The June Challenge

I moved to Florida 22 years ago and have been birding most of my life.
Florida birding is very different than it was in the Maryland area because of our spring migration - birds flying north to their annual nesting areas.
I live in Marion County and years ago when I heard about the Marion County June Challenge I decided to give it a try. It sounded exciting and despite the heat I participated for 2-3 years.It was definitely an education to learn what birds are here in June and which ones are not.

I started thinking that it could be a great experiment to conduct a June Challenge within The Villages borders. The Challenge is normally confined to one county, but The Villages is composed of 3 - Marion, Sumter, and Lake counties - and expanding!
Why not? And so it began.
I invited our Village Birders via email to participate and it was very well received.

This is an INDIVIDUAL count and there will be a Winner!

If you are birding in a group only count birds that you individually observe.
A few rules to follow:

1) bird must be seen, not just heard, to be counted .

2) this is a species count, i.e.: 1 Bald Eagle, 1 American Crow, etc .

3) bird from car, golf cart, lanai, but must be IN The Villages.

4) bird as often or as little as you want, some go out every day in June.

5) email your final list to Alice Horst by July 2 to tally the total list of birds seen in The Villages

June 1st is just around the corner and it is a good idea to get out birding early in the month as birds continue to leave Florida.

Our June Challenge total has increased over the past 5 years either because more people participate or because of The Villages expanding or both.

Our Village Birders website continues at this time. There is a printable bird list on it for you to use. It makes my job easier if lists are similar….but any list is OK.

Our Birders totaled 103 species in June 2025. Let's see if we can beat that this June.
Remember: you might be the ONLY person to see the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.. but IF you do, get a photo for a positive ID!

Hope to see you out in The Villages during June!
Happy Birding.
Alice Horst
ahorst@comcast.net
973-508-2307