Late season migration
By DON MORROW
On my way into the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge the other morning, I made a few stops along Lighthouse Road to listen for night birds.
There was no moon. The only light was from starshine, the flashes of fireflies in the woods and the occasional brighter flashing of lightning from a distant thunderhead. It was hot, already in the low 80s, but that’s just part of late August along the Gulf.
Summer is ending. There are signs if you look: school buses and the first weekend of college football. Out at the refuge there are more primal signs. Horsemint is blooming and the first red fruiting cones of sweetbay magnolia are now ripe.
The tempo of fall migration is increasing. Two million birds have already crossed through St. Marks, most just flying over the refuge in the dark. Eastern Kingbirds, diurnal migrants, overnight at the refuge during fall migration. In the morning you can watch them rise out of the marshes. On some mornings in late summer, they may number into the hundreds or low thousands.
There are Northern Yellow Warblers headed to Bolivia. Seven other migrant warbler species have also been recorded at the refuge this August: Hooded, Prairie, Palm & Northern Parula Warbler, American Redstart, and both Louisiana & Northern Waterthrush. A general movement of birds is taking place, following a millennia-old pattern. I had my first returning Bald Eagle as the last of the Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites moved out.
This is the peak of fall migration for both Royal Terns and Black Skimmers. Large flocks have been lounging on Lighthouse Pool. On one day I counted 164 skimmers.
Duck migration is also beginning to pick up. I had 23 Blue-winged Teal last week. They are always the first ducks to come through.
Species richness and overall numbers of shorebirds are unusually high this year. During the refuge shorebird surveys this month I have recorded 25 species.
In late summer, our breeding shorebirds leave, a few wintering shorebirds arrive, but mostly the refuge sees streams of migrant shorebirds on their way to wintering grounds in the Caribbean and South America.
Shorebird numbers rise modestly through September, but this masks the constant turnover of transiting shorebirds passing through the refuge.
Shorebird numbers at the refuge have increased faster than in a normal year and when numbers increase in late summer, what we’re seeing is an increase in the pace of migration. There are also more shorebird species that usually take a more westerly route, like American Golden Plover and Wilson’s Phalarope. An eBird record of 14 phalaropes was set at the refuge this month.
The peak of fall migration at the refuge happens over the next two months.
While you should certainly vote in the upcoming elections and follow the progress of your favorite college football team, it will be better for your mental health if you also remember to schedule time to come down to the refuge to monitor the changing of the seasons and the migration of birds.
Someone has to do it.
Don Morrow can be reached at donaldcmorrow@gmail.com.