey bike trail
White Eyed Vireo, Brown Headed Nuthatch, Yellow Throated Vireo, Eastern Towhee, Pine Warbler (79)
6/10 Mitchel Blvd:
Roseate Spoonbill (80)
SSGC:
Brown Thrasher
6/12 Sun Toyota:
Greater Yellowlegs (82)
Pileated Woodpecker
6/15 Old Post Road and Green Key
American Oystercatcher
Horned Grebe (85)
6/17 Publix Land O Lakes HWY 54
Limpkin (86)
6/22 Fivay RD:
Canada Geese (87)
Anclote pier:
Willet (88)
Starkey Park 7AM:
Wild Turkey (89)
6/26 Starkey Park Bike trail
Bob White
Common Yellow Throat
Common Night Hawk (#92)
Cecila Rd: Black Hooded Parakeet (#93)
J Mike Kell

Feb 2 2013
A great day in West Pasco. Eighteen hardy souls braved the frigid 45 degree weather and were rewarded with great looks at more than 25 species of birds very active in the trees on our morning walk at Starkey Park. This afternoon forty people showed up to hear the very interesting and engaging talk by University of Florida Professor Katie Sieving talk about the effects on birds and conservation of the fractured landscaped resulting from human development. What connections are needed to allow the wildlife to migrate and move form parcel to parcel.

CBC 2012
The 24th West Pasco CBC was held on 29 Dec 2012 with more than 40 observers in as many as 20 parties (seven parties were out all day). We reached the tentative total of 170 "countable" species, with six others observed during count-week. Surprisingly, we found no Short-billed Dowitchers, a species we had never missed previously; that was the only "bad" miss. Highlights included four species new to the CBC: one Black Tern (no public access), three Razorbills (two at Hudson Beach and one at Gulf Harbors beach), four Red-breasted Nuthatches (at Key Vita Nature Park), and Clay-colored Sparrow (count-week at Anclote Gulf Park). All major rarities were photographed.
I am very proud of what the participants of the past West Pasco CBC have accomplished, especially in light of the CBC's early beginnings: the first published New Port Richey CBC (using the same circle) tallied 76 species in December 1970 (we exceeded that total by 99 species in January 2009!). Below are the species totals of the West Pasco CBCs and their ranking among all other Florida CBCs over the past 12 CBC seasons. Yes, we have a CBC circle with a great diversity of habitats and many conservation areas, but so do many others Florida CBCs. I think the success of the West Pasco CBC is due equally to geography, participation by many top-notch birders (for 20 or more years in a few cases), and the superb scouting and organizing of the parties by Ken Tracey.
113 year: 170
112: 171 (1st)
111: 170 (1st)
110: 169 (2nd, behind Jacksonville, tied with Merritt Island N.W.R., St. Petersburg, and Zellwood-Mount Dora)
109: 175 (1st)
108: 164 (1st, tied with Cocoa)
107: 167 (1st, tied with Merritt Island N.W.R.)
106: 171 (1st)
105: 164 (2nd, behind Merritt Island N.W.R.)
104: 162 (1st, tied with Jacksonville)
103: 166 (2nd, behind Jacksonville)
102: 159 (2nd, behind Jacksonville)

Thanks to all of this season's participants.

Best regards,
Bill Pranty
Bayonet Point, Florida
West Pasco CBC compiler

Christmas Bird Count 2011

Hello All,

I wanted to convey my thanks to all who helped out on our WPCBC count on Dec 30th.

I hope you all saw some new or interesting birds that day and I wanted to let you know that because of your help our total numbers are impressive again this year.
We had 54 people in the field and received 25 backyard reports. Our species total is 171, with a total of 53,500 birds seen! (+two count week birds) This year we added two new species to our circle bird list. Coincidentally we found two each of the new two species. Two Painted Bunting males were seen at two different feeders about 4 miles apart. I have attached a photo of mine from Lake Lisa Park of a Painted Bunting, as one of the sightings was approx 2 blocks from that park. The other new species was of two Saltmarsh Sparrows. One was found by Dave Gagne's team along Strauber Memorial Hwy the other was found by John Mangold out in the state park; his photo is attached. I also attached John's photo of one of the Seaside Sparrow he found count day, at first glance I thought "Dusky" Seaside Sparrow because of it's very dark coloring! Of course we know that subspecies is extinct. Jon Greenlaw has looked at the photo and says this coloring is near typical for Scott's, although it is certainly one of the darkest birds I have seen out there.
The first big boat trip for the count was very successful with 29 birders going out. They took hundreds of photos and in those we did find a Great Black-backed Gull. Our record numbers of 175 Common Loons and 160 Horned Grebes were a direct result of the trip. Outstanding was the 16 American Oystercatchers found by the boat on the piers in the Cotee River, a bird we sometimes miss because of no access to those resting piers.

Our backyard feeder reports were responsible for 3 species in our count total. Painted Bunting, Hummingbird species, and Budgerigar.
The apparent trend of fewer Bachman's Sparrows, only 2 this year from Serenova, may mean that the southern part of the Starkey Wilderness area no longer has good nesting territory for that once reliable Pine Flatwood species that could be found almost to the Education Center.

From our own Starkey Ranch territory I noticed that some ranching practices can have a lot to do with the quantity of bird species found. The Starkey ranch pastures were overgrown with weeds and grasses from 2 to 7 feet tall. Our high counts of Eastern meadowlark, Grasshopper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, and even the two Vesper Sparrows would have not been there if the pastures had been mowed.

When I looked at our previous count year of 2005 when we had 171 species I was struck by the big difference in the quantity of birds then, only 11,400 compared to our 53,500 this year. The big counts of birds this year are a result of the great increases in Yellow-rumped Warbler, Tree Swallow, and American Robin.

Some other species that achieved all time count highs were Wild Turkey 110, Anhinga 300, Common Gallinule 380, Sandhill Crane 190, and Northern Cardinal 200.
The apparent trend of Northern Rough-winged Swallows wintering further north was confirmed when Dave Goodwin's team found 3 of them.
Thanks again for your time and help.

Ken Tracey

http://www.islandparadisecharters.com/boat.htm

Gulf Park -- Key Vista walk Nov 19, 2011

Perfect weather for our morning walk at Gulf Park to Key Vista.
Magnificent views of Horn Grebe's were the highlight for me.

42 species observed plus one owl heard but not identified:
Osprey, Northern Harrier, American Bald Eagle, Double Crested Cormorant, Royal Tern, Caspian Tern, Laughing Gull, Herring Gull, Great Blue Heron, Wood Stork
Blue Jay, Pie Billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Willet, Sanderling, Semi Palmated Plover, Western SandPiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Blue, Tri Color Heron, White Ibis, Oyster Catcher, Whimbrel, Pie Billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Great Egret, Towhee, N Mocking Bird, N. Cardinal, Yellow Rumped Warbler, Downy Woodpecker, Red Bellied Woodpecker, Swamp Sparrow, Chickadee, Palm Warbler, Yellow Crowned Heron, Black Capped Night Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Mourning Dove, Rock Pigeon, Turkey Vulture

Werner Boyce Walk 11/12/11

Birds were fairly active at the Scenic Dr. entrance to Werner Boyce Springs state park. Seven people joined us for this mornings cool walk. This birds list was fairly good with a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker being the most unusual species. 47 species total and a good show of warblers across street in parking lot while we waited on the park to open. Later a drive down to Brasher park at low tide with lots of wading birds. Seen: Red Shouldered Hawk, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Boattailed Grackle, Common Grackle, Mourning Dove, Yellow-rumped Warbler (lots), Palm Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Common YellowThroat Warbler, Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Cardinal, House Wren, Carolina Wren, Swamp Sparrow, Gray Catbird, American Crow, Fish Crow, Red Bellied Woodpecker, Downey Woodpecker, Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, Blue Jay, N Mocking Bird, Loggerhead Shrike, Belted Kingfisher, Mallard, Muscovey, Common Moorhen, Pie billed Grebe, Woodstork, Anhinga, Double Crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, White Ibis, Tricolor Heron, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Willet, Brown Pelican, Laughing Gull, Ring Billed Gull, Osprey, Red Shouldered Hawk, Kestrel, Turkey Vulture