May through August (Summer 09)

The summer is generally a slow season for birding and activities at Crosby. This is mainly due to the summer heat, mosquitoes, and less birds to see. Our next official fieldtrip/workday will be around November 15, 2009. Please check the Duval Audubon website for exact date/details.

Thanks go out to Scott Davis and the FL Youth Challenge Academy boys for spreading many yards worth of mulch in the native landscaping demo area!! FYCA rocks! Cheers

Air Potato Roundup a Success!!

The 3rd Annual First Coast Air Potato Roundup was a big success!  Twelve volunteers collected 500 pound of air potatoes over approximately 8 acres.  A media story ran in the Clay Today.

For pictures of the event see my web album on Picasa.

3rd Annual First Coast Great Air Potato Roundup

February 28th, 2009

9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

427 Aquarius Concourse

Orange Park, FL

Air potato is an exotic plant that is invasive to native plant communities in Florida.  Their reproductive structures are potato-like bulbils that can easily be collected and disposed of in the winter time. 

Bring heavy duty garbage bags, sturdy shoes, gloves and water.

Prize for the largest potato collected (all NE FL sites) is a free Kayak trip for 2 by Kayak Amelia.

See the Nature Conservancy website for more info about the roundup.

Next Fieldtrip/Workday November 8

The next field trip/workday will be on Saturday November 8, 2008, starting at 8:00AM and ending at around 12:00 PM.  Please bring gloves and pitchforks/shovels and wheelbarrows for spreading mulch.  If you don't have these items, then that's OK just bring yourself and we'll put you to work (after the bird walk of course)!  Meet at 427 Aquarius Concourse, Orange Park, FL.

Thanks and hope to see you there.

Pete Johnson

Sanctuary Director

Fieldtrip-Workday Report from Sept 28

The first Crosby Sanctuary field trip/workday this season was a success.  Many thanks to all who participated including Pat Anderson, Ellen Allen, Larry Gilliland, Bill Lapierre, and Inez Everett and Kenneth Upchurch, a student from FCCJ!  They all graciously stayed to help weed and pick up around the native landscaping areas at the entrance to the sanctuary.

We were treated with some really good looks at Tennessee Warbler and House Wren.  Please see the eBird report below.

Location:     Crosby Sanctuary
Observation date:     9/28/08
Number of species:     29

Anhinga - Anhinga anhinga     1
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias     2
Great Egret - Ardea alba     3
Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea     1
White Ibis - Eudocimus albus     1
Wood Stork - Mycteria americana     1
Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus     1
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis     1
Barred Owl - Strix varia     1
Chimney Swift - Chaetura pelagica     5
Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon     2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus     10
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens     3
Pileated Woodpecker - Dryocopus pileatus     4
White-eyed Vireo - Vireo griseus     4
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     8
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     4
Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis     5
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor     5
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus     7
House Wren - Troglodytes aedon     2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea     6
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis     10
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos     7
Brown Thrasher - Toxostoma rufum     1
Tennessee Warbler - Vermivora peregrina     5
Northern Parula - Parula americana     1
Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus     1
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     15

Duval Audubon Fieldtrip and Workday

Crosby Sanctuary: Fall Migration #1
Sunday, September 28 2008, 8:00am - 12:00pm

Seasonal Progression Series Trip #1

This series of fieldtrips is designed for birders looking to spend a few hours close to home on a citizen science and "low-carbon", local fieldtrip. Each field trip date includes a 2 hour field trip followed by a 2 hour work session to maintain native landscaping and nest boxes. Participation in work sessions is optional, but fun!

The Crosby Sanctuary is a "Hotspot" on eBird.com, with bird observation data going back to 1984. We have recorded over 80 different bird species from Crosby. We could use your help to expand our species list!

Location: Crosby Sanctuary - 427 Aquarius Concourse, Orange Park, FL Contact: Pete Johnson @ 904-536-4806

Crosby Sanctuary eBird Hotspot

Crosby Sanctuary is listed as a hotspot on eBird. There are over eighty species of birds recorded from Crosby. Please go to eBird and look up Crosby Sanctuary as a hotspot by clicking on "eBird " in the Links section of this blog. You will have to register yourself on eBird to gain access, but it's well worth the trouble. The beauty of eBird is that it lets you look at this information (data) in various ways. For instance, you can see when the first time a bird species was observed, the last time observed, and the high count (most of each individual species seen at one time) by location, hotspot, or region. It's a great way to record your bird observations, keep track of your favorite spot, and prepare for a birding trip to any of the listed hotspots. Many famous birding spots are listed hotspots and kept up to date with observations!

Clay County Ditch Work

Clay County Public Works has decided it's time once again to clean out the ditch running along the entrance to the sanctuary. They made a mess of things for a while and are still not done. We had to file a complaint with the county for their sloppy work. Hopefully, all can be resolved in a manner beneficial to both parties. They have agreed to replant the banks and keep the ditch clean of invasive exotic plants, with a little help from Audubon volunteers.

The ditch up the hill from the sanctuary actually contains a seepage spring that constantly flows crystal clear water. This ditch also drains a good sized portion of the neighborhood nearby. As such, it has been lined with concrete in the past and recently re-lined for stabilization. The county really did a sloppy job as evidenced by the pictures.

This entire ditch run would be a great stream restoration project. A functioning stream/natural ditch would slow the water down and help treat it on the way down to the sanctuary swamp. Anyone interested in helping with such a project? It probably wouldn't be that hard to get grant funding. Just need the people to help organize and get it together.

Prothonotary Warblers at Crosby

Prothonotary Warblers are back as of mid May. One has been spotted in the swamp and the nest box appears active as of May 25. These beautiful yellow birds with blue wings are as pleasant to see as their sweet song is to hear! They are unfortunately listed as a declining species throughout their range of SE US and Central/South America. We are lucky to have them at Crosby!