June at the refuge
By DON MORROW
It is June at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and the season slowly shifts into full summer. This month marks the end of Spring migration. Ten million birds have already crossed over the refuge this year on their northward journey. Another hundred thousand or so, mostly sandpipers, will pass through during the early part of June, but the excitement of Spring migration is over for another year.
Late June is the low point of bird life at the refuge. Avian diversity is down by a third and there are only about one hundred and twenty species on the refuge. There are also many fewer birds. By late June there may be only a fifth of the total number of birds that there were on the refuge in late January. Winter bird numbers are boosted by species like Dunlin and Redhead that occur in huge flocks. Additionally, the distribution of many of our summer birds is based on dispersed territories and they are less visible than the wintering birds that were concentrated in flocks on the mudflats, pools, and open water along Lighthouse Road.
June is a quieter time. However, life never stands still at St. Marks and there is always a lot going on at the refuge.
As birds shift from setting up territories to parental duties, bird song is diminished. Some of our summer breeders have already fledged. Parula warblers are feeding young in the East River floodplain at the Double Bridges and half-sized Willets are following their parents on the Lighthouse salt flats. Some species, like Swallow-tailed Kites, still have young in the nest.
This is the peak month for Roseate Spoonbills and Reddish Egrets in the pools and ponds along Lighthouse Road. They breed in peninsular Florida. By June they have completed their nesting cycle and have begun to disperse northward.
There are Black-necked Stilts on East River Pool. This species breeds at the refuge, but their rudimentary nests are only slightly above water level and are susceptible to flood events. If their nests are flooded, stilts will not attempt to renest and usually leave the area.
The first of the summer fruits are ripening. Watch for birds feeding on swamp dogwood in the East River floodplain at the Double Bridges. Along Tower Pond Trail, blueberries and huckleberries are attracting towhees and grackles. Summer flowers, like American Beautyberry and Elderberry, are blooming. Their fruit will ripen in time to feed Fall migrants. Sawgrass seed stalks are sticking up in the marshes, providing perches for dragonflies, like the pennants, darners and pondhawks that prey on flies and mosquitos.
June is just one more point on the refuge’s annual seasonal cycle. The seasons at St. Marks shift and change in a reasonably predictable pattern caused by the revolution of the earth around the sun and the tilt of its axis. The earth has been revolving around the sun for almost five billion years and there is every indication that it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
You, however, have a strictly delimited lifespan. Come down to St. Marks and immerse yourself in the changing season. It’s hot and a little buggy, but relative to the earth, you don’t have much time left. Hurry down to the refuge. You don’t want to miss this.
Don Morrow can be reached at donaldcmorrow@gmail.com.