Birds, butterflies and more
I watched the International Space Station in the night sky above St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday morning. It was closely followed by an unmanned Cargo Dragon capsule that was moving to link up with it. They passed soundlessly overhead as Black-crowned Night Herons were flying in to roost, barking in the dark, mindless of the technological marvel taking place 250 miles above them. Slowly, the light gathered and Gray Catbirds began to call, announcing another Fall day at the refuge. These mornings at St. Marks are cool and colorful. Goldenrod is in bloom and Muhly grass is a pink haze along the edges of the levees. Butterflies are swarming; Cloudless Sulphurs, Gulf Fritillaries, Long-tailed Skippers and the first few Monarchs. Outlying rain bands from Hurricane Isaias dropped a lot of rain on the refuge and the pools and ponds are full. Favorable winds gave a boost to migration and in two nights, 15 million birds passed through the refuge. Most of these were thrushes, warblers and flycatchers, just passing through. Yellow Warblers are easy to find right now. Look for them on Goldenrod as they search for insects. Thrushes make use of fruit on migration and I’ve recently found Swainson’s Thrushes at the refuge feeding on Yaupon, Sweetbay and Viburnum. This migratory pulse also brought in wintering birds; Swamp Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Eastern Phoebes and Northern Harriers. Our winter duck population starts climbing in October and then jumps up in late November. Waterfowl populations are usually still low in mid-October, but generally show the first increase in diversity as a few pintails and wigeons begin to show up among the usual Blue-winged Teal. I found 56 Blue-winged Teal and a single Northern Shoveler on the refuge on Thursday. Most of the teal were skittish and easily spooked, a sign of active migrants. The refuge’s Land Protection Plan calls for one area to be closed in order to provide an area for waterfowl to rest, unmolested. Signs have gone up closing the Gulf-side levee on the southeastern side of Mounds 3. This closure is for the winter season. The refuge’s current high water levels have inundated shorebird flats and the refuge biologist is working to adjust water levels to accommodate both ducks and shorebirds. On Thursday, I had only a handful of shorebirds, but they included a Black-necked Stilt, a Red Knot and a Dunlin, all on Tower Pond. Dunlin normally begin to arrive in October and by November, they will be the most common shorebird on the refuge. The American Ornithological Society has decided to split one of our most common shorebirds, the Willet, into two species. The new Saltmarsh Willet is our local breeder and the new Prairie Willet is our wintering bird, currently on the refuge. If you keep a bird list, your total just went up by one with no effort. One other thing that you can do with almost no effort is come down to St. Marks. We have birds, butterflies and glorious Fall weather waiting for you. Don Morrow can be reached at donaldcmorrow@gmail.com.